Although early cinema is rarely addressed in monographs on experimental film, it’s accurate to claim that the first decade of cinematography was cinema’s most experimental period. In 1906, new developments occurred in both the technical and narrative aspects of filmmaking. Some fascinating British films showing us the innovative research being conducted there have survived (the survival rate of British films from that year is approximately only 10%). G.A. Smith was experimenting with his Kinemacolor natural colour system: Two Clowns and Tartans of Scottish Clans are very early test films of the system that emerged between 1908 and 1913 as the most successful natural colour process in the early days of cinema. Simultaneously, Walter R. Booth experimented with animation techniques in the UK, creating the remarkable The Hand of the Artist. Meanwhile, on the other side of the ocean, J. Stuart Blackton produced hand-drawn animated sequences that are often regarded as the first animated film: Humorous Phases of Funny Faces. He also experimented with narrative forms and introduced quasi-surreal scenes in his film And the Villain Still Pursued Her. In the meantime, veteran filmmaker Georges Méliès did not rest on his laurels, enchanting us with his 1906 masterpiece, a dazzling feast of tasteful overexposures: Les Affiches en goguette. Gaston Velle, the leading director of trick films and féeries for the Pathé company (and later in 1906 for Cines), employed innovative techniques such as scratching the filmstrip with a sharp tool to create striking cinematic effects.

Karl Wratschko