First Impressions of Early Cinema

The Lumiere Brothers

Although there is no sound to these pictures and the picture quality is not very good I am intrigued by what I am seeing. I feel like I have opened a window to the past.

I was immediately fascinated with the clothes people in the films were wearing, the different technologies like the horse and buggy, the steam train, funny hose etc. and also the differences in furniture and even crockery.

When the labourers were demolishing that house with pickaxes I thought, "Gee, that must've been tough going" and wondered about what life was like during that period.

So even though there was no narrative in these films I thought it was still quite interesting, and if I had been sitting in the audience during 1895 I would've been amazed.


George Melier

What a clever bloke! I am assuming that his interest in magic played a hand in his film making. He really went all out with illustrating the narrative by planning sets, costuming and arranging the actors to depict scenes. I can see how present day cinema has evolved from this film pioneer's work.