Dickson experimental sound film | 1895 | Experimental, Short, Nonfiction

Title: Dickson experimental sound film | 1895 | Experimental, Short, Nonfiction Director: William K. L. Dickson Studio: Edison Manufacturing Company Starring: W. K. L. Dickson Runtime: 0.35 Format: 35 mm; black-and-white; silent; Kinetophone experiment; approx. 43 ft at 30 fps; filmed at the Black Maria studio Country: United States Language: Silent Genres: Experimental, Short, Nonfiction --- Chapters: 00:00:00 Studio setup 00:00:04 Violin cue 00:00:08 Dancers begin 00:00:13 Horn and alignment 00:00:17 Final pass --- Summary: A violinist plays directly into a large recording horn while two men dance before the camera. Conceived as a demonstration for Edison's Kinetophone system, the film captures a brief musical performance and coordinated movement in the studio setting. As an early sound experiment, it emphasizes the act of recording itself: visible instrumentation, the prominent horn, and performers arranged to suit both image and sound capture rather than narrative. --- Background: Produced at Edison's Black Maria studio in late 1894 or early 1895, the film is widely regarded as the first known motion picture with live-recorded sound, made for the Kinetophone pairing of Kinetoscope and phonograph. A silent print and a separate wax cylinder survived independently for decades; in the late 1990s and early 2000s the elements were reunited and synchronized, and the work was later named to the U.S. National Film Registry. --- Trivia: The Library of Congress viewing copy runs about 21 seconds at 30 fps and measures roughly 43 feet. William Heise is credited as the camera operator on the production. The melody played is the “Song of the Cabin Boy” from Robert Planquette’s 1877 operetta Les Cloches de Corneville . A synchronized version is held as part of the videodisc collection More Treasures from American Film Archives, 1894–1931. The film was selected for the National Film Registry in 2003. --- Public Domain / Rights: Original Studio / Distributor: Edison Manufacturing Company Copyright Status: Public Domain Renewal: No --- Hashtags: DicksonExperimentalSoundFilm WilliamKLDickson Edison Kinetophone SilentFilm EarlyCinema PublicDomain LibraryOfCongress Source page: https: //www.loc.gov/item/00694117/ Direct media URL: https: //tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/mbrs/ntscrm/00016765/00016765.mp4