"Shows a life boat coming through the breakers. The surf is high and the stout boat is tossed about like a cork.""Shows a life boat coming through the breakers. The surf is high and the stout boat is tossed about like a cork.""Shows a life boat coming through the breakers. The surf is high and the stout boat is tossed about like a cork."
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- ConnectionsFeatured in Edison: The Invention of the Movies (2005)
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Firsts: Multiple Perspectives
Two of the most vital developments in early cinema were: the freeing of the camera, which involved the introduction of cameras that could pan and tilt while connected to the tripod, as well as the innovation of placing the camera on moving objects such as boats and trains; the other was the editing. Both gave film numerous new perspectives and possibilities, which would be especially important in the development of narrative movies. This film, "Return of Lifeboat", is an actuality film; it features one of the earliest attempts in motion pictures at presenting multiple perspectives. It's a bit difficult to tell now (and this probably wasn't that steady or flawless of a film to begin with), but this film features both of the aforementioned vital developments.
"Return of Lifeboat" is the last in a series of seven films that James White and his cameraman Frederick Blechynden took of the Pacific Coast Life Saving Service in San Francisco. In the earlier pictures, the crews perform drills and launch their lifeboats out to sea. This film is the return of one of these lifeboats, with a Captain George H. Varney commanding it. The non-staged action in "Return of Lifeboat" prompted the filmmakers to change the perspective of their camera while filming; it's an impetus that early fiction and staged productions lacked. Apparently, White and Blechynden's camera featured a somewhat unsteady proto panning head, as some jerky camera movement is noticeable in the film. In 1900, White would have a far superior mobile camera head to take pictures at the Paris Exposition, including the tilting in "Panorama of Eiffel Tower".
In "Return of Lifeboat", there appear to be about four shots, with the camera moved to different areas for each, as the filmmakers try to attain the best perspective of the returning lifeboat during the rough seas. Filmmakers were already aware of how to edit, but before this film, it seems to have only appeared in a very few tricks films, such as Georges Méliès's "The Vanishing Lady" (Escamotage d'une dame au théâtre Robert Houdin) (1896), and in another Edison film (and perhaps the earliest edit in film history), "The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots" (1895). An earlier film by White, "Suburban Handicap, 1897", also featured multiple shots. "Return of Lifeboat" may also have been edited in camera by stop-motion; it's hard to say how exactly it was edited. Within a few years, other filmmakers would begin making multi-shot films, including Robert W. Paul in both actuality and narrative in at least two of his 1898 releases: "The Launch of H.M.S. Albion" and "Come Along Do!"
Perhaps a reason that "Return of Lifeboat" hasn't received much historical attention for its groundbreaking use of multiple perspectives is how its small, jerky camera pans and quick cuts to different framing function rather harmoniously with the rough seas and the crew's struggle to return to shore. Yet, that's also what makes it exceptional.
(Note: This is the ninth in a series of my comments on 10 "firsts" in film history. The other films covered are Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge (1888), Blacksmith Scene (1893), Annabelle Serpentine Dance (1895), The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots (1895), La Sortie des usines Lumière (1895), L' Arroseur arose (1895), L' Arrivée d'un train à La Ciotat (1896), Panorama du Grand Canal vu d'un bateau (1896) and Panorama of Eiffel Tower (1900).)
"Return of Lifeboat" is the last in a series of seven films that James White and his cameraman Frederick Blechynden took of the Pacific Coast Life Saving Service in San Francisco. In the earlier pictures, the crews perform drills and launch their lifeboats out to sea. This film is the return of one of these lifeboats, with a Captain George H. Varney commanding it. The non-staged action in "Return of Lifeboat" prompted the filmmakers to change the perspective of their camera while filming; it's an impetus that early fiction and staged productions lacked. Apparently, White and Blechynden's camera featured a somewhat unsteady proto panning head, as some jerky camera movement is noticeable in the film. In 1900, White would have a far superior mobile camera head to take pictures at the Paris Exposition, including the tilting in "Panorama of Eiffel Tower".
In "Return of Lifeboat", there appear to be about four shots, with the camera moved to different areas for each, as the filmmakers try to attain the best perspective of the returning lifeboat during the rough seas. Filmmakers were already aware of how to edit, but before this film, it seems to have only appeared in a very few tricks films, such as Georges Méliès's "The Vanishing Lady" (Escamotage d'une dame au théâtre Robert Houdin) (1896), and in another Edison film (and perhaps the earliest edit in film history), "The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots" (1895). An earlier film by White, "Suburban Handicap, 1897", also featured multiple shots. "Return of Lifeboat" may also have been edited in camera by stop-motion; it's hard to say how exactly it was edited. Within a few years, other filmmakers would begin making multi-shot films, including Robert W. Paul in both actuality and narrative in at least two of his 1898 releases: "The Launch of H.M.S. Albion" and "Come Along Do!"
Perhaps a reason that "Return of Lifeboat" hasn't received much historical attention for its groundbreaking use of multiple perspectives is how its small, jerky camera pans and quick cuts to different framing function rather harmoniously with the rough seas and the crew's struggle to return to shore. Yet, that's also what makes it exceptional.
(Note: This is the ninth in a series of my comments on 10 "firsts" in film history. The other films covered are Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge (1888), Blacksmith Scene (1893), Annabelle Serpentine Dance (1895), The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots (1895), La Sortie des usines Lumière (1895), L' Arroseur arose (1895), L' Arrivée d'un train à La Ciotat (1896), Panorama du Grand Canal vu d'un bateau (1896) and Panorama of Eiffel Tower (1900).)
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- Cineanalyst
- Dec 1, 2007
Details
- Runtime1 minute
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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