Roundhay Garden Scene (1888)

Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland | 1888

The debate over who invented the medium of motion pictures has brought Le Prince a rather delayed recognition. Muybridge and over mavericks working in the second half of the 19th century have provided a good basis for what is to come with Roundhay Garden Scene – the recording of moving image from one point of view. Yet, his sudden disappearance, the financial problems over his invention and the failed patent battle against Edison, have all contributed to Le Prince’s name to virtually disappear from any subject related manual.

Despite its historical significance, Le Prince’s film is also a beautiful documentary evidence on the period’s middle-class British family. The work does not only lay the path on a technological level, but also opens the discourse on genre or performance, as well as on the role of film in society. The elderly couple looks nostalgically towards the youth, while slowly fading out of the shot. The reserved mannerism vibrates with energy in the rawness of the palette. It is appealing to explore the extent to which the four characters were affected by the presence of the camera. This type of acting does not integrate within the theatrical tradition of the time, moreover, with Le Prince, the shooting of film has turned its subjects into self-conscious actors. A new tradition was to emerge, taking the actor away from the text and turning him towards oneself. Roundhay Garden Scene should not get the credit for this, yet it deserves commending for developing the discourse from the very start.

However, it is rather easy to dismiss Roundhay Garden Scene as a simple experiment. To a certain degree, the film is a test for Le Prince’s camera, a test that would prove that the streaming of multiple static photographs at a high speed can produce the illusion of movement. With that in mind, one still needs to consider the setting for the film. Le Prince could have easily taken a series of photographs of a moving subject in close-up in order to prove the effectiveness of his device. Instead, he chose to expand his canvas to a larger scale. Shooting a full sequence involving multiple characters within a natural landscape, allowed him to view motion as it is perceived by the human eye. We are no longer confined to viewing the image as imposed by the camera zoom, but rather we obtain a chance to become one with the image.

And it is precisely this ability in trying to achieve a frank representation of reality that generates one of the most contested topics in cinematic discourse. Le Prince’s pioneering effort is to be applauded, more so due to his ambition of achieving not only a representation of reality, but a reproduction of reality. For him, film was not an extension to photography, but a new invention which envisages an authentic 3D experience. Unfortunately, his own desires made him as ignorant of his own technological success, as 20th century film history was of his entire presence in the world of moving pictures.

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Essential Films Awards

1888

Best Film - Whitley Partners
Best Direction - Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince
Best Cinematography - Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince
Best Editing - Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince

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Essential Films National Awards

1888: German Empire

Best Direction - Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince
Best Cinematography - Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince
Best Editing - Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince

1888: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

Best Film - Whitley Partners

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Cast & Crew

Director:
Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince

Cinematographer:
Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince

Editor:
Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince

Self:
Harriet Hartley
Adolphe Le Prince
Joseph Whitley
Sarah Whitley

Production Company:
Whitley Partners

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Links: IMDb - Wikipedia