The Birth of Cinema

On December 28th 1895, brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière showed their latest invention to a crowd of people in Paris, the Cinematorgraph, a revolutionary new device that allowed them to record moving pictures. This day is regarded by many as the birth of cinema. Over a century, the art of film has provided art, entertainment and emotion for millions around the World year after year.

As a film student and lover of cinema myself, I came up with an idea to commemorate the creation of my favourite past-time, as well as that of many others. A working replica of the Lumiére Brothers' marvelous invention, created using almost 1500 Lego pieces.

This model is a faithful recreation, slightly smaller than the original Cinematograph, but features an inner working mechanism that allows the user to operate the camera as if they were shooting their very own film.

- Remove the crank handle on the back and open the door to reveal the inner working mechanishm.

- Turn the handle to rotate the gears, which causes the film reel to roll. The reel contains 15 frames from the infamous film "Arrival of a train at la ciotat", which allegedly made audiences jump out their seats thinking a train was speeding towards them.

- The front of the camera opens to reveal the shutter, a large cutout disk that also spins when you turn the crank handle at the back.

- On the back is a small hatch you can open to watch the film play as you turn the handle.

- Remove the film box on top which makes it easier to place and take away the reels for storage.

- The set comes with two different lenses, a smaller, shorter one and a much larger telescopic lens with detailed optical controls.

- Also included with the set are two minifigures of the brothers Louis and Auguste, as well as a miniature version of the Cinematograph on a stand and a poster of their original screening from 1985.

This set would be perfect for fans of film history or film in general, the model's high level of detail would appeal to collectors who want a display piece for their homes and the mechanism also provides a play experience for young budding filmmakers who dream of making their own moving pictures.

I hope you enjoy the idea and all your support is greatly appreciated!