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          The <em>Great Train Robbery,
</em>the first narrative film, is praised by many to be a leading innovator in
early movie production. With only 14 scenes and a total length of 10 minutes,
this film uses many filming techniques that are still used today. These
techniques include cross-cutting, double exposure composite editing, minor
camera movement, and on location shooting. The <em>Great Train Robbery</em> deserves to be in the time capsule because of its
implementation of modern motion picture techniques and the popularity it gained
as a pre-nickelodeon film.

Directed and photographed by Edwin
S. Porter in 1903, The Great Train Robbery was a primitive one reeler film. It
was originally advertised as ” A faithful duplication of the genuine holdups
made famous by various outlaw bands in the far west.”(1) Ironically enough, it
was based on the true hold up of the No. 3 train on the Union Pacific Railroad
on August 29<sup>th</sup>, 1900 by four members of the “Hole in the Wall Gang”
lead by butch Cassidy. This narrative tells the story of a band of outlaws who
capture a train station clerk and has him stop the next train coming along the
tracks. After the train has stopped, the criminals board the train and rob the
scared passengers. After the robbery, the sheriff’s posse is alerted and they
pursue the now goody laden bad guys where there’s a final shootout out in the
woods.

This short film is typical of its
era for a couple reasons. First, many early films had limited “flair” and
effects. The Great Train Robbery featured overly dramatic scenes where actions
are far exaggerated beyond normal. Second, the standard piano soundtrack was
used throughout. It was still popular during the time to have small band
playing along with live shows or films. Like Uncle Tom’s Cabin(1903), also
produced by Porter, it was a silent film. They were both considered full
length, which back then, only amounted to about 10-15 minutes total. Unlike,
The Great Train Robbery, which was filmed in many locations, Uncle Tom’s Cabin
was filmed all in New York City in Thomas Edison’s studio. Though all the
innovations seen in Train Robbery aren’t present, Uncle Tom’s cabin was an
early 1900’s era film that is equally interesting.

This film is very innovative for its
time in the techniques that were used in its production. Instead of being shot
in Wyoming, The Great Train Robbery was filmed in different locations mostly in
New Jersey and the surrounding areas. Also implemented were various editing
techniques such as cross-cutting, minor camera movement, and double exposure
composite editing. These tricks helped move The Great Train Robbery to instant
success. viewers has never seen a narrative with multiple plot lines. In one
scene, the camera pans wide and viewers are able to see a panoramic view of the
surroundings. Cross-cutting made it possible to show what was occurring in two
separate places at once. It was used to add interest and build suspense.
“Though Porter didn’t use it to its full potential, he was responsible for
introducing the concept to the American Film Industry, allowing others to build
upon it.”(3) Because of these innovations, it was an instant success. “The
Great Train Robbery lead directly to the opening up of permanent movie theaters
and opened up the possibility of a future film industry.”(2) Today, this short
film is seen as early film gold. The Great Train Robbery’s success made it
possible for the Film Industry to be the monopoly it is.

Personally,
I thought the short film to be quite boring. The lack of color, or at least
shading, takes away from it’s appeal. Also, there is no sound besides the piano
music that accompanies it. Even though I feel that it’s boring, I find it
amazing that those simple techniques Porter used such as camera movement made
it such a big hit. I also find it fascinating that the action packed
blockbusters we see today all got their roots from the black and white film
strips of the early 1900’s.

Future generations should be aware
of The Great Train Robbery because present film started with the simple silent
films of times past. Everything in the world has its start somewhere and nobody
can fully appreciate the film industry without knowing where it started. “It
was the most popular and commercially successful film of the pre-nickelodeon
era , and established the notion that film could be a commercially viable
medium.”(1)

TCP 4 Works
Cited

1900s,
Decade&gt;. "Great Train Robbery - The First Silent Film." 20th
Century History. Web. 01 Dec. 2011.
&lt;http://history1900s.about.com/od/1900s/qt/trainrobbery.htm&gt;.

&nbsp;

"The
Great Train Robbery (1903)." Greatest Films - The Best Movies in Cinematic
History. Web. 01 Dec. 2011. &lt;http://www.filmsite.org/grea.html&gt;.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7949193416885414135

"IMDb -
The Great Train Robbery (1903)." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Web.
01 Dec. 2011. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000439/