Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge

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.

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.

Unlike the previous commentator who failed to understand the historical importance of this piece of film and tried to review it in the context of 21st century technology, I would give this 10 out of 10 for the fact that without Le Prince's pioneering work, cinema as we know it might still be a pipe dream.

In terms of 19th century technology, which is the context in which it should be reviewed, this film is cutting edge.

The subject is recognisably a road across a city centre bridge in Victorian times. We have all seen plenty of still photographs from that era but in this composition, the horses and people actually move. I come from Yorkshire and I know that one branch of my family was resident in Leeds at this time so, who knows, one of those people could be a long-lost ancestor of mine. That's a romantic view but you really can't take anything other than a romantic view of something like this.

To see the film, follow the IMDb video clip and enjoy a glimpse of a bygone age. The title mentions traffic but you won't see any horseless carriages!

Absolutely fascinating.

In 1888 the city of Leeds, in England, became part of history of cinema as the place where the first movies were made. It was the place where a French inventor named Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince successfully tested his invention for the first time and created the first moving images in history. Of course, history often credits either Thomas Alva Edison or the Lumière brothers as the inventors of cinema, and not without a reason, as they were the first who made public exhibitions of movies; however, it was Louis Le Prince who shot the first movies a couple of years before Edison and the Lumières. Sadly, Le Prince would die under mysterious circumstances shortly after this monumental achievement (in 1890), and so, being unable to offer public demonstrations, his name was soon forgotten when film was presented by other inventors. Despite this tragic turn of events, it's never late to give the proper credit to Louis Le Prince as the father of cinema.

In the first movie ever, "Roundhay Garden Scene", Le Prince captured his wife's family on a day at the garden, as they walked and moved in order to test his camera. For his second experiment, Le Prince went to Leeds Bridge, and shot a 2 seconds of the traffic crossing the bridge. The carriages pulled by horses are captured by Le Prince's camera in what could be considered as the very first documentary in history, as it shows another typical day at the Leeds bridge. Obviously, Le Prince's intention was to capture real moving objects to prove that his invention was not fake, so what better way to do it than filming the traffic? Despite its extremely short runtime, this movie is quite interesting as it's a small glimpse to life in the late Victorian era, almost like a time machine to a past that now, more than 100 years later feels very distant.

Watching this movie (as well as "Roundhay Garden Scene") today is a strangely mystifying experience, as while in its short runtime barely nothing happens, the fact that before this movie there wasn't anything, that this was the very first time a movie was made, gives the film an almost supernatural atmosphere. The experiment was successful and cinema was born. It's a tragedy that Le Prince didn't live to see how his invention would grow, and never witnessed his invention becoming an art form and a new way of entertainment. While he never saw the magic of Georges Méliès's movies, or the narrative methods of Edwin S. Porter and D.W. Griffith, Le Prince showed the bridge. Edison, Lumière, and the rest of the pioneers would follow him and change history for ever. 10/10

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.