"A Desperate Poaching Affray" is an early and innovative chase and crime film. This early cinema genre of crime chases seems to have been invented in Britain. James Williamson's "Stop Thief!" (1901) is the earliest I know of. By 1903, British filmmakers made "A Daring Daylight Robbery", "Robbery of the Mail Coach" and this film, all of which heavily influenced the adoption of the genre across the Atlantic, most notably influencing "The Great Train Robbery" made later that year. "Desperate Poaching Affray" was an especially internationally popular subject: 480 prints were sold and more dupes were made in the U.S. (Michael Chanan, "Economic Conditions in Early Cinema" in "Early Cinema: Space, Frame, Narrative"). Comedic chase films that came later would use the techniques and grammar invented in these dramatic counterparts.
The chase here, law enforcement pursuing poachers (and they all have guns), is clumsy, and the actors are noticeably amateurs, but what's exceptional about this picture, for its time, is its continuity editing, as well as some novel camera placement. It only consists of seven shots and lasts for only two to three minutes. Yet, there is some panning, untraditional camera placement and staging--where we see the actors approach and pass right by the camera in depth--and the earliest extended use of reverse-angle shots I know of (there are brief earlier examples, such as in "Attack on a China Mission" (1900)).
The first shot throws us right into the action. The poachers attempt to hide in some brush. The authorities approach from off-screen and into the frame. A pan allows the camera to follow the action as the chase begins. The second and third shots, as well as the third and fourth, are reverse-angle takes, where the pursued and pursuers run by the camera and into off-screen space, followed by a cut, with a framing of the action from the opposite, 180-degree angle to follow the action. The last three cuts and camera placements shadow the action in a fluid continuous manner, with the direction of the chase following the rules of the axis of action. The exceptional, modern continuity of this film--the harmony of the action, camera placement and editing--was unrivaled for years to come.
The chase here, law enforcement pursuing poachers (and they all have guns), is clumsy, and the actors are noticeably amateurs, but what's exceptional about this picture, for its time, is its continuity editing, as well as some novel camera placement. It only consists of seven shots and lasts for only two to three minutes. Yet, there is some panning, untraditional camera placement and staging--where we see the actors approach and pass right by the camera in depth--and the earliest extended use of reverse-angle shots I know of (there are brief earlier examples, such as in "Attack on a China Mission" (1900)).
The first shot throws us right into the action. The poachers attempt to hide in some brush. The authorities approach from off-screen and into the frame. A pan allows the camera to follow the action as the chase begins. The second and third shots, as well as the third and fourth, are reverse-angle takes, where the pursued and pursuers run by the camera and into off-screen space, followed by a cut, with a framing of the action from the opposite, 180-degree angle to follow the action. The last three cuts and camera placements shadow the action in a fluid continuous manner, with the direction of the chase following the rules of the axis of action. The exceptional, modern continuity of this film--the harmony of the action, camera placement and editing--was unrivaled for years to come.