This one-minute actuality of the second inauguration of President William McKinley was shot by cameraman Billy Bitzer and then edited into what was for the era, a complicated affair. It consists of half a dozen separate shots from varying angles.
The initial shot, of McKinley speaking from a script, is shot from above in a medium-long shot. After the first cut, we see people walking about and finally men on horses, all leaving the site. Although the language of editing was still very primitive at this time -- George Albert Smith was still developing the film grammar that would become standard film grammar under the influence of D.W. Griffith -- the cuts and changing actions would have clearly indicated to the audience the passage of unobserved time.
The initial shot, of McKinley speaking from a script, is shot from above in a medium-long shot. After the first cut, we see people walking about and finally men on horses, all leaving the site. Although the language of editing was still very primitive at this time -- George Albert Smith was still developing the film grammar that would become standard film grammar under the influence of D.W. Griffith -- the cuts and changing actions would have clearly indicated to the audience the passage of unobserved time.