cinematography was invented by lumiere brothers in 1895.?

Question

an article read recently states that they are not the real inventors. is this true?

Answer 1

Yes,it is true that the Lumieres were not the first "cinematographers", depending on how you define "cinematography".

The pioneer inventor and first "cinematographer" was a man almost forgotten today, Birt Acres, born in American, who moved as a young man to Britain.

Birt Acres, inventor of the first British 35 mm moving picture camera, the first daylight loading home movie camera and projector, Birtac, was the first travelling newsreel reporter in international film history and the first European film maker who had his films shown in the United States in public performances.

For many years, Birt Acres' pioneering achievements seem to have been forgotten. Several of his successes have been credited to other pioneers, yet he was one of Britain's most important film pioneers.

He contributed much to the introduction and development of cinematography in all its aspects, from the construction of cameras, projectors, film viewers, coating- and slitting machines and the manufacture of highly sensitized 35 mm raw film stock, to mobile newsreel reporting and the public projections of moving pictures.

. . . . Mechanism of Birt Acres' "Kineopticon" of 1895, now displayed in the Science Museum, London.
In 1893 Birt Acres registered a patent on a hopper feed arrangement with which he could take and project successfully a sequential series of photographs, - for instance, of a drifting cloud or a wave breaking on the shore. He used the rapid feed arrangement with a biunial lantern and it enabled him to create the 'distinct impression of motion'. He also registered patents for other photographic inventions eventually leading to the patenting of Britain's first (one of Europe's first) successful cinematograph camera, the Kineopticon, in 1896.

Henley Royal Regatta of 1894
In 1894, experimenting with celluloid as a logical step from the successive glass plate photographs, he produced a short film, The Henley Royal Regatta of 1894 using an experimental camera and 70mm Kodak film that was generally available for snapshot cameras. A portion of this early film is in the Museum of Modern Art in New York

. . . .Early in 1895 he made a contract with the international chocolate manufacturer Ludwig Stollwerck of Cologne, who exploited Edison's Kinetoscopes in Germany and other countries for which he needed a regular supply of film subjects. In June 1895, Stollwerck invited Birt Acres to film the opening of the Kiel Canal in Germany. Acres made trips to Hamburg, Kiel and Berlin where he filmed the opening ceremony, which was performed by the Kaiser; a review of the troops; later on a visit to Berlin, a charge of German Lancers and finally, the Kaiser leading a procession through the streets of Berlin.

Opening of the Kiel canal, 1895
The following year, Birt Acres' pictures KAISER WILHELM REVIEWING HIS TROOPS and OPENING OF THE KlEL CANAL, together with his successful ROUGH SEA AT DOVER, were amongst Edison's films in the famous first film show of April 1896 in Koster & Bial's Music Hall. Ludwig Stollwerck was still a friend of the family at the outbreak of the First World War when they lost touch with each other.

In August 1895, he gave his first semi-public film show at the Assembly Rooms in New Barnet, but it was not until the beginning of 1896 that Birt Acres felt confident enough to give a public exhibition of his 'animated photography', as it was then called.

He showed his films to the Lyonsdown Amateur Photographic Association in Barnet Oil the 10th of January. This was certamly the first successful screen projection of films in England.

In January 1896, almost at the same time as the Lumieres gave their first film show in London, he gave a public show before a meeting of the Royal Photographic Society, of which he was a member.

. . . .At the request of the Cardiff Photographic Society, Birt Acres presented several of his films at the prestigious Cardiff Exhibition in June 1896. While he was there he filmed the visit to the exhibition of the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Later, in seeking permission from the Prince to exhibit these films, he was requested to come to Marlborough House and demonstrate his films before 75 members of the Royal Families of Europe. This collection of notables would be attending the wedding of Princess Maud and Prince Charles of Denmark on 21st July 1896. This, the first ever Royal Command Film Performance, was almost certainly the highlight of Birt Acres' career.

The Birtac 17,5mm camera
The story does not end here. Birt Acres went on to design an improved cinematograph system which he patented in April 1897 eliminating the jerkiness that was present in his earlier system. He never lost his enthusiasm for breaking new ground in his chosen field and in June 1898 he patented an apparatus for taking and projecting films for the home enthusiast. This was the Birtac home cinema, designed specifically according to the handbook, to place animated photography within the reach of everyone and which used 35mm film split lengthways.

Answer 2

Yes, Thomas Alva Edison did it first. His star was a race horse. The movie proved that all four feet of the horse were off the ground at the same time. Settling a bet and got the old man thinking.

Answer 3

Define Cinematograph

Answer 4

Go to http://www.xs4all.nl/~wichm/myth.html

there everything is explained.