| |
 |
|
|
Movies Forum Index » Silent Movies Forum » Southwold, UK: AERIAL TORPEDO (1909), RACE FOR A BRIDE...
Page 1 of 1
|
| Author |
Message |
| Bruce Calvert... |
 Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 6:11 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
http://www.eadt.co.uk/content/eadt/features/story.aspx?brand=EADOnline&category=Features&tBrand=EADOnline&tCategory=features&itemid=IPED02%20May%202008%2012%3A13%3A02%3A967
A night at the pictures, Edwardian-style
03 May 2008 | 07:10
David Cleveland and Nigel Lister bring Edwardian cinema back to life
In this age of computer-enhanced blockbusters it's easy to forget that
silent films were thrilling audiences a century ago. Steven Russell finds
out about two enthusiasts recreating the early days of cinema - and a very
special homecoming
IT'S the summer of 1958 and Norfolk schoolboy David Cleveland is staying in
Southwold with his parents. His mind is on more than the usual holiday
delights of beach, sea and ice-cream, however.
The teenager is rapidly developing an obsession with the world of the moving
image, and he's keen to quiz local cinema staff about how they show film.
Manager James Blyth recognises a genuine enthusiast and allows David up to
the projection box, where the projectionist lets him rewind the films.
When the youth sighs "Oh, I wish I could find an old projector," the manager
says there's a couple in the space under the seating. David finds them and
buys one - for about £2 - from Mr Blyth after a lot of persuading.
The manager says the other will be sold for scrap. Undeterred, David goes
down to the scrap yard near where the old railway station was and finds the
other machine on a heap. It's his for £2.50!
He is thus the proud owner of two hand-turned Gaumont Chrono projectors
which - as far as he knew - were used in the cinema when it opened in 1915.
These were important moments in David's life and subsequent career. He'd go
on to make films for the BBC, including the surreal adventures of Prof that
used to appear in the children's TV programme Vision On, and in 1976 was a
key figure in the formation of the East Anglian Film Archive, which
preserved footage with a local flavour.
Fifty years after that Southwold milestone, one of those projectors will
again turn in the town, giving a 21st Century audience a taste of what a
Saturday night at the movies might have been like in the days before Die
Hard 2.
It was one David "had at home all this while intending to do something with
it. With Nigel Lister's help, it is in going order again". Nigel's a
musician/engineer friend who lives near Colchester. "He is a brilliant
restorer," says David. "It's in beautiful condition."
The pals decided they'd put on occasional recreations of what it was like at
the cinema 100 years ago.
The first was held in Harwich towards the end of 2007, and then there was
one in Manningtree for the historical society. Chelmondiston, on the Shotley
peninsula, hosted the third last month. Next Saturday, May 10, is the day
the experience comes to Southwold.
It consists of a presentation of about two hours in which they talk about
the silent films being shown, hand-crank them through in the way it would
have been done, and explain a little about the history of cinema. Musician
Nigel, a one-time projectionist at The Film Theatre in Ipswich, accompanies
some of the films on the piano.
They also look the part, dressing up in Edwardian clothes: top hat and frock
coat; bowler and waistcoat.
"We make it fun and light, and make a few jokes," smiles David.
Audiences seem to be enjoying the mix of comedy, drama, animation and news.
"They don't really know what they're getting, and when they see these old
comedies and dramas and newsreels presented in context they're thrilled. I
talk about why these things were made and how they were made; what it was
like in the cinema.
"I usually quote a pianist who used to play at St Albans and who wrote a
book about what she did. She used to work 60 hours a week playing the piano
and got 30 shillings. You can't imagine someone playing the piano every
afternoon and evening for six days!
"And people think all the films were black and white, but they weren't. The
last film is what they call tinted, which means every shot is colour."
That's Aerial Torpedo. Released in 1909 and considered by some as the first
science fiction film, all its scenes were tinted.
Because of his long association with the medium, David was frequently asked
to go through their collections of films to identify them and possibly get
them preserved. In doing this, he came across a number he thought would
merit a wider airing, and sought the necessary permissions.
The films he and Nigel show are authentic copies. Aside from being old and
fragile, the originals are celluloid and thus flammable.
"I'm very pleased with the quality of the copies," says David, "so you're
seeing exactly what Edwardians would have seen.
"People think 'Well, they flickered . . . were dark . . . went very fast.'
They didn't! Our machine is as it was, and it doesn't flicker. You have to
turn the handle at the correct speed, and once you've got the hang of that
it looks like a film does today. We don't make them go too fast - television
today makes them look faster than they should.
"Trouble is, the cost of having them copied is horrendous. When a film was
printed 100 years ago, it was about an old penny-ha'penny a foot. It's now a
pound a foot! And a foot goes through in a second! So you can work out the
costs . . ."
David, 65 this year, grew up on a 56-acre electricity-less farm near
Coltishall in Norfolk and initially thought he was also going to become a
farmer. But he worked as a projectionist in Norwich, and then in 1964 got a
job at the BBC.
"They were expanding with BBC Two and wanted anybody, really! They had to
double the staff overnight. I was fully trained by the BBC, which was
tremendous. My life opened up; I was learning things very quickly and
started making films almost immediately, because everything was there for
me."
David, who in 2009 will have lived in Manningtree for 40 years, eventually
left the corporation because he was a bit fed-up going to and from London
each day. He worked for a short time at the University of Essex and then
switched to University of East Anglia in Norwich, where he would become the
first curator of the East Anglian Film Archive.
He might have retired from the archive, but his baby continues to thrive.
"I'm really quite proud I was able to get that going."
Does he think going to the cinema nowadays - with all the multiplexes, CGI
trickery and a greater emphasis on shifting "merchandise" - is a less
magical experience than it used to be?
"There was certainly a magic in the early days, because many people who went
had never before seen a film and moving pictures were almost unheard of.
There must have been a great sense of novelty.
"When I first got interested in the cinema, I used to find it very exciting.
After school, I would go to the cinema in Norwich as much as I could; there
were seven cinemas and I'd go round them all.
"The programme was a complete offering: news reels, short films about
interesting subjects, the second feature, the main feature. Such a variety.
"I'd get carried away by the film, a western or something, and then you'd
come out into the street where it might be raining and there was traffic,
and it was strange. 'This world' was going on and 'that world' (back in the
cinema) was going on. And I preferred that world! It seemed more fun.
"Suddenly you came out into reality, with everyone going about their
business. It's very odd. I don't think I get that quite today. But
youngsters might do; I don't know. Films seem a bit more serious, with
messages and things. It was just plain entertainment when I went."
In the frame
David Cleveland's Chrono 35mm motion picture projector was made by Gaumont
in Paris
The firm started making them in about 1899
This model's heyday was from about 1910 through to the 1920s
David thinks his was made in about 1912, "as I have an advert for the exact
machine"
It's hand-turned, but might have been fitted with a motor at some point at
Southwold, as there are screw holes for attaching one
There was a lamphouse missing. David found one in London and Nigel Lister
converted it to take a 1000w lamp - though they also run the original carbon
arc lamp at some of their shows
The second projector, a complete example, is on show at the Museum of East
Anglian Life in Stowmarket
The Southwold connection
David's projector was used - possibly as a secondhand acquisition - in the
first cinema at the Assembly Rooms, in York Road (though it was not called
York Road at the time)
The cinema is recorded as being there in 1915, says David, and "could have
been a year or two earlier, but I cannot find a reference as yet"
In about 1921 the Assembly Rooms were altered and became the cinema proper
In 1921 James "Jimmy" Blyth took over as manager and ran it until his
retirement in 1958
He also recorded scenes of local life, such as the annual Trinity Fair,
through his own film-making exploits
The cinema closed a couple of years after Jimmy retired, the industry having
entered one of its fallow periods
Blyth Removals used it as a store for some time, with the building being
demolished in 1983
Film facts
The first moving pictures were achieved in 1893, stored on a ribbon of film
and used on a peep-show machine called the Kinetoscope
By December, 1895, technicians had found a way of projecting movie film on
to a screen and the first show was held in Paris
David thinks the first showing of moving pictures in East Anglia was at
Tudor's New Circus, off Newmarket Road in Cambridge, in the autumn of 1896
The bill there also included variety acts such as The Leaurance Troupe -
"Five in number, the only Troupe of Lady Trick and Fancy Bicyclists in the
World"
"In 1912, 20 million people were going to the cinema every week," says
David. "Can you imagine that? Before 1908 there were no cinemas, just
'fit-ups' in halls or other places. Then there was an Act that brought an
obligation to look after the audience, and so cinemas were built. By 1915
there were 5,000 cinemas. It was a huge expansion in a short time"
On the bill
David and Nigel's Southwold show is at St Edmunds Hall on Saturday, May 10,
starting at 7.30pm. The programme will include a potted history of Southwold
Cinema.
Tickets (£3.50) are available from Joan Goldsmith Business Services, 21
Church Street, Southwold (01502 725014) or on the night at the door.
The line-up features:
Race For a Bride (1909) - A typical slapstick chase film of the period.
Dream of Toyland (1908) - One of Britain's first popular animated films,
it's about toys coming to life. It was made by shooting one frame of film at
a time and moving the objects between frames. There were then 16 separate
pictures to every second of film. the film was a major success, with more
than 60 prints going to America alone.
Pathe Animated Gazette - including the wedding at Chelmsford of aviator
Claude Graham White. Regular newsreels began in the summer of 1910, with a
weekly issue. The reel ran for about five minutes and featured about five
items.
That Fatal Sneeze (1907) - A man suffers violent sneezing attacks after
pepper is sprinkled over him without his knowing. The sneezing has
disastrous effects for the things around him. David says the film is an
example of the development of camera tricks and comic story-telling, with
the rocking camera effect new at the time.
Gaumont Graphic News - The Titanic is seen leaving Belfast Lough for
Southampton in April, 1912.
Aerial Torpedo (1909) - Combines an enemy airship attack on England with a
love story. The film was released with the scenes tinted; and it's thought
of by some experts as the first science fiction movie. Films showing the
latest technological wonders, such as planes, were popular at the time -
especially after HG Wells published The War in The Air in 1907.
--
Bruce Calvert
--
Visit the Silent Film Still Archive
http://www.silentfilmstillarchive.com |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| Steve Joyce... |
| Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 6:11 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
On May 4, 7:11 pm, "Bruce Calvert" <silentfilmxs... at (no spam) verizon.net>
wrote:
Quote: http://www.eadt.co.uk/content/eadt/features/story.aspx?brand=EADOnlin...
Aerial Torpedo (1909) - Combines an enemy airship attack on England with a
love story. The film was released with the scenes tinted; and it's thought
of by some experts as the first science fiction movie. Films showing the
latest technological wonders, such as planes, were popular at the time -
especially after HG Wells published The War in The Air in 1907.
Never knew it was tinted. Iirc there was an old Grapevine vhs tape
with this short film but I think it was in b&w. The special effects
were cheezy but the whole film was an earnest effort. I've watched it
many times and enjoyed its simplicity.
Steve |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| |
|
Page 1 of 1
All times are GMT - 5 Hours
The time now is Sat May 17, 2008 1:24 am
|
|
