Saturday
Mar132010

Miss Jerry (1894)

Drama in film did not appear with Griffith, nor even with early 1900s short-films made by Edwin S. Porter, Charles Tait or Ferdinand Zecca. In 1894, Alexander Black, a keen photographer and journalist, discovered the key to story-telling in cinema.

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DateMar 13, 2010 |
Wednesday
Mar102010

Fred Ott

Assistant Director | Self | (1860-1936) |

Early experimental cinema has consecrated only one face, that of Fred Ott sneezing in front of the camera. As the star of the first American film to be subject to copyright, Ott is known as the first motion picture actor.

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DateMar 10, 2010 |
Friday
Mar052010

Dickson Experimental Sound Film (1894)

William K.L. Dickson |

The first sound film was released with its original soundtrack only in the 21st century. Originally a technical failure, nowadays Dickson Experimental Sound Film looks as one of the most original pieces in the early cinematic oeuvre.

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DateMar 5, 2010 |
Tuesday
Mar022010

Charles Kayser

Actor | (1878-1966) |

When Edison desired an improved motion picture camera, he did not turn to his most prolific film inventor, William K.L. Dickson, but rather to one of his most trusted assistants, Charles H. Kayser. The development of the kintetograph, as a result, found itself a poster boy for the contemporary press.

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DateMar 2, 2010 |
Friday
Feb262010

The Boxing Cats (Prof. Welton's) (1894)

A film, which would surely run into trouble with animal rights activists nowadays, is also one of the most entertaining works of the early silent cinema. The Boxing Cats stars vaudeville artist Henry Welton and two of his trained cats, caught in an intense boxing match.

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DateFeb 26, 2010 |
Tuesday
Feb232010

Carmencita (I)

Self | (1868-1910) |

Carmencita can be seen performing one of her dance acts from 1890 in Carmencita (1894). With that film she scored a few firsts in film history. This was the first time a woman appeared in a motion picture made in USA.

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DateFeb 23, 2010 |
Friday
Feb192010

Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze (1894)

William K.L. Dickson |

In History of the Kinetograph, Kinetoscope and Kinetophonograph, Antonia Dickson claims that there were countless attempts to shoot Fred Ott sneezing, yet none of the ingredients seemed to work on the poor fellow. It took a few days by the time the famous sneeze came to life.

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DateFeb 19, 2010 |
Monday
Feb152010

John Ott (II)

Actor | (1850-1931) |

A longstanding friend and a devoted employee, John Ott was one of the most important individuals to work with Edison on most of his inventions, including the kinetoscope. With over a dozen patents under his name, he established himself as an inventor, despite attributing most of them to Edison.

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DateFeb 15, 2010 |
Thursday
Feb112010

Carmencita (1894)

William K.L. Dickson |

Carmencita, the Spanish Gypsy dancer nicknamed the "Pearl of Seville", was the first woman to appear on celluloid in the United States. Watching her dance is still a pleasant experience more than 100 years since the film was shot.

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DateFeb 11, 2010 |
Monday
Feb082010

Edison Manufacturing Company [us]

Production Company | Distribution Company | (1890-1911) |

Edison’s flavour for technology could hardly miss the temptation to embark on the development of moving images. The early patent war with the European inventors has hardly put the avaricious businessman in a good light in contemporary criticism.

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DateFeb 8, 2010 |
Wednesday
Feb032010

Blacksmith Scene (1893)

William K.L. Dickson |

What a genuine sense of fun lurks in this picture! Three blacksmiths go about their business, hammering intensely on a metal rod. The job says that the metal should be cooled from time to time, and the blacksmiths believe that the human body needs its own refreshment.

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DateFeb 3, 2010 |
Thursday
Jan282010

William Heise

Cinematographer | Producer | Director | Actor | (1847-1910) |

The German-born American filmmaker William Heise can easily be considered the first professional director of photography. He has shot nearly 150 short films in the last decade of the 19th century, yet it is surprising how little biographical evidence is currently available about him.

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DateJan 28, 2010 |
Thursday
Jan212010

Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge (1888)

Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince |

The first thing that strikes the spectator watching Le Prince’s Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge is the print’s clarity. This is rather impressive, as Eastman’s paper strips did not provide the advantages of celluloid, available for the first time only a year later.

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DateJan 21, 2010 |
Monday
Jan182010

William K.L. Dickson

Producer | Director | Actor | Cinematographer | Instrumentalist | (1860-1935) |

Born in France of Anglo-Scottish descent, William Kennedy Laurie Dickson can easily be considered the most important individual in the history of motion pictures. His pivotal role in the development of the craft can be exemplified by just a few achievements.

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DateJan 18, 2010 |
Thursday
Jan142010

Dickson Greeting (1891)

William K.L. Dickson |

Dickson’s film is neither the first, nor the most celebrated work of the experimental period. In a dark room, a man greets us and bows to the camera.

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DateJan 14, 2010 |
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