Blacksmith Scene (also known as Blacksmith Scene #1 and Blacksmithing Scene) is an 1893 American short black-and-white silent film directed by William K.L. Dickson, the Scottish-French inventor who, while under the employ of Thomas Edison, developed one of the first fully functional motion picture cameras. 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.
Why It's an Essential Mark in American Cinema
Movies wouldn't exist the way we know them today without Thomas Edison, the country’s most famous inventor. Most of the technical aspects of film—the size, sprocket holes, vertical orientation, etc.—can be traced back to Edison's factory, and he was the prime instigator of a machine that utilized photographs on film. The same way the phonograph played back recordings and sound, Edison and Dickson created a motion picture camera that utilized photos on film.
It's one of the first extant attempts to “make” a film rather than simply record an action. While photography was still prized by many at the time for recording the “truth,” nothing about this short is true— including its title, which wasn't given until later.
The three men in the film aren't blacksmiths, they aren't in a smithy, and they aren't working on metal. (It’s also doubtful that they’re drinking alcohol.) Rather, they're performers on a set pretending to be doing something. Even in 1893, Edison’s workers are confronted with the conflict between capturing and representing reality. Dickson's well aware of this split, because he plays the scene for humor.
It’s impressive how much attention to detail Dickson, Heise, and the others paid to their sets and costumes, which was already a crucial part of filmmaking. The anvil and sledgehammers used in the film are real, as are the leather aprons worn by the actors. The background was of secondary concern, and the lens Dickson used worked best for medium and medium close-up shots. The camera was likely stationed ten to twelve feet away, enabling the crew to capture the actors in full figure.
It was the first film to be shown publicly, as frames were projected onto a screen, and 400 audience members watched the film individually through an Edison peephole Kinetoscope.
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