Blacksmith Scene is an 1893 American shortblack-and-whitesilent film directed by William K.L. Dickson, the Scottish-French inventor who, while under the employ of Thomas Edison, developed the first fully functional motion picture camera. It is historically significant as the first Kinetoscope film shown in public exhibition on May 9, 1893, and is the earliest known example of actors performing a role in a film. 102 years later, in 1995, Blacksmithing Scene was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It is the second-oldest film included in the Registry, after Newark Athlete.
Plot
The scene is all filmed from a stationary camera. On screen is a large anvil with a blacksmith behind it and a striker to either side. The smith uses a heated metal rod he has removed from a fire and places it on the anvil. All three begin a rhythmic hammering. After several blows, the metal rod is returned to the fire. One striker pulls out a bottle of beer, and they each take a drink. Following this drink, they then resume their work.
Production
The film was produced by the Edison Manufacturing Company, which had begun making films in 1890 under the direction of one of the earliest pioneers to film William K.L. Dickson. It was filmed entirely within the Black Maria studio at West Orange, New Jersey, in the United States, which is widely referred to as "America's First Movie Studio". It is believed to have been filmed in April 1893 and was shown publicly at the Brooklyn Institute on May 9, 1893. According to the Internet Movie Database the film was made in a 35 mm format with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The movie was intended to be displayed through means of a Kinetoscope. Dickson selected a lens that worked best for medium and medium close-up shots and stationed his camera approximately ten to twelve feet from the anvil. The film is one of the oldest extant attempts to film a staged scene rather than simply record an action. The men featured are not actually blacksmiths, nor are they in a blacksmith shop working on metal—they are actors on a set pretending to be blacksmiths. Prior to 1893, photography was prized for its ability to capture the "truth," and even some of Dickson's crew were uncomfortable with presenting a staged scene as truth.
