Fred Ott

1894 – Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze

Directed by: William K. L. Dickson

Also known as Fred Ott’s Sneeze, it was the first film to be registered for copyright on January 9, 1894. It features Thomas Edison’s assistant, Fred Ott, taking a pinch of snuff and sneezing. The submission consisted of the 45 frames reproduced as a picture.

The film is also noted for being the first to feature a close-up. There seems to be an understanding that audiences do not need to be bystanders to a scene but can be taken close to the action.

Bibliography

IMDb contributors (n.d.). ‘Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze (1894)’, IMDb. Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000008/ [Accessed: 28 November 2021].

Library of Congress (n.d.). ‘Edison kinetoscopic record of a sneeze, January 7, 1894’, Library of Congress. Available at: https://www.loc.gov/item/00694192 [Accessed: 28 November 2021].

Shedden, D. (2015). ‘Today is Media History: A copyrighted 1894 sneeze and the beginning of the film industry’, Poynter, 7 January. Available at: https://www.poynter.org/news/today-media-history-copyrighted-1894-sneeze-and-beginning-film-industry [Accessed: 28 November 2021].

1889/1890 – Monkeyshines, No.1

Directed by: William K. L. Dickson, William Heise

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “monkeyshine” as: “mischievous or playful activity : PRANK —usually used in plural”. This is an apt title that would have been suitable for Roundhay Garden Scene (1888) as well– people playing around with new technology. It is considered the first motion picture made in the United States and is part of a series of internal tests of the Kinetoscope, followed by Monkeyshines, No.2 and Monkeyshines, No.3. Accounts of whom it features and when it was filmed vary, though general consensus is that it’s either Fred Ott in June 1889 or Giuseppe Sacco Albanese in November 1890 (both men were laboratory assistants for Thomas Edison).

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.). ‘Monkeyshines, No. 1 (1890)’, IMDb. Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0361921/ [Accessed: 18 November 2021].

Merriam-Webster (n.d.). ‘Monkeyshine’, Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Available at: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monkeyshine [Accessed: 18 November 2021].

Wikipedia contributors (2021). ‘Monkeyshines’, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 11 July. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkeyshines [Accessed: 18 November 2021].