Directed by: William K. L. Dickson
After sufficient private experiments with the Kinetoscope (Monkeyshines, No.1), the first public demonstration of motion pictures in the United States took place in the Edison Laboratories on May 20, 1891: Dickson Greeting was presented to 147 members of a women’s club.
The subject of the film is William K. L. Dickson bowing and passing his hat from one hand to the other. This simple act is significant for two reasons. First of all, the careful choreography indicates performing for the camera and, in effect, an audience. It acknowledges the storytelling potential of film, one which is not limited to chronicling everyday occurrences but capable of evoking a response through performance. We are not mere observers of a scene but the intended audience.
Secondly, it is an example of the symbolic value that can be assigned to a film. The greeting presented may well be a mere gesture of politeness, but it has come to signify a welcome into the world of film– Dickson personally inviting the viewer to a new medium.
Bibliography
Dirks, T. (n.d.). ‘Greatest Film Milestones Pre-1900s’, filmsite. Available at: http://www.filmsite.org/milestonespre1900s_2.html [Accessed: 18 November 2021].
IMDb contributors (n.d.). ‘Dickson Greeting (1891)’, IMDb. Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0241373/ [Accessed: 18 November 2021].
Martea, I. (2021). ‘Dickson Greeting (1891)’, Essential Films, 30 January. Available at: https://www.essential-films.co.uk/article/dickson-greeting [Accessed: 18 November 2021].
Reel Lessons 