Panorama View, Street Car Motor Room (1904) User Reviews

Fascinating

[JoeytheBrit · 7/10 · 17 July 2009]

Cameraman Billy Bitzer hit on a neat idea when he decided to strap a camera (or himself) to an overhead crane and film the activity on the factory floor below as he glided over them. As filmmakers have learned since, there's something inherently dramatic about this shot which means it is timeless in many ways. At times this vision of corporate industrial manufacturing in action is akin to a glimpse into hell. Health and Safety would have a field day here - at one point a number of men seem to suddenly scatter as if to avoid something dangerous. There seems to be little demarcation of the areas in which different activities take place; all the machines are jammed into cramped areas. Men hammer objects and you can only imagine the noise, smell and heat in such a place.

Starting the wide-angle shot

[Polaris_DiB · 6/10 · 30 March 2007]

I didn't know this at the time when I saw this, but this is one part of a three-part exploration of the Westinghouse factory made in 1904. Still contained in the experimental and exploratory period of very early proto-narrative cinema, this one take is interesting because it contains a relatively smooth movement over a lot of space and from a unique perspective. The camera's existence in the picture is still acknowledge; people look at it; it gets stuck once and everyone freezes; the shadow of the crew can be seen on the bottom of the frame. However, the framing itself is pretty unique and shows the process of filmmakers to move away from eye-line film-making to use the camera to explore spaces from an angle usually unaccessible to the average person. In this way, this shot predates helicopter cams and other wide-angle set-the-scene exposition.

Always in these early films is a real love of motion, and the topic couldn't be kinder towards that interest. The movements and reactions of the workers is so active and interesting, it almost looks as if it was all choreographed (except of course for the persistence of the presence of the camera).

--PolarisDiB

Panorama View, Street Car Motor Room (1904)

[Michael_Elliott · 17 August 2016]

Panorama View, Street Car Motor Room (1904)

During the early 1900's Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company made a number of industrial films that allowed the public to see what went on inside their buildings. Needless to say, these films didn't contain any sort of plot but some might find them interesting.

Of all the films made by the Westinghouse Company, the ones with Billy Bitzer behind the camera were the most fascinating since they usually involved crane shots, which were still rather new at the time. This one here has the camera placed on a crane and we go down the motor room as the title clearly states. The film is certainly refreshing when you compare it to the majority of the series thanks in large part to the camera moving and actually giving us more than the same thing to look at. It was fascinating getting to see how the work was done as well as what the people were wearing back in the day. Obviously, it was easy to see who had money in their pockets and who didn't.

Factory life over 100 years ago

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 15 September 2015]

"Panorama View, Street Car Motor Room" is a 2.5-minute, black-and-white silent film from 111 years ago that shows us exactly how factory life looked like back then. It's not too interesting really and only worth a watch for people with huge interest in the early years of (documentary) filmmaking. We move through a factory here and watch the workers being busy. Some wear nicer clothes, some don't Some look at the camera, some are just too busy with their work. I must say by 1904 there were already more interesting films out there, also documentaries. Still, this is not a complete failure, just not among the best films of the 1900s. All in all, not recommended.