Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze (1894)

Friday

Feb192010

William K.L. Dickson | United States of America | 1894

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. Whether it was the difficulty of shooting the scene or the sincerity of the action, the filmmakers considered that Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze deserves to be the first film that should be copyrighted.

A bit of pepper was the solution to make Fred Ott sneeze. Caught in a close-up, he overtakes the screen with such intensity that we cannot but bless him for his achievement.

Arguably, this is one of the first films that initiated the idea of a closed text, thus establishing a continuous narrative with a clear start and conclusion. The premise was to have a man exhibiting a human action and then observe the unexpected effects of the action. Once everything is seen, the story closes quietly, serene.

Dickson’s work in the first four years since the invention of the apparatus has the odd sensation of fitting somewhere between documentary and comedy. Historically, due to technical problems, most of the acts were staged, which meant that the concept of capturing reality limited itself to capturing on film human action, irrespective of its casual premise. Yet, if we consider it from the perspective of staged narrative, the effectiveness of performance always comes as a prime element in discussing these shorts.

Unlike the European directors in the 19^th century, the filmmakers at Edison Manufacturing Company in particularly, have given birth to the concept of film acting, as opposed to documentary non-action, or theatrical versatility. Watching Fred Ott in action gives the best understanding of what Dickson had in mind, specifically a realistic non-exaggerated representation of the human being. The staging in this context is not undermining the efforts of the director; rather it reinforces the quality of acting these non-professionals exhibit.