The comedy of Robert W. Paul's "The Countryman and the Cinematograph" is rather unoriginal; yet, I think, it is the most fascinating of early self-referential, or self-reflexive, films. Not all of the film exists today. Originally, it began with a scene of a girl dancing thrown on the screen. The countryman then climbs onto the stage and joins the projected image by dancing himself. A brief glimpse of him dancing to the dancing girl is where the film begins in its current state.
Following this is a scene of a train approaching the camera—a film in imitation of the Lumière scene "Arrivée d'un train à La Ciotat" (1896). Indeed, probably every filmmaker at the time copied it. Presumably, Paul used his own derivative stock film here, or, perhaps, he filmed it and the other two films specifically for this film. Interestingly, the yokel plays out the popular myth of uninitiated audiences having panicked at the sight of an approaching train on screen. In the film, he literally runs off-screen and away from the train.
A romantic and idyllic scene is the third and last film projected within the film. The countryman returns, throws his arms up and points at the scene. The man with the woman in the film-within-the-film is himself. Today, the film ends here, with the countryman face to face with his doppelgänger. Originally, as you can still see in the Edison Company remake "Uncle Josh at the Moving Picture Show" (1902), the countryman then tore down the screen, but only to find himself in a fight with the projectionist found behind the screen. In a way, this plot is the generic comedic formula of a trickster perpetrating a trick upon an unsuspecting character (the fool) – the discovery of the trickster – and the climactic punishment of the trickster. This was a common formula in early screen comedy since the Lumière film "L' Arroseur arrosé" (1895). The difference here, however, is that the trick of motion pictures is too elaborate and the fool too dimwitted for the discovery and punishment to fully materialize.
Today, this comedy seems crude and even classist, but its self-reflexivity is sophisticated for the time and demonstrates a connection of influence in later films. This film, unlike some of the other earliest such films, features the cinema experience—the reception of a movie program. Earlier self-reflexive films have as their subject the process of filming, as in the earlier two films I cover: "How It Feels to Be Run Over" and "The Big Swallow". Paul also made an earlier such film (which is now presumed lost); entitled "Photographing: Difficulties of an Animated Photographer" (1898), it was about a cinematographer being pestered by those passing by. Historian John Barnes (The Beginnings of Cinema in England 1894-1901) suggests that this is perhaps the first film on the movies. The Lumière Company, however, made films of the filming of an event around the same time (see "Fête de Paris 1899: Concours d'automobiles fleuries"). "The Countryman and the Cinematograph" is, perhaps, the first instance of a film-within-a-film. The staging and spatial relations of this film were rather specific to its film period, with the long-shot staging typical back then, the projected subjects of the film-within-the-film appear life size; moreover, the exhibition of varied short films edited together typical at that time further allow for the countryman to interact with the subjects.
In later self-reflexive films about spectators interacting with films, or, in general, the interaction of audiences and film programs, the mise-en-scène had to change to subsequent film standards and changing moviegoer experiences. In D.W. Griffith's "Those Awful Hats" (1909), the standard movie house and distance between film and audience appears. Griffith's film is also a lesson on how to act when watching movies. Later, Mack Sennet, having worked under Griffith, would expand further upon this field, such as in "Mabel's Dramatic Career" (1913), which also, perhaps, introduced the character who comes upon a movie being filmed but confuses the staged scene as real.
Although the mise-en-scène changed, the multiple exposure effect, or superimposition, for the illusion of a projected film-within-a-film would continue to be used for a long time. This seems to be the first instance of the multiple exposure for a film-within-a-film, but it had previously been employed for a parallel action scene-within-a-scene, such as in George Albert Smith's "Santa Claus" (1899), and for various other effects, such as in Smith and Georges Méliès's trick films. Shortly later, Ferdinand Zecca would even use the multiple exposure effect as a dream scene within a scene in "Historie d'un crime" (1901). "The Countryman and the Cinematograph" is an important early film; from it came such early self-reflexive classics as "The Cameraman's Revenge" (Mest kinematograficheskogo operatora) (1912) and "Sherlock, Jr." (1924).
Following this is a scene of a train approaching the camera—a film in imitation of the Lumière scene "Arrivée d'un train à La Ciotat" (1896). Indeed, probably every filmmaker at the time copied it. Presumably, Paul used his own derivative stock film here, or, perhaps, he filmed it and the other two films specifically for this film. Interestingly, the yokel plays out the popular myth of uninitiated audiences having panicked at the sight of an approaching train on screen. In the film, he literally runs off-screen and away from the train.
A romantic and idyllic scene is the third and last film projected within the film. The countryman returns, throws his arms up and points at the scene. The man with the woman in the film-within-the-film is himself. Today, the film ends here, with the countryman face to face with his doppelgänger. Originally, as you can still see in the Edison Company remake "Uncle Josh at the Moving Picture Show" (1902), the countryman then tore down the screen, but only to find himself in a fight with the projectionist found behind the screen. In a way, this plot is the generic comedic formula of a trickster perpetrating a trick upon an unsuspecting character (the fool) – the discovery of the trickster – and the climactic punishment of the trickster. This was a common formula in early screen comedy since the Lumière film "L' Arroseur arrosé" (1895). The difference here, however, is that the trick of motion pictures is too elaborate and the fool too dimwitted for the discovery and punishment to fully materialize.
Today, this comedy seems crude and even classist, but its self-reflexivity is sophisticated for the time and demonstrates a connection of influence in later films. This film, unlike some of the other earliest such films, features the cinema experience—the reception of a movie program. Earlier self-reflexive films have as their subject the process of filming, as in the earlier two films I cover: "How It Feels to Be Run Over" and "The Big Swallow". Paul also made an earlier such film (which is now presumed lost); entitled "Photographing: Difficulties of an Animated Photographer" (1898), it was about a cinematographer being pestered by those passing by. Historian John Barnes (The Beginnings of Cinema in England 1894-1901) suggests that this is perhaps the first film on the movies. The Lumière Company, however, made films of the filming of an event around the same time (see "Fête de Paris 1899: Concours d'automobiles fleuries"). "The Countryman and the Cinematograph" is, perhaps, the first instance of a film-within-a-film. The staging and spatial relations of this film were rather specific to its film period, with the long-shot staging typical back then, the projected subjects of the film-within-the-film appear life size; moreover, the exhibition of varied short films edited together typical at that time further allow for the countryman to interact with the subjects.
In later self-reflexive films about spectators interacting with films, or, in general, the interaction of audiences and film programs, the mise-en-scène had to change to subsequent film standards and changing moviegoer experiences. In D.W. Griffith's "Those Awful Hats" (1909), the standard movie house and distance between film and audience appears. Griffith's film is also a lesson on how to act when watching movies. Later, Mack Sennet, having worked under Griffith, would expand further upon this field, such as in "Mabel's Dramatic Career" (1913), which also, perhaps, introduced the character who comes upon a movie being filmed but confuses the staged scene as real.
Although the mise-en-scène changed, the multiple exposure effect, or superimposition, for the illusion of a projected film-within-a-film would continue to be used for a long time. This seems to be the first instance of the multiple exposure for a film-within-a-film, but it had previously been employed for a parallel action scene-within-a-scene, such as in George Albert Smith's "Santa Claus" (1899), and for various other effects, such as in Smith and Georges Méliès's trick films. Shortly later, Ferdinand Zecca would even use the multiple exposure effect as a dream scene within a scene in "Historie d'un crime" (1901). "The Countryman and the Cinematograph" is an important early film; from it came such early self-reflexive classics as "The Cameraman's Revenge" (Mest kinematograficheskogo operatora) (1912) and "Sherlock, Jr." (1924).