Baby's First Steps

A group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.

Working men and women leave through the main gate of the Lumière factory in Lyon, France. Filmed on 22 March 1895, it is often referred to as the first real motion picture ever made, although Louis Le Prince's 1888 Roundhay Garden Scene pre-dated it by seven years. Three separate versions of this film exist, which differ from one another in numerous ways. The first version features a carriage drawn by one horse, while in the second version the carriage is drawn by two horses, and there is no carriage at all in the third version. The clothing style is also different between the three versions, demonstrating the different seasons in which each was filmed. This film was made in the 35 mm format with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and at a speed of 16 frames per second. At that rate, the 17 meters of film length provided a duration of 46 seconds, holding a total of 800 frames.

Passers-by on a street market in Marseille.

The film is a panorama shot-scene lasting just under a minute. The panorama film, as coined by Lumière, is a moving-camera shot--usually accomplished by placing the camera on a moving transport, such as a boat or train.

Félicien Trewey uses a basic prop to create comical hats and their accompanying caricatures.

A small boy brings a plate of milk to a big cat, grooming itself.

In a grove, a small boy and a small girl are dancing together.

A stationary camera looks across a busy corner toward a store front marked "The Divan." The words "des fees" are beneath. A cortege of Arabs, about 20 persons in the party, walk past; the dignitaries are in front, attended by men with horns and drums. Coming in the other direction are local Swiss, who pay little attention, and a group of native-garbed Africans. The dozen or so well-dressed denizens of Geneva who are sitting on the steps of the Divan take it all in.

Several shots of the carnival in Nice, floats and parade costumes, passing along the crowded streets.

Circulation of passers-by and cars in the paved street on the occasion of the Tsar's coronation.

Short film by Lumière of people disembarking from a boat at the port of nice.

Three women get in a horse-drawn carriage, as servants load luggage on the roof, before it pulls away.

A stationary camera looks west across Niagara Falls from the United States' side (the Niagara River rushes toward the falls from right to left). Virtually overlooking the falls and surrounded by the swift current not far from the camera is a small island where six or eight tourists watch the water, talk, and move about.

Asian and Near Eastern diplomats and royalty file past the camera on their way to the coronation of Czar Nicholas II of Russia.

A royal wedding procession.