Lumière Brothers

The creators of the first film projector, the cinematographe are the Lumière brothers, Auguste and Louis, French filmmakers, who were credited as being the first film makers in history. In 1895 they created the device, and showcased it with their own films, most famously “Sortie des Usines Lumière à Lyon”, which translates to “Workers leaving the Lumière factory”. This was also the first film that they created.

The cinematographe was an improvement over the kinetoscope in more ways than just the fact that it could be viewed by more than one person. It was extremely light, weighing only 16 lbs. making it much easier to move around than the kinetoscope, which could only remain in one place due to its size and reliance on electricity. Another feature of the cinematograph was that it could be used as a camera and developer, as well as a projector.

After the creation of the cinematographe, there would be superior film projectors created, however they could only really be seen as improvements, not actually evolutions of the original device. Because of this, I would consider the Lumière brothers the most important pioneers of filmmaking, since they created the original movie projector, and debatably the original movie as well.