Introduction#

Good morning, and welcome to “Here’s a Minute” — a short-form podcast with history, fun facts, and a prompt in a minute - or maybe two. Today is December 29, 2024. I’m Lex Wu.

Historical Fact#

And I’m Vian Vera. We’re taking a step back to December 28, 1895, where the first commercial movie was screened in France. Two French brothers who developed a camera-projector screened a film of workers leaving their factory at the Grand Cafe in Paris.

Fun Fact#

The café, opened in 1875, still exists — and it’s open until 1AM. If you’re listening to this, you’re probably the type of person who would stay up until 1AM writing — and we both know you probably shouldn’t.

Science Fact#

Another fun fact — Early cameras filmed at 16 frames per second. This is much slower compared to modern cameras. The highest frame-rate camera in existence can film at up to 156.3 trillion frames per second — so just a small difference.

Writing Prompts#

Rewrite a scene from your favorite film from the perspective of an actor who clearly didn’t read the script and needs to improvise everything.

You’re in charge of preserving the first roll of film ever screened to the world — and then you hear a noise in the backroom. Describe what happens next.

Outro#

We haven’t quite got our online portal online yet, but we’ll soon be releasing a companion podcast and website, so your work can be featured online to the world.

This podcast was written and hosted by Vian Vera and Lex Wu. Happy New Years! We’ll see you next week.