Lumiere Brothers
The 20th century was the time of great inventions, discoveries and fast development in many life areas. After invention of photography people started to dream of consolidating movable pictures. The history of cinema began in 1892 thanks to Thomas Edison but yet Lumiere Brothers made watching films popular. Edison was the person who presented cinetoscope, a device to watch films, in 1892. The Edison`s invention made it possible to watch short films (about 17 seconds).
Unfortunately the cinetoscope was meant only for one spectator. It was also very heavy, which made it even less popular. The situation changed in 1895. This year Lumiere Brothers patented cinematograph. This machine enabled to record and play films. Their invention was lighter than cinetoscope and thus more convenient to use. The device was first presented on 22 March 1895 showing the film “La Sortie de l’usine Lumière à Lyon”.
However, officially, the cinematograph was presented on 28 December 1895 in Grand Café, Paris. It was then when the famous film “L’Arrivée d’un train en gare de La Ciotat” was shown. The legend says that during the screening spectators were so afraid of the oncoming train that they started to escape.
Despite the great success Lumiere Brothers were a bit sceptic about their invention. For the first years they were working on improving it but finally they quit the idea. And although they did not sell the patent to anybody other creators were so inspired with their invention that they decided to make their own cameras and projectors. And this is how the history of cinema began.