Roundhay Garden Scene is an 1888 short silent actuality film recorded by French inventor Louis Le Prince. Filmed at Oakwood Grange in Roundhay, Leeds, in the north of England, the footage is believed to be the oldest surviving film in existence.
Roundhay Garden Scene | |
---|---|
Play media Believed to be the world's earliest surviving motion-picture film | |
Directed by | Louis Le Prince |
Starring |
|
Cinematography | Louis Le Prince |
Edited by | Louis Le Prince |
Release date | 14 October 1888 (Private collection) |
Running time | 2.11 seconds |
Country | United Kingdom France |
Language | Silent |
Screenplay
According to Le Prince's son, Adolphe, the film was made at Oakwood Grange, the home of Joseph and Sarah Whitley, in Roundhay, Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England on 14 October 1888. The footage features Adolphe Le Prince, Sarah Whitley (née Robinson, 1816 – 24 October 1888), Joseph Whitley (1817 – 12 January 1891) and Annie Hartley in the garden of Oakwood Grange, leisurely walking around the garden of the premises. Sarah is seen walking - or dancing - backwards as she turns around, and Joseph's coat tails are seen flying as he also is turning. Joseph and Sarah Whitley were the parents of Le Prince‘s wife, Elizabeth. Annie Hartley is believed to be a friend of Le Prince and his wife. Sarah Whitley died ten days after the scene was filmed.
The original sequence was recorded on Eastman Kodak paper base photographic film using Louis Le Prince's single-lens camera. In 1930, the National Science Museum (NSM) in London produced photographic copies of surviving parts from the sequence and these were later mastered to 35mm film. Adolphe Le Prince stated that the Roundhay Garden sequence was shot at 12 fps (frames per second) and a second film, Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge, at 20 fps; however, this is not borne out by analysis of the sequences, which suggests a frame rate of 7 fps for both, which was the speed of reproduction used in the 2015 documentary about Le Prince, The First Film.