Black Maria

1895 – Rough Sea at Dover

Directed by: Birt Acres

Since Thomas Edison neglected to patent his Kinetoscope in Britain, instrument-maker Robert W. Paul purchased one, took it apart and began manufacturing copies. However, the Kinetograph camera was not only patented but its inner workings were a secret, prompting Paul to seek the aid of Birt Acres, with whom he developed a brand new camera. Together they produced numerous films, including Incident at Clovelly Cottage (1895) and The Oxford and Cambridge University Boat Race (1895). Rough Sea at Dover was projected at the Royal Photographic Society in Hanover Street, London, on January 14, 1896. It was the first public film screening in Britain.

Not only does the film take place outdoors, which sets it apart from those produced within the confines of Edison’s Black Maria studio, it features a subject that is naturally dynamic – waves crashing on the shores of Dover. Water in general would come to be used in film for moments of contemplation and dream-like hypnotism.

Bibliography

Brooke, M. (n.d.). ‘Rough Sea at Dover (1896)’, BFI screenonline. Available at: http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/442891/ [Accessed: 3 December 2021].

IMDb contributors (n.d.). ‘Rough Sea at Dover (1896)’, IMDb. Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000030/ [Accessed: 3 December 2021].

1893 – Blacksmith Scene

Directed by: William K. L. Dickson

Also known as Blacksmithing Scene, it is one of the earliest films shot in Edison’s Black Maria studio in New Jersey. It was publicly shown along with Horse Shoeing (1893) at the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences (now Brooklyn Museum) on 9 May 1893.

The film features three blacksmiths pausing their hard work to pass a bottle around and then resume hammering away. It is also a lie– the men are not blacksmiths in a workshop but actors in a studio. As such, it is one of the earliest known examples of actors performing a role in a motion picture.

Bibliography

Dirks, T. (n.d.). ‘Greatest Film Milestones Pre-1900s’, filmsite. Available at: http://www.filmsite.org/milestonespre1900s_2.html [Accessed: 28 November 2021].

Fortmueller, K. (2017). ‘Blacksmithing Scene (1893)’, Critical Commons, 22 February. Available at: http://www.criticalcommons.org/Members/kfortmueller/clips/blacksmithing-scene-1893/view [Accessed: 28 November 2021].

IMDb contributors (n.d.). ‘Blacksmith Scene (1893)’, IMDb. Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000005/ [Accessed: 28 November 2021].

National Film Preservation Foundtation (2017). ‘Blacksmithing Scene (1893)’. Available at: https://www.filmpreservation.org/dvds-and-books/clips/blacksmithing-scene-1893 [21 November 2021].