The first movie ever made was Roundhay Garden Scene. It lasts 2.11 seconds and depicts four people walking in a garden.
When you think of the word “movie,” you probably think about motion pictures as we know them today. So, the first motion picture was the Roundhay Garden Scene.
But when it was made and how did we get to move from taking still pictures to moving pictures? Let’s find out.
Contents
When Was the First Movie Ever Made?
The first movie ever, Roundhay Garden Scene, was made in 1888. Louis Le Prince, a French inventor, recorded it in Leeds in England.
Would you give it the first Oscar (Academy Award) ever?
It is probably the oldest surviving film in the world and it lasts only 2.11 seconds.
Brief History of Film
Movie enthusiasts and experts alike have doubts about the first film ever made since many people tried to make a movie at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. But what is the cause of the confusion?
As far as Le Prince’s movie goes, he had photographs obtained by a chronophotography process. Even if he knew how to make a film, people could never see this movie attempt during Le Prince’s lifetime.
The photographs came to life only in 1930, on a 35 mm film with the title bench process. So, it was technically the first movie in 1930, although the footage existed sooner.
Moreover, some consider that the first movie ever made was the one by Eadweard Muybridge in 1878 at Stanford’s Palo Alto Stock Farm.
Muybridge was a master of serial photography. He used it to analyze animal and human movements. Most famous is his 1867 experiment, The Horse in Motion, filmed with 24 cameras.
He placed them side by side, transversely in the direction of the horse’s movement.
As the horse was passing and tearing the ropes, he ran the trigger on the camera and took the shots. The result was photos of the horse at specific intervals.
Movies With International Recognition
We have another candidate for the answer to the question, “What was the first movie ever made?” It’s Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory, dating back to the year 1895.
Its director was Louis Lumière, one of the famous Lumière brothers. It lasted only 45 seconds and brought the organizers an income of 35 francs as the screening was attended by only 35 spectators who paid the ticket price of one franc.
Moreover, at the beginning of 1896, Lumière will show his famous work, Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat, which will have close to 1,500 screenings around the world.
So, we could consider the Lumière brothers as the first people to commercialize film.
The First Movie Ever Made in Hollywood
The first film ever shot in Hollywood was In Old Calfornia, directed by D. W. Griffith.
He filmed the movie in 1910, after discovering the beautiful scenery of the Hollywood area.
Movie experts thought for years that the first ever movie from Hollywood was Cecil B. DeMille’s The Squaw Man from 1914.
But since they discovered Griffith’s piece that lasts 17 minutes, it took its title.
As far as the first Disney movie ever goes, it was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs from 1937. The full-length animated film is about a tale of the Grimm brothers.
Walt Disney won an Academy Honorary Award for significant screen innovation at the 11th Academy Awards with this film.
Do You Like to Watch Old Movies?
How about you? Do you like to watch old movies? If not, you can check out what was the first ever SNL episode.
