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Carmencita (film)
Encyclopedia
Carmencita, is an 1894
American
short
black-and-white
silent
documentary film
directed and produced by William K.L. Dickson, the Scottish
inventor credited with the invention of the motion picture
camera
under the employ of Thomas Edison
. The film is titled after the dancer who features in it.
This video is one of a series of Edison short films featuring circus
and vaudeville
acts. It features a dancer going through a routine she had been performing at Koster & Bial's in New York
since February 1890. According to film historian C. Musser, Carmencita was the first woman to appear in front of an Edison motion picture camera and may have been the first woman to appear in a motion picture within the United States.
The film was produced by the Edison Manufacturing Company
which had begun making films in 1890
under the direction of one of the earliest pioneers to film, William K.L. Dickson. It was filmed entirely within the Black Maria
studio at West Orange, New Jersey
, in the USA, which is widely referred to as "America's First Movie Studio." Filming on this work took place between March 10, 1894 and March 16, 1894.
According to the Internet Movie Database
the film is 15.24 m in length. It was made in a 35 mm format with an aspect ratio of 1.33 : 1. The movie was intended to be displayed through means of a Kinetoscope
.
and can be viewed on their American Memory
website. An alternative version can be found on Google Video
, although this contains additional footage shot at around the same time.
The film has also come to public attention as the first title listed on the Internet Movie Database. The website runs a system of providing each title in the database with a unique 7 digit code. This title has the code tt0000001, however, it is notably not the oldest movie listed on the site.
1894 in film
-Events:* January 7 - William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film.* January 7 - Thomas Edison films his assistant, Fred Ott sneezing with the Kinetoscope at the "Black Maria."...
American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
short
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
black-and-white
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
silent
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
directed and produced by William K.L. Dickson, the Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
inventor credited with the invention of the motion picture
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
camera
Movie camera
The movie camera is a type of photographic camera which takes a rapid sequence of photographs on strips of film which was very popular for private use in the last century until its successor, the video camera, replaced it...
under the employ of Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
. The film is titled after the dancer who features in it.
This video is one of a series of Edison short films featuring circus
Circus
A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...
and vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
acts. It features a dancer going through a routine she had been performing at Koster & Bial's in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
since February 1890. According to film historian C. Musser, Carmencita was the first woman to appear in front of an Edison motion picture camera and may have been the first woman to appear in a motion picture within the United States.
Production
Edison Studios
Edison Studios was an American motion picture production company owned by the Edison Company of inventor Thomas Edison. The studio made close to 1,200 films as the Edison Manufacturing Company and Thomas A. Edison, Inc. until the studio's closing in 1918...
which had begun making films in 1890
1890 in film
-Events:* William Dickson completes his work for Thomas Edison on the Kinetograph cylinder either in this year or 1889. Monkeyshines No. 1 becomes the first film shot on the system.-Films:...
under the direction of one of the earliest pioneers to film, William K.L. Dickson. It was filmed entirely within the Black Maria
Edison's Black Maria
The Black Maria was Thomas Edison's movie production studio in West Orange, New Jersey. It is widely referred to as America's First Movie Studio.- History :...
studio at West Orange, New Jersey
West Orange, New Jersey
West Orange is a township in central Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 46,207...
, in the USA, which is widely referred to as "America's First Movie Studio." Filming on this work took place between March 10, 1894 and March 16, 1894.
According to the Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
the film is 15.24 m in length. It was made in a 35 mm format with an aspect ratio of 1.33 : 1. The movie was intended to be displayed through means of a Kinetoscope
Kinetoscope
The Kinetoscope is an early motion picture exhibition device. Though not a movie projector—it was designed for films to be viewed individually through the window of a cabinet housing its components—the Kinetoscope introduced the basic approach that would become the standard for all cinematic...
.
Current status
Given the age of this video, its copyright has now expired and it is freely available on the internet to download. A copy is kept by the Library of CongressLibrary of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
and can be viewed on their American Memory
American Memory
American Memory is an Internet-based archive for public domain image resources, as well as audio, video, and archived Web content. It is published by the Library of Congress...
website. An alternative version can be found on Google Video
Google Video
Google Videos is a video search engine, and formerly a free video sharing website, from Google Inc. Before removing user-uploaded content, the service allowed selected videos to be remotely embedded on other websites and provided the necessary HTML code alongside the media, similar to YouTube...
, although this contains additional footage shot at around the same time.
The film has also come to public attention as the first title listed on the Internet Movie Database. The website runs a system of providing each title in the database with a unique 7 digit code. This title has the code tt0000001, however, it is notably not the oldest movie listed on the site.
External links
- Library of Congress
- Carmencita at Google Video - Note that this also contains other footage