This tragic one minute, 8.32-second short starts out with two guys showing off for the fixed camera in 200-foot seas, on a day when no passengers should have been on deck. But Tom Edison was constantly convincing people and pachyderms to kill themselves on camera for his corporate profit (even if chains were necessary). At first it seems the guy on the left (in white) and the one on the right (in dark clothes) really have their sea legs, standing between the ship's railing and a safety rope strung on deck and being able to point at approaching waves. However, around the 28-second mark the guy on the right gets horribly splashed, and almost knocked into the arms of the guy on the left. Disastrously, after another 24 seconds, a super-wave washes the two men overboard, never to be seen again (here, at least). The beginning of this snuff film is date stamped August 9, 1900, so if one of your ancestors disappeared at sea on that date, you may want to refrain from watching this short.
5 Reviews
Simple But Effective Footage
Snow Leopard24 June 2005
This simple but effective footage of "A Storm At Sea" was apparently at least in part the result of a fortunate improvisation. The Edison film crew decided to take this footage when a storm came up while they were crossing the ocean, and the results show that it was worth their time and trouble to do so.
For all that film-making, and certainly live film-making, was still in its formative years, this footage is very effective in making you feel the force of the storm and the rolling of the sea and the ship. It combines two different kinds of footage, with some being taken across the side of the ship as two men stand along the rails in the foreground, and other footage being taken of the sea and the sky by themselves, with nothing else in sight. Both shots work well, and they combine to give a good feel of the motion of the turbulent sea.
It had to have taken some risk as well as some extra effort to make this movie. While the material is simple in nature, it works well in accomplishing its goal.
For all that film-making, and certainly live film-making, was still in its formative years, this footage is very effective in making you feel the force of the storm and the rolling of the sea and the ship. It combines two different kinds of footage, with some being taken across the side of the ship as two men stand along the rails in the foreground, and other footage being taken of the sea and the sky by themselves, with nothing else in sight. Both shots work well, and they combine to give a good feel of the motion of the turbulent sea.
It had to have taken some risk as well as some extra effort to make this movie. While the material is simple in nature, it works well in accomplishing its goal.
Pretty uninteresting documentary
Horst_In_Translation29 April 2016
Warning: Spoilers
"A Storm at Sea" is a 1-minute documentary from 1900, so this little movie is already 100 years old. Unfortunately, it is a really uninteresting peace. Early on we see a man standing on a ship while the waves are wild around him and at the end we only see the waves themselves. I also don't think that this was a problem that they didn't have color and sound yet, because these two features (especially color) would not have added a whole lot to this one. There are better films (with stories) by Méliès and other filmmakers from that era, even from Edison himself. Luckily, it is really short, so you can watch something exciting after this piece of boredom. Thumbs down.
Oh, Look! That Must Be The Ocean!
boblipton6 February 2020
Two men are standing at the rail on a ship at sea in rough water... doubtless the lee side, given the upset to their tum-tums. They occasionally point in a desultory fashion at the scene before them, which the camera is not looking at. This is a James White movie, so what we mostly look at is people's backs as they stare at some fascinating sight, like a wave, or a giant squid that is about to devour the ship. Let us imagine their dialogue, which must be more interesting than this.
Apparently the kraken did not eat the ship, since we have this film. The fellows disappear and we see what appears to be nothing, which must be the obscured sky. Then more waves from an angle that indicates that the ship was heeling at a 90 degree angle. I wonder what the chaps' backs had to say about that.
Apparently the kraken did not eat the ship, since we have this film. The fellows disappear and we see what appears to be nothing, which must be the obscured sky. Then more waves from an angle that indicates that the ship was heeling at a 90 degree angle. I wonder what the chaps' backs had to say about that.
Waves Crashing
Michael_Elliott6 August 2015
A Storm at Sea (1900)
A camera is stationed on a ship as we see a couple men standing at its rails while huge waves pop up. Look, in 1900 there wasn't such a thing as a plot so film companies simply tried to capture something unique that they could sell to the public. Viewing this film today there's certainly not much here but you have to consider that the majority of people in 1900 probably had never been on the ocean and never gotten to see waves pop up like this. As someone who loves to watch these early movies, this is the type of stuff I keep in mind when viewing them. This here certainly isn't the most impressive movie from this era and it really shows nothing too special but it's still unique in its own ways.
A camera is stationed on a ship as we see a couple men standing at its rails while huge waves pop up. Look, in 1900 there wasn't such a thing as a plot so film companies simply tried to capture something unique that they could sell to the public. Viewing this film today there's certainly not much here but you have to consider that the majority of people in 1900 probably had never been on the ocean and never gotten to see waves pop up like this. As someone who loves to watch these early movies, this is the type of stuff I keep in mind when viewing them. This here certainly isn't the most impressive movie from this era and it really shows nothing too special but it's still unique in its own ways.
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