One of the pleasures of watching the Lumiere's movies from the 1890s is that they understood composition and the fact that things had to move: no stationary shots of the Brooklyn Bridge, this. Instead, the bridge, only about a decade old then, serves as a backdrop for the constant motion of trains, steam and other items of interest. Even though this film lasts only about ten seconds, the eye is kept busy following events: something Edison's people took a decade to begin to understand.
Compare this with, say the work of James White, or VIEW FROM THE NORTH RIVER: a slow, leisurely, boring examination of docks that do nothing. The secret of how to make an interesting movie was already in hand. It just took a while for anyone else to understand.
Compare this with, say the work of James White, or VIEW FROM THE NORTH RIVER: a slow, leisurely, boring examination of docks that do nothing. The secret of how to make an interesting movie was already in hand. It just took a while for anyone else to understand.