Building Up and Demolishing the Star Theater, Tricks of the Trade (1901-1905) [4-film compilation].

Format:

Video

Author/Creator:

Filmmakers Showcase, author, issuing body.

Series:

Academic Video Online

UNSEEN CINEMA 5: Picturing a Metropolis: New York City Unveiled

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

1900s.

Local Subjects:

1900s.

Genre:

Documentary

Physical Description:

1 online resource (17 minutes)

Place of Publication:

[Place of publication not identified] : Filmmakers Showcase, [date of publication note identified]

Language Note:

In English.

System Details:

video file

Summary:

PICTURING A METROPOLIS is part of the film retrospective UNSEEN CINEMA that explores long-forgotten American experimental cinema. The demolition of the Star Theater at Thirteenth Street and Broadway was filmed in time-lapse from Biograph's office across the street. Exposures were made every four minutes during daylight using a specially devised electrical apparatus. Audiences particularly enjoyed it when the film was reversed, showing the building rising from destruction. - PAUL SPEHR Frederick S. Armitage was an innovative cameraman-director for the American Mutoscope and Biograph Co. (c.1899-1905) and the Edison Company (1909- ?). He made an early attempt to combine film and sound ("A Gay Old Boy", 1899) and several prototypes "special effects" films featuring innovative cinematography and printing techniques. -PAUL SPEHR TRICKS OF THE TRADE (1901-1905) - 4 FILM COMPILATION92 00:00 BUILDING UP AND DEMOLISHING THE STAR THEATRE (1901, 3:40 minutes)93 03:56 CONEY ISLAND AT NIGHT 1905 (3:18 minutes)94 07:14 INTERIOR N.Y. SUBWAY, 14TH STREET TO 42ND STREET 1905 (5:37 minutes)95 12:51 SEEING NEW YORK HARBOR BY YACHT 1903 (3:19 minutes). The early "straight" views of New York were embellished with many astonishing film experiments. These fantastic visions of the city were shaped by manipulating filmmaking techniques towards the expressive possibilities of the medium. -BRUCE POSNER 35mm 1.33:1 black and white silent with music 18fps 3:40 minutes. Production: American Mutoscope and Biograph Co.

Notes:

Title from resource description page (viewed March 22, 2021).