San Francisco: Aftermath of Earthquake

19061906
1m

IMDb RATING

6.5/10

565

YOUR RATING

San Francisco: Aftermath of Earthquake (1906)

Documentary

Short

History

Footage shot not long after the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco is edited together so that more than one scene and more than one vantage are included. We see fire raging. We see burned-out ... Read allFootage shot not long after the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco is edited together so that more than one scene and more than one vantage are included. We see fire raging. We see burned-out buildings, piles of rubble, and buildings with only one wall standing. People stand and wa... Read allFootage shot not long after the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco is edited together so that more than one scene and more than one vantage are included. We see fire raging. We see burned-out buildings, piles of rubble, and buildings with only one wall standing. People stand and watch; others walk purposely through the debris. A carriage passes; the camera pans the deso... Read all

IMDb RATING

6.5/10

565

YOUR RATING

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Top review

Good Photography

It's exactly hard to say what the title of this interesting, one-minute documentary was originally. Kino's "The Movies Begin" DVD set call it "Aftermath of Earthquake", while their "Edison: Invention of the Movies" set simply lists this as being "Films of the San Francisco Earthquake" with one extra shot included that was not in the other set. In either case, Robert Bonine, who was credited with the shooting of this footage, (it could be Billy Blitzer like IMDb suggests, but the DVD suggests differently) basically stitched together a series of shots of the incredible damage following the earthquake, including store fronts, streets, and even a fire raging. Panning is included, which was becoming standard by 1906, and context is given by the use of a series of closeups starting the film off, featuring newspaper articles describing the tragedy. While one wouldn't mind seeing even closer detail (a five-minute documentary would have been quite interesting) the views are well composed overall and Bonine clearly shows experience, having worked shooting footage for the Edison company at least eight years by this point.

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