Edwin porter american fireman dies

Life of an American Fireman

American film

Life of an American Fireman

Opening scene from the film.

Directed byEdwin S. Porter
StarringArthur White
Vivian Vaughan
Distributed byEdison Manufacturing Company

Release date

  • January&#;&#;()
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent film

Life of an American Fireman is a short, silent film Edwin S.

Porter made for the Edison Manufacturing Company.

Edwin porter american fireman artist A American short silent film, one of the earliest American narrative films. Edison MARK. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, The longest-living of these authors died in , so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the term is the author's life plus 83 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

It was shot late in and distributed early in One of the earliest American narrative films, it depicts the rescue of a woman and child from a burning building. It bears notable similarities to the British short film Fire!, directed by James Williamson.

In , the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[1][2]

Historical significance

Life of an American Fireman is notable for its synthesis of numerous innovations in film technique that had occurred in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Specifically, Porter builds a continuous narrative over seven scenes, rendered in a total of nine shots:[3]

  1. The Fireman's Vision of an Imperilled [sic] Woman and Child.
  2. A Close View of a New York Fire Alarm Box.
  3. The Interior of the Sleeping Quarters in the Fire House.
  4. Interior of the Engine House.
  5. The Apparatus Leaving the Engine House.
  6. Off to the Fire.
  7. The Arrival at the Fire.

This particular construction of time and space was not invented by Porter, but he did maximize its use and further develop it in his more famous film of , The Great Train Robbery.

Charles Musser, a film scholar, points out that this film represents the social role of firefighters was changing at the time.[3]

Differing versions

The film was long considered important for its unusual editing style, being considered the earliest example of cross-cutting, notably during the final scenes of the rescue of the woman and her child.

Edwin porter american fireman museum

Life of an American Fireman is a short, silent film Edwin S. Porter made for the Edison Manufacturing Company. It was shot late in and distributed early in One of the earliest American narrative films , it depicts the rescue of a woman and child from a burning building. It bears notable similarities to the British short film Fire!

On the basis of this, Porter was hailed as an innovative editor. However, subsequent research by the paper print project at the Library of Congress suggested that the cross-cut version was re-edited at some unspecified time after the film's release, and that in its original form it used few, if any, of the pioneering edits claimed.

As originally released, the interior point of view of the burning house is shown first and completed. Then the exact same action repeating itself is shown again from the exterior. Charles Musser has chronicled the history of this controversy in Before the Nickelodeon and concluded that the paper-print version containing the repetitive action was the one released in [4]

Influence

Martin Scorsese has noted that Life of an American Fireman greatly influenced the visual style of his film The King of Comedy.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^"With "20, Leagues," the National Film Registry Reaches ".

    Edwin porter american fireman A fireman rushes into a carriage to rescue a woman from a house fire. He breaks the windowpanes and carries the woman to safety; after dangerous and uncertain moments he also saves the woman Read all A fireman rushes into a carriage to rescue a woman from a house fire. He breaks the windowpanes and carries the woman to safety; after dangerous and uncertain moments he also saves the woman's son. All All.

    Library of Congress. Retrieved

  2. ^"Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Retrieved
  3. ^ abOriginally in Edison Films catalog, February , ; reproduced in Charles Musser, Before the Nickelodeon: Edwin S.

    Porter and the Edison Manufacturing Company (Berkeley: University of California Press, ),

  4. ^Musser, Charles ().

    Edwin porter american fireman association Guarda a tutto schermo. Edwin S. Porter: Life of an American Fireman Breve Storia del Cinema. Like Segnalibro Condividi.

    Before the Nickelodeon: Edwin S. Porter and the Edison Manufacturing Company. University of California Press. pp.&#;– ISBN&#;. Retrieved 1 February

  5. ^Thompson, David Thompson, ed.

  6. Edwin porter american fireman wife
  7. Edwin porter american fireman band
  8. Edwin porter american fireman dies

    9. (). Scorsese on Scorsese (Repr.&#;ed.). London u.a.: Faber and Faber. p.&#; ISBN&#;.

External links