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Roundhay Garden Scene

Name: Roundhay Garden Scene
Director: Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince
Released: 1888
Duration: 1 min

Representation Score

0.4/10

Minimal

1888

Not Rated

Director

Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince

Runtime

1 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

As the first surviving motion picture, this film serves as a technical achievement rather than a platform for social commentary. It captures a brief, everyday scene from late 19th-century Yorkshire. The absence of diversity reflects the era's demographics and the film's role as a scientific record. The subjects represent a uniform, Western, upper-middle-class group without any layered representation. Overall, the film does not have the structure needed to explore identity, roles, or social rebellion, serving instead as a historical document.

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Category Breakdown

Does Roundhay Garden Scene have LGBTQ+ representation?

Minimal

The film does not show any same-sex relationships or non-cisgender expressions. Since it is very short and silent, there is no clear queer subtext or discussions about heteronormativity.

How does Roundhay Garden Scene portray gender?

Limited

Men and women interact in a garden following 19th-century social rules and dress. They maintain traditional gender roles without challenging the status quo.

How racially and ethnically diverse is Roundhay Garden Scene?

Minimal

All the people in the film are of European descent, reflecting the demographics of Leeds in 1888. There are no non-white or non-Anglo-Saxon individuals shown.

How does Roundhay Garden Scene represent religion and culture?

Limited

The film documents upper-middle-class Western leisure activities. It does not address secular themes or question Western institutions.

Does Roundhay Garden Scene include disability representation?

Minimal

There are no visible or hidden disabilities shown. The people move normally and are not used as plot devices or mocked.

Present on Screen

Provides a genuine look at late 19th-century social customs and traditional clothing.
Serves as an early record of Western domestic life and movement.

Limited or Absent

Does not include any non-white, non-European, or non-Anglo-Saxon identities.
Does not address LGBTQ+ identities or challenge traditional gender roles.
Does not feature any individuals with disabilities or diverse cultural backgrounds.

Official Synopsis

The earliest surviving motion-picture film, and believed to be one of the very first moving images ever created, was shot by Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince using the LPCCP Type-1 MkII single-lens camera. It was taken on paper-based photographic film in the garden of Oakwood Grange, the Whitley family house in Roundhay, Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire (UK), on 14 October 1888. The film shows Adolphe Le Prince (Le Prince’s son), Mrs. Sarah Whitley (Le Prince’s mother-in-law), Joseph Whitley, and Miss Harriet Hartley walking around in circles, laughing to themselves, and staying within the area framed by the camera. Roundhay Garden Scene is often associated with a recording speed of around 12 frames per second and runs for about 2 to 3 seconds.

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