Going back to my run of abandoned gas stations. At some point I’m going to have to admit to myself that drawing dark, abandoned gas stations is no longer concept art for the game, but just a thing I like doing for fun.
Fire!
- Director: James Williamson
- Year: 1901
- Runtime: 5m
- Available on YouTube
I am pleased to report that the first film to link together multiple shots into a narrative is an action-packed stunt spectacular set on the South coast of England.
Continue Reading →
Panorama of Eiffel Tower
- Director: James H. White
- Year: 1900
- Runtime: 1m
- Available on YouTube
Come for the world’s first camera tilt, stay for the delightful characters at the end.
Let Me Dream Again
- Director: George Albert Smith
- Starring: Tom Green, Laura Bayley
- Year: 1900
- Runtime: 1m
- Available on YouTube
A poor wretch of a man wakes from a dream about partying with a pretty younger woman to find, in a hi-larious twist, that his arms are around his older, dowdier wife who wants nothing to do with his affections.
How his wife hates him so! Ha ha ha!
Continue Reading →
Solar Eclipse
- Director: Nevil Maskelyne
- Year: 1900
- Runtime: 2m
- Available on BFI Player
This film is believed to be the first surviving astronomical film in the world. Magician and astronomy enthusiast Nevil Maskelyne had to design and build a special adaptor for his camera in order to capture this solar eclipse, an event that has fascinated us for all of human existence.
Continue Reading →
Les Fredaines de Pierrette
(Pierrette’s Escapades)
- Director: Alice Guy
- Year: 1900
- Runtime: 2m
- Available on YouTube
Harlequin! We love that mischievous rogue, appearing in Columbine’s bedroom to frolic (and then “frolic”).
Continue Reading →
Cyrano de Bergerac
- Director: Clément Maurice
- Year: 1900
- Runtime: 2m
- Available on Wikimedia
This short is a scene taken from Rostand’s play and featuring the celebrated lead actor, Benoit Constant Coquelin, from the Paris production.
Continue Reading →
Un homme de têtes
(The Four Troublesome Heads; Four Heads are Better Than One)
- Director: Georges Méliès
- Year: 1898
- Runtime: 1m
- Available on Wikipedia
Before there was Looney Tunes, there was George Méliès.
Continue Reading →
La Lune à un mètre
(The Astronomer’s Dream; The Man in the Moon)
- Director: Georges Méliès
- Year: 1898
- Runtime: 3m
- Available on Archive.org
This movie is absurd in the best possible way.
It features satan, goddesses, child clowns, an evil moon, slapstick, puppetry, and practical effects.
I love it.
Continue Reading →
Danse Serpentine (Serpentine Dance)
- Director: Louis Lumière
- Year: 1896
- Runtime: 1m
- Available on Wikipedia, or with a slightly higher resolution but with interlacing issues at Ubu.com
The first couple of films I watched as part of my History of Cinema journey were, frankly, not that exciting. They are interesting and worthwhile for their technological achievements and historical importance. Unfortunately, as movies, they don’t have a whole lot to offer.
Continue Reading →