Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge

Similar to Bill Sweeds movie: 'A ship runs across the ocean at 5 miles an hour.' In this case, though, we see a bunch of old fords and Chryslers being piloted. And on the cement corner, the mayor is shown saluting everything directly around him. Then he turns around and a camera barely catches his expression of bewildering confusion.

Even though "Traffic Crossing the Leeds Bridge" and "Roundhay Garden Scene" are remembered as the first true movies ever shot, it is even more amazing how well they've aged. Despite being 130 years old this year, the prints of both appear to be crisp, detailed and very beautiful. Even though the entire clip of this film lasts only two seconds, the detail seen in those two seconds is remarkable. Pedestrians, horses and carriages, buildings etc. are all caught in this wonderfully framed short by the father of the motion picture, Louis le Prince.

How interesting, moving images from 1888. This film only plays for two seconds and could be considered as the second film ever made, after 'Roundhay Garden Scene' from the same year and same director.

That director is Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince, who mysteriously disappeared in 1890 after making only these two short films. Le Prince is the first great name when you talk about motion pictures, even though Lumière and Edison are much more famous. Seeing his two films, both two seconds long, gives a special feeling. Basically you are watching the birth of cinema. It is the same feeling you get while watching early work from Edison (his kinetoscopic record of a sneeze), Lumière (the arrival of a train) and Méliès (the first science-fiction narrative). You should try it!

By the way. The two seconds shows the Leeds Bridge full with pedestrians, horses and carriages.

Roundhay Garden Scene (1888)

Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge (1888)

If you've ever wondered what the first movies ever made were then here you go. Director Louise Le Prince shot these two films with a single lense camera he made in 1888. From what I've read, both were shot in October of 1888 because the director's mother died this month and she's featured in the first film (which I just had to watch twice). The first film has some sort of creepy feel along with it but if you're interested then you can see them at IMDb or Youtube. Both just last for two seconds but at least I can now say I saw the first film ever made.

This is only one of two films (the other being Roundhay Garden Scene) that survive from Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince. According to his son Adolphe Le Prince, this film was shot in Oct, 1888.

The elder Le Prince was a pioneer film-maker and the inventor of the first motion picture film camera to use perforated paper film. His work predates that of WKL Dickson working for Thomas Edison, and the films of the Lumière Brothers by a few years.

Alas, Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince was not to reap the fruits of his labour. In Sept, 1890, as he was taking a train to Paris to show his discovery to the world, Le Prince and all his camera equipment disappeared without a trace. Edison, Dickson, and Lumière would claim the credit for inventing the motion picture. But, it was really Le Prince who made the first ones (the efforts of Marey and Muybridge notwithstanding).