Clouds 1969 by the British filmmaker Peter Gidal is a film comprised of ten minutes of looped footage of the sky, shot with a handheld camera using a zoom to achieve close-up images. Aside from the amorphous shapes of the clouds, the only forms to appear in the film are an aeroplane flying overhead and the side of a building, and these only as fleeting glimpses. The formless image of the sky and the repetition of the footage on a loop prevent any clear narrative development within the film. The minimal soundtrack consists of a sustained oscillating sine wave, consistently audible throughout the film without progression or climax. The work is shown as a projection and was not produced in an edition. The subject of the film can be said to be the material qualities of film itself: the grain, the light, the shadow and inconsistencies in the print.
The first woman to appear in front of an Edison motion picture camera and possibly the first woman to appear in a motion picture within the United States. In the film, Carmencita is recorded going through a routine she had been performing at Koster & Bial's in New York since February 1890.
Three men hammer on an anvil and pass a bottle of beer around. Notable for being the first film in which a scene is being acted out.
The earliest surviving celluloid film, and believed to be the second moving picture ever created, was shot by Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince using the LPCCP Type-1 MkII single-lens camera. It was taken in the garden of Oakwood Grange, the Whitley family house in Roundhay, Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire (UK), possibly on 14 October 1888. The film shows Adolphe Le Prince (Le Prince's son), Mrs. Sarah Whitley (Le Prince's mother-in-law), Joseph Whitley, and Miss Harriet Hartley walking around in circles, laughing to themselves, and staying within the area framed by the camera. The Roundhay Garden Scene was recorded at 12 frames per second and runs for 2.11 seconds.
This bicycle-safety film shows children what can happen when bicycles are driven carelessly and recklessly.
A group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.
Kieslowski’s later film Dworzec (Station, 1980) portrays the atmosphere at Central Station in Warsaw after the rush hour.
A film about fireworks, the people who make them and the cultures behind them across the globe.
An experimental mathematics film designed to elucidate the study of four-line conics.
A documentary about the crowd of people that commingle throughout the 3.5km of the Minhocão, an overpass in the central region of São Paulo, built during Brazil's military dictatorship.
Wallace Carlson walks viewers through the production of an animated short at Bray Studios.
Share an exciting adventure with Sandy and Crystal as they go searching for "Mica's Magic Gemstone." Along the way to finding their treasure, they meet four very interesting characters: Mica - the tour guide, Sir Sediment - ruler of the sedimentary rocks, Iggy St. Igneous - guardian of the igneous rocks, and Matty Morphic - the metamorphic magician. Our characters use catchy songs to introduce Sandy and Crystal to the three major categories of rocks.
"[Hutton’s] latest urban film, New York Portrait, Chapter III, takes on a unique tone in relation to Hutton’s ongoing exploration of rural landscape. The very fact that Hutton is dealing with older footage, with archives of memory more than immediacy, gives it a different texture than his earlier New York films. Hutton always found the presence of nature in the city, not only in his many shots of sky and vegetation, but also in the geometry and texture of the city itself, which seemed to project an independence from the human." (Tom Gunning)
Chapter Two represents a continuation of daily observations from the environment of Manhattan compiled over a period from 1980-1981. This is the second part of an extended life's portrait of New York.
Time Stood Still is a 1956 Warner Brothers Scope Gem travelogue, filmed the previous year in Dinkelsbühl, and presented in the wide-screen format of CinemaScope, directed by André de la Varre. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film at the 29th Academy Awards.
On behalf of the Arvin Corporation, Buster Keaton demonstrates the importance of using Maremont auto parts for potential repairs while running a petrol station.
A day in the life of a train station.
Animated training film demonstrating the process by which an autopilot uses gyroscopic controls to maintain an airplane in level flight.
The first film in the Red Asphalt driver's education series, presented by the California Highway Patrol, shows graphic accident footage demonstrating the consequences of drunk, reckless and unsafe driving.
A film about the expansion of the Central Line beyond Stratford.