Rough Sea at Dover

Starring: N/A
Directed by: Birt Acres, Robert W. Paul
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Short, Documentary
Length: 25 seconds
1896

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: Waves pound against a pier in Dover.

Review:

Tim: This is the first Birt Acres film I've seen, and from this one example, I can't say I am overly impressed. The film is short, but so were all the films of this era. What is impressive is that the film consists of two scenes (many at this time were one-shot films) that were edited together. Although, it's impossible for us to tell whether there were actually two shots in the film when it was first released, or if this happened later.

The first scene shows rough waves slamming into a pier in Dover. The size of the waves and their power is fairly impressive. It lasts for about 15 seconds. The quality of the shot is fairly poor- the camera is moving a bit (maybe from the wind?) and everything feels very blurry. I know other films at this time were a bit clearer, but I suppose the quality is good enough, as you can clearly see what everything is on screen. We are talking about 1896 here (and the film was actually filmed in '95). The second shot features a river running from right to left across the screen. The water is rushing past the camera, and the power of the river is evident.

Apparently, Rough Sea at Dover was the first public screening of a film in Britain. That is pretty amazing, and it makes this film more impressive (the importance, not the quality). This was one of the most popular and widely-viewed early films in Britain. For that reason, this movie is a must for true movie fanatics.

One interesting note- this film was made by Birt Acres and Robert W. Paul. They both produced the film. What's interesting is who actually directed the film. In my research, everyone included Birt Acres, but some also claimed Robert W. Paul also directed the film. One source said that Acres' participation in this film was in question. We may never truly know. I included Robert W. Paul as a co-director, but I truly am not sure who really directed this film.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



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