Mondays directing traffic are just too much for me these days-Time Machine, take me away! (spins dial). Wow, crowded as ever-but at least it's mainly foot traffic...hey, why is everybody Photo-bombing that camera operator?
This roughly 8 mi…
Mondays directing traffic are just too much for me these days-Time Machine, take me away! (spins dial). Wow, crowded as ever-but at least it's mainly foot traffic...hey, why is everybody Photo-bombing that camera operator?
This roughly 8 minute feature comes from the well-preserved Mitchell and Kenyon collection. The two made quite a living taking tours of various, towns, filming the activity and then showing it to the public later for a modest fee. This particular feature shows the English towns of West Bromwich, Wigan, Lancaster and Barrow, as well as the town of Wexford Ireland. The camera is no mere spectator in these clips either, the operators are more than glad to attract the attention of nearby pedestrians, encouraging them to line up, march in unison, stage mock fights and otherwise mug for this new invention-the better to spot themselves on the screen later. Of particular interest to me personally is the Wigan clip, which shows what may well be one of the first motorized Food Truck, and the Lancaster Jute Factory, which produced much of the heavy, durable clothing worn by even the children of the era-many whom worked as long at that factory as any of their parents...
This well-preserved short film was recovered and re-distributed by the British Film Institute, and eventually found its way to Film Restorer Guy Jones, who used an advanced AI to correct the film to modern speed, remove imperfections and correct for focus-and add an amazing 'soundtrack' of crowd noises and audio effects in order to completely immerse the viewer into the United Kingdom of 1902. I raise my mug of Earl Grey to toast all who helped to once again release this film into the Public view...B&W, Sound.
