Chickens Scared by Torpedo

From the prehistory of film, animals have been featured in motion pictures. The ethical treatment of animals was only formally regulated nearly a century after the invention of the medium. Eadweard Muybridge’s Chickens Scared by Torpedo (1887) is an early chronophotographic sequence that challenges our modern standards. Although no animals appear to be harmed in this work, the setting does raise questions. The birds fly off from the explosion, but as the smoke that follows obscures the clarity of the image, the result offers no value for the study of locomotion. Was the original intention to record the sequence for comic effect? If so, it is hard to see how this series of photographs, even when set in motion, can generate laughter. Sadly, this can now only be viewed as documentary evidence of animal cruelty on film.