Century Film Project

Camera: William Heise

Starring: WKL Dickson

How much can one say about just three seconds? This is another example of an early Edison experiment in which WKL Dickson, one of the technicians working on the kinetoscope, is shown passing a hat from his right hand toward his left. It is, quite literally, a “moving picture,” in the sense that it looks like a portrait that just has a little motion added. The kinetoscope was a device that allowed films to be viewed by one patron at a time by peering through a hole in the top – not a projector in the correct sense. This movie was used as a demonstration for the device at public presentations, however, so it did have a kind of “theatrical release,” even before the Lumière brothers introduced a camera-and-projection system. If nothing else, it does give a glimpse into the fashions of the late nineteenth century.

Run Time: 3 seconds

You can watch it for free: here