Unseen cinema. 1, The mechanized eye. Episode 9, Panorama view street car motor room, Westinghouse Works, 1904 ; Panorama of Machine Co. aisle, Westinghouse Works, 1904 / Cineric, Inc. presents ; by G.W. "Billy" Bitzer for American Mutoscope and Biograph Co.

United States : Filmmakers Showcase, 1904.

1 streaming video file (7 minutes) : silent

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THE MECHANIZED EYE is part of the film retrospective UNSEEN CINEMA that explores long-forgotten American experimental cinema. G.W. "Billy" Bitzer's cinematography was famous for the expressive realism it added to D. W. Griffith's films. Before those, he shot hundreds of others, this being one of his best. Gliding through space, the camera and lights suddenly halt when something jams the overhead crane. Everyone freezes; the excitement is palpable -- BRUCE POSNER. Gottfried Wilhelm "Billy" Bitzer was a veteran with a dozen years experience before joining forces with D.W. Griffith. He started with the American Mutoscope Company shortly after it was formed in 1896. Learning the craft from Dickson, Bitzer was the company's principle cameramen until 1913 when he followed Griffith to independent production. -- PAUL SPEHR. American Mutoscope and Biograph Company (1895-1917), the principal competitor to the Edison Manufacturing Company, was established to produce films for their peepshow machine, the Mutoscope. They found that films projected in their large 68mm film format were more popular, and they showed them exclusively on their own machines at Keith-Albee's and prominent family oriented variety theaters. In 1897, Biograph formed affiliated branches in England and several European countries. After 1903, they sold films, of which D.W. Griffith directed hundreds between 1908 and 1913. --PAUL SPEHR. WESTINGHOUSE WORKS PANORAMAS (1904) - 2 FILM COMPILATION. 1 00:00 PANORAMA VIEW STREET CAR MOTOR ROOM, WESTINGHOUSE WORKS (2:18 minutes) SILENT 12 03:02 ; PANORAMA OF MACHINE CO. AISLE, WESTINGHOUSE WORKS (3:04 minutes) SILENT. 35mm 1.33:1 black & white silent 16fps 2:18 minutes. Production: American Mutoscope and Biograph Co.; Camera G.W. "Billy" Bitzer; Courtesy: Paper Print Collection, Library of Congress; Technical note: Visible artifacts derived from duplication of original 35mm paper print. SILENT.

Images / Online / Video & Film

November 02, 2020

Camera: G.W. "Billy" Bitzer.