The Dickson Experimental Sound Film

director: William K. L. Dickson

original title: The Dickson Experimental Sound Film

year: 1894

running time: 1 min.

synopsis

The film made in Edison᾽s studio Black Maria was to test the kinetophone – the machine which was both a kinetograph and a phonograph. It shows two men dancing in a tight embrace to violin music played by Dickson himself. He plays straight to the metal horn of the phonograph, recording the music. The picture and the sound were synchronized at the end of the 20th century.

biography

William Kennedy Dickson (1860–1935) was a British inventor and Thomas Edison᾽s employee. In 1888, Edison charged him to invent a kinetograph – a machine able to record motion picture, and then a kinetoscope – a motion-picture exhibition device with a peephole viewer window, which enabled one person at a time to watch the footage. Dicksonʼs success lead to the establishment of the first film studio in the world – Black Maria.

more about film

director:

William K. L. Dickson

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