A man falls overboard from the U.S.S. Indiana and all hands snap to. A boat is lowered and the man is rescued in this Biograph short, originally released in 1903.
It's a reenactment shot at an amusement park, probably done on regular basis, like the firefighting done at Coney Island about the same time. It's done in one still take and as probably exciting for the movie audience to witness as the ive audience. In this period, movie actualities -- even reenactments, like this one -- were an effort to bring the events that people might see to them.
Although to the modern eye, this is fairly unremarkable, it is noteworthy for being shot by Billy Bitzer, who is remembered for becoming D.W. Griffith's lead camera man.
It's a reenactment shot at an amusement park, probably done on regular basis, like the firefighting done at Coney Island about the same time. It's done in one still take and as probably exciting for the movie audience to witness as the ive audience. In this period, movie actualities -- even reenactments, like this one -- were an effort to bring the events that people might see to them.
Although to the modern eye, this is fairly unremarkable, it is noteworthy for being shot by Billy Bitzer, who is remembered for becoming D.W. Griffith's lead camera man.
