2. Who are the Lumiére Brothers?
• The Lumiére brothers, who go by the names of
Auguste and Lois Lumiére, were both technical
minded people who excelled in science and
photography. Auguste started manufacturing and
supplying photographic equipment while Lois
experimented with these pieces of equipment.
• Antoine, after becoming a successful
businessman, was eventually invited to Edison’s
Peephole Kinetoscope in Paris. He was excited
with what he saw and rushed back to Lyons to
present Lois with a piece of Kinetoscope film.
• He said to Lois - "This is what you have to make,
because Edison sells this at crazy prices and the
concessionaires are trying to make films here in
France to have them cheaper".
• The brothers mission was to overcome the
limitations of the Peephole Kinetoscope. There
were the fact it was such a large camera it was
limited to studio use and the fact that only one
person could view it at a time.
3. What is the technology?
• Once the brothers had decided what needed to
be changed about the Peephole Kinetoscope,
they went about experimenting and developing
their own advanced device.
• By 1895 the brothers had invented their own
device which they called the Cinématographe.
The devise was much smaller than Edison’s
Kinetograph, weighing at around five kilograms.
The device was also hand cranked. The
Cinématographe used about 16 fps, meaning that
it used a lot less film compared to Edison’s
Kinetoscope at 48 fps. It also had less “clatter and
grinding” noises which were associated with the
Kinetoscope.
4. Who invented/credited the
technology?
• The Kinetoscope was originally invented by
Thomas Edison in 1888.
• The Cinématographe was invented and patented
by the Lumiére brothers in 1892.
Kinetoscope.
Cinématographe.
5. The Cinématographe
• The Cinématographe uses flexible film cut into
35mm wide strips and also used an intermittent
mechanism modelled on the sewing machine.
• The camera shot at 16fps which became the
standard film rate for 25 years.
• The Cinématographe works as a printer, camera
and projector all in one machine.
• To the right is a video of the Serpentine dancers.
They were originally black and white and had to
be hand coloured.
