Unseen cinema. 1, The mechanized eye. Episode 6, Captain Nissen going through Whirlpool Rapids, Niagara Falls / by creators unknown for Edison Manufacturing Co
THE MECHANIZED EYE is part of the film retrospective UNSEEN CINEMA that explores long-forgotten American experimental cinema. The technology for recording the captain's voyage was carefully coordinated with the voyage itself to produce not simply a victory over nature but a filmic record of that victory. The technology of the recording seems at least as complex as the technology of the boat. --SCOTT MACDONALD. Edison Manufacturing Co., formed to market products invented by Thomas Edison, handled his motion picture and closely related phonograph business. In 1896, as the Kinetoscope business faltered, Edison appointed William Gilmore to manage the company. Gilmore took distribution out of the hands of independents like Raff & Gammon and Maguire & Baucus. Then Edison began a series of lawsuits to repress competitors. Patent suits dominated the American film market prior to W.W.I and kept Edison the predominant American film company during much of this period. Until recently, aesthetic advancements made by Edison's filmmakers have been overshadowed by accounts of the legal wrangling. -PAUL SPEHR / BRUCE POSNER 35mm 1.33:1 black & white silent with music 18fps 2:03 minutes. Production: Edison Manufacturing Co
Notes
Title from resource description page (viewed July 06, 2020)
