Pink Notebook: The Thaumatrope, Phenakistiscope, Zoetrope, Praxinoscope, Pinhole, Chronophotography and their designers are pleased to announce the birth of their child, the Cinema! Officially! 1895 to be precise.
If the above barbaric names don’t mean anything to you, don’t worry, but remember to consult the site lescinephilesdedemain.fr… You will discover the wonders hidden behind these widely used words! Or take a trip to the cinema, we’d be happy to show you some of these instruments… In fact, together they were the prehistory of the 7th art!
Brothers Louis and Auguste Lumiere
Many researchers had long attempted to set images in motion to recreate life, based both on advances in photography (which appeared in the 1820s) and on scientific discoveries in human biology such as that of Joseph Plateau, who had discovered in 1829 that the retina stores an image longer than it sees it. It was now a fact: the principle of “retinal persistence” makes it possible to create the illusion of movement when the eye is exposed to 12 frames per second.
And cocorico, it was two Frenchmen, two brothers, Auguste and Louis Lumière, who were the first to invent a device that made it possible to capture images and project them to an audience… In March 1895. They filed the patent for their invention which they give the strange name Cinématographe (from Greek kinéma: movement and graphein: to write). We are not a barbaric word away…
The first public and paid screening of the cinematograph took place in Paris on December 28, 1895, marking the official birth of cinema. Capturing moving images, broadcasting them publicly for a fee, that’s cinema at the same time… On this evening of 28 euros nowadays) to watch ten films of about one minute each, including the now famous “Exit from the factories” and “The arrival of the train in the stations of La Ciotat”.
From the few spectators who came to see the performance on the first day, it grew to hundreds over the following days. There were more than 18 sessions a day. The screenings started at 10am and all Paris rushed to the cinema…
To Georges Melies
A certain Georges Méliès, whose origins in Aude and Ariège are recalled here, was one of the first 33 spectators, fascinated by this discovery and anticipating the potential uses of this device. Almost immediately he got it in his head to buy a copy of the Cinématographe, but the brothers refused to reveal the secret of their discovery. They wanted to keep the exclusive exploitation of their invention. At that time, the race to counterfeits began, but also the wonderful cinematic adventure…
It continues today before our eyes and this wonderful space inspires many directors … as evidence on the screen at the moment Sam Mendes’ declaration of love for cinema “The Realm of Light”, a reverie in beauty, strong, delicate and moving Film that the cinema team particularly recommends. Be curious, let yourself be surprised!