A short documentary about the work of the National Trust in Great Britain
Early short showing the titular park in around 2 minutes.
Lee Martin, one of the cowboy stars in 'Buffalo Bill's Wild West', rides a bronco as a crowd looks on. While the horse is trying to throw Martin off its back, another cowboy stands on top of a fence rail and occasionally fires his six-shooter, to spur on both horse and rider.
In the background, five fans lean on the ropes looking into the ring. The referee is to the left; like the fans, he hardly moves as two fighters swing roundhouse blows at each other. Mike Leonard, in white trunks, is the aggressor; in black, Jack Cushing stands near the edge of the ring, warily pawing the air as Leonard comes at him. A couple of punches land, but the fighters maintain their upright postures.
A scene from Charles Hoyt's 'A Milk White Flag': A brass band marches out, led by bandmaster Steele Ayers. When Ayers reaches his position, he turns around and directs the musicians as they take up their own positions.
Intended as a publicity film for Chrysler, Rhythm uses rapid editing to speed up the assembly of a car, synchronizing it to African drum music. The sponsor was horrified by the music and suspicious of the way a worker was shown winking at the camera; although Rhythm won first prize at a New York advertising festival, it was disqualified because Chrysler had never given it a television screening. P. Adams Sitney wrote, “Although his reputation has been sustained by the invention of direct painting on film, Lye deserves equal credit as one of the great masters of montage.” And in Film Culture, Jonas Mekas said to Peter Kubelka, “Have you seen Len Lye’s 50-second automobile commercial? Nothing happens there…except that it’s filled with some kind of secret action of cinema.” - Harvard Film Archive
Filmed on the 100th anniversary of the labour union laws in France, the quasi-science fiction film is set in 2084. A robot moderator helps us look 'back' at the contemporary labour situation and different directions the movement could take.
This short follows a day of work for an Everglades wildlife trapper catching animals for zoos around America. In this film, his assignment is to go out into the swamp with his Indian assistant and find a bobcat, 2 black bear cubs and six rattlesnakes.
Carmaux is in south-central France, near the Tarn River. As a brick of coke, about four feet high and three feet wide, is gradually pushed out of a smelter into a yard, one worker sprays it with water from a hose while two workers with long metal rakes wait to spread it out. Other workers buzz in and out of the foreground of the stationary camera. Atop the first level of the brick smelter, workers push full carts of coal along a track.
Long before Hollywood started painting white men red and dressing them as 'Injuns' Edison's company was using the genuine article! Featuring for what is believed to be the Native Americans first appearance before a motion picture camera 'Buffalo Dance' features genuine members of the Sioux Tribe dressed in full war paint and costume! The dancers are believed to be veteran members of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Filmed again at the Black Maria studios by both Dickson and Heise the 'Buffalo Dance' warriors were named as Hair Coat, Parts His Hair and Last Horse. Its quite strange seeing these movies at first they all stand around waiting to begin and as they start some of the dancers look at the camera in an almost sad way at having lost their way of life.
Patagonia. A country full of endless expanse of untouched nature. A unique wildlife awaits us here at the end of the world, where only a select few get there. Based on original quotations from his travelogue, the film follows the historic route of one of the most important nature observers and evolutionary scientists of history - Charles Darwin. The courses alternate shots from fascinating animal with breathtaking scenery. Follow us on this adventure and experience firsthand the beauty and fascination of the most unique landscapes on earth - in 3D.
Film taken from a boat heading down the Hudson is shown at varying speeds, often giving a sense of rapid transit.
The title tells us where we are; the vignette is in two parts, spliced together. On a busy sidewalk, a police officer holds the left arm and a suited man holds the other of a Chinese wearing a loose white shirt and hat - marching the man up the slight incline past the camera.
This two-color (green-blue and red) film was produced as a demonstration reel at the Paragon Studios in Fort Lee, New Jersey, under the direction of Kodak scientist John Capstaff. It features leading actresses, including Mae Murray, Hope Hampton, and Mary Eaton, posing and miming for the camera to showcase the capability of the complex Kodachrome process to capture their translucent movie star complexions and colorful, high-fashion clothing.
Close up we see pistons move up and down or side to side. Pendulums sway, the small parts of machinery move. Gears drive larger wheels. Gears within gears spin. Shafts turn some mechanism that is out of sight. Screws revolve and move other gears; a bit rotates. More subtle mechanisms move other mechanical parts for unknown purposes. Weights rise and fall. The movements, underscored by sound, are rhythmic. Circles, squares, rods, and teeth are in constant and sometimes asymmetrical motion. These human-made mechanical bits seem benign and reassuring.
A wordless ode to the Storstrom bridge.
Francis Doublier does bicycle tricks in the street.
"The Amblystoma: Curious Salamander From Mexico". Vintage French educational film from 1913 describing the Axolotl. Very impressive footage for the time.
Documentary footage showing the alligator in several stages of growth, from babyhood to a ripe old age; a film taken at an alligator farm in California. In early 1913 as Thanhouser staff and crews were setting up a facility in Los Angeles, cameraman Carl Louis Gregory was taking documentary footage, from which four “split reel” short subjects were created: A MILLION BIRDS, filmed at California pigeon and ostrich farms; LOS ANGELES THE BEAUTIFUL (two different version with the same title), showing scenic attractions; and SEVEN AGES OF AN ALLIGATOR, filmed at an alligator farm. Released together, HIS UNCLE'S WIVES and SEVEN AGES OF AN ALLIGATOR filled up one 1,000-foot “split reel.” (Fandor)
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