1894/1895 – The Dickson Experimental Sound Film

Directed by: William K. L. Dickson

Much like the Monkeyshines films, this is an in-house experiment of the Kinetophone – a system consisting of a Kinetoscope and a cylinder-playing phonograph. It is the first film to feature live-recorded sound, although due to technicalities does not necessarily qualify as the first sound-film in history. The main issue is that it did not attempt synchronicity but an effect much like turning on your TV and radio at the same time. The music was an approximation and various recommendations were made for films played with the Kinetophone (in the case of Carmencita, suggestions included Valse Santiago, La Paloma, and Alma-Danza Spagnola). Regardless, it was a significant development towards sound film.

As for the content, it features William Dickson playing the violin and two other men (likely lab assistants) dancing. The melody is Song of the Cabin Boy from Robert Planquette’s light opera Les Cloched de Corneville (The Chimes of Freedom), composed in 1877. In the full version of the surviving recording, it is possible to hear somebody say “Are the rest of you ready? Go ahead!” at the very beginning – the first recorded instance of “speed” and “action”.

Bibliography

IMDb contributors (n.d.). ‘Dickson Experimental Sound Film (1894)’, IMDb. Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0177707/ [Accessed: 2 December 2021].

Murch, W. (n.d.). ‘Dickson Experimental Sound Film 1895’, FilmSound.org. Available at: http://filmsound.org/murch/dickson.htm [Accessed: 2 December 2021].

Wikipedia contributors (2021). ‘The Dickson Experimental Sound Film’, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 5 November. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dickson_Experimental_Sound_Film [Accessed: 2 December 2021].

1891 – Dickson Greeting

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].

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].