Band Drill | 1894 | Documentary, Short

Title: Band Drill | 1894 | Documentary, Short Director: William K. L. Dickson; William Heise. Studio: Edison Manufacturing Company. Starring: Frank Baldwin, Fred W. Boardman, William Cushing, Ad. Dorsch, E. P. Brown, J. F. Boardman, George Goddard, E. F. Balch, Paul Pfarr. Based on: A Milk White Flag by Charles Hale Hoyt. Release Date: November 28, 1894. Runtime: 1 Format: 35mm; black-and-white; silent; Kinetoscope; filmed at the Black Maria studio, West Orange, New Jersey. Country: United States Language: Silent Genres: Documentary, Short --- Chapters: 00:00:00 Entrance and lineup 00:00:05 Bandmaster turns to conduct 00:00:12 Musicians take positions 00:00:18 Formation adjusts 00:00:23 Conducting and finish --- Summary: A brief scene from Charles H. Hoyt’s stage farce A Milk White Flag shows a uniformed band entering, forming ranks, and taking cues from its bandmaster. The fixed camera records the drill-like movements and orderly staging as the conductor turns to direct and the musicians assume their positions. Presented as a kinetoscope attraction, the film emphasizes spectacle and precision over narrative, preserving a fragment of a then-popular theatrical burlesque in early motion-picture form. --- Background: Produced at Edison’s Black Maria studio in West Orange, New Jersey, Band Drill was one of several short subjects filmed in late 1894 from Hoyt’s A Milk White Flag for display in kinetoscope parlors. Directed by William K. L. Dickson and William Heise for the Edison Manufacturing Company, it sits among the surviving 1894 “Kinetoscopic films” cataloged by AFI and reflects the era’s interest in filming stage turns and tableaux. --- Trivia: The bandmaster is credited as Steele Ayers in the stage piece and is portrayed here by Frank Baldwin; the musicians include Fred W. Boardman, William Cushing, Ad. Dorsch, E. P. Brown, J. F. Boardman, George Goddard, E. F. Balch, and Paul Pfarr. AFI’s catalog groups Band Drill with other 1894 Edison Kinetoscope subjects and notes a related, larger scene filmed as Finale of 1st Act of Hoyt’s “Milk White Flag.” The film was photographed at Edison’s pioneering Black Maria studio for individual viewing on kinetoscopes rather than projected cinema screens. Although often reported at roughly one minute, surviving transfers typically run around 20–25 seconds due to variations in frame rates and print sources. --- Public Domain / Rights: Original Release: November 28, 1894. Original Studio / Distributor: Edison Manufacturing Company. Copyright Status: Public Domain. Renewal: Unknown --- Hashtags: BandDrill MilkWhiteFlag Edison BlackMaria WilliamKLDickson WilliamHeise 1894 SilentFilm PublicDomain LibraryOfCongress Source page: https: //www.loc.gov/item/00694111/ Direct media URL: https: //tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/mbrs/ntscrm/00180345/00180345.mp4