Swimming in the Sea
About Swimming in the Sea
At La Ciotat, children run out along a jetty and dive into the waves, then climb back and jump again. A woman goes into the water with them. The camera does not move.
Cast & crew
More about Swimming in the Sea
Louis Lumière shot this view, Catalogue Lumière no. 11, between 11 July and 21 September 1895. It was shown on 21 September 1895 at Le Clos des Plages in La Ciotat under the title Baignades à La Ciotat, and it was on the Cinématographe program at the Salon Indien, Grand Café, 14 Boulevard des Capucines, Paris, on 28 December 1895.
Themes
Background
It belongs to the first year of the Cinématographe, before the Paris program of 28 December 1895 made the machine a paid public show.
Making
Louis Lumière is named as the operator. The local paper Le Petit Marseillais of 24 September 1895 reported the Clos des Plages showing.
Look
Louis Lumière filmed it in one fixed outdoor shot, with the jetty leading into the frame and the sea filling the rest.
Music
Silent.
Preservation
Catalogue Lumière records a Lumière negative, one duplicate negative, and four prints.
Notes
- French titles include Baignade en mer and La Mer.
- The Catalogue Lumière describes children throwing themselves into the waves from a springboard, over and over.
- The Cinématographe was camera, developer, and projector in one machine.
- The negative is 35mm, about 1.33:1.
- The catalogue lists a Lumière negative, one internegative, and four Lumière prints.
Scenes
- The group runs the length of the jetty and drops into the surf, then starts back for another jump.
