A 1896 Fairground Programme - The George Williams Collection - 1896
ABOUT THE FILM : A 1896 Fairground Programme - The George Williams Collection
National Fairground Archive / University of SheffieldYear: 1896
This series of eleven short films filmed in kinetoscope represent the founding films of cinema. The recurring films peculiar to the pioneers of cinema are recalled in this original anthology. From a crime scene to boxing bouts via dance and human or animal performances, it’s the re-enactment of movement that is at the heart of these experimental films.
The first five films are mainly the work of Birt Acres and were filmed between in Great Britain 1895 and 1896; the paternity of the next six belong to famous inventor Thomas Edison and were filmed between 1894 and 1895 in the United States of America.
Nationalities: English, American
Actors: Eugen Sandow , Carmencita, Annabelle Whitford, Eugene Hornbacker, ( Dan ?) Murphy, Annie Oakley
Length: 5' 9"
Sound: silent with soundtrack
Original elements: black & white
Producer: Edison Manufacturing Company
Composer: Xavier Bussy (2009)
Original language: English
A BRIEF HISTORY : A 1896 Fairground Programme - The George Williams Collection
Without the genius of one of the greatest inventors of all time, Thomas Alva Edison (1847–1931), who created the kinetoscope in 1888, the “cinematograph” of the Lumière Brothers wouldn’t have seen the light of day. This self-taught American, who worked on artificial light among others, was the first to have a vision of what cinema must be. Edison was inspired by the experiments by English photographer Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904) and magic lanterns to design a projector allowing a viewer to visualise animated photos in a cash box.
A sort of individual viewer, the kinetoscope was presented in the form of a big box equipped with an eyepiece allowing you to see towards the inside. The film was played at the back; a shutter let each image appear a fraction of a second then closed the time needed so the next image could be displayed. The illusion of movement was obtained thanks to the phenomenon of persistence of vision. Totally innovative, the appliance was sold around the world.
Edison also developed the kinetograph: a camera capable of recording films compatible with the kinetoscope. From 1894 very short films were shot and shown in cinemas specially dedicated to it or at fairs. These films captured fragments of scenes from dance like in Carmencita from the name of the Spanish star of New York music hall, to scenes of boxing bouts Americans were crazy about: the film Hornbacker-Murphy fight is proof of this.
Like Edison, Birt Acres (1854–1918), pioneer of English cinema invented a camera-projector in 1894: the kineopticon. A film maker but also a photography director, this American of English parents who photographed passing clouds was more interested in scientific invention than the show. Although linked with the experimental vein that characterised this period, Acres films had a more burlesque dimension than those by Edison however. Partners with English film producer Robert William Paul, Acres signed the first three films presented in this compilation, including Arrest of a Pickpocket (1895), the first British photoplay produced. It was also with Paul that he made his two best known films: Rough Sea at Dover and Derby.
The films were shown in early October 1896 in a portable booth at Hull Fair, one of the largest fairgrounds in Europe. Show alongside a magic lantern show and incorporating a Edison phonograph into the exhibition they were presented by George Williams, a professional photographer from the Midlands, and comprise the earliest documented showing of films on the British fairground.
These films, which were believed to be lost, have been donated by members of the George Williams family to the National Fairground Archive (University of Sheffield Library). They were restored thanks to the care of PresTech Film Laboratories Limited in London.
The original music for this film was composed by Xavier Bussy in 2009.
The films
- [The] Arrest of a Pickpocket (Paul/Acres, GB, April 1895)
- Boxing Kangaroo (Paul/Acres, GB, May/June 1895)
- [Performing Animals] / [Skipping Dogs (?)] (Paul/Acres, GB, May/June 1895)
- [Boxing Match] (Birt Acres, GB, 1895/96?)
- [Landing at Low Tide] (Birt Acres, GB, August 1896?) / [The Lady and the Boat] (Haydon & Urry, GB 1899?)
- Sandow [No. 2] (Edison, US 1894)
- Carmencita [No. 2] (Edison, US 1894)
- Annabelle Butterfly Dance (Edison, US 1894)
- Hornbacker-Murphy Fight (Edison, US 1894)
- Annie Oakley (Edison, US 1894)
- New Bar Room [Scene] (Edison, US 1895)
