DALE HAWES

The Great Train Robbery (1903)

 

This is the film that essentially established the tools of filmmaking we know today. In a sense it is the very first "Hollywood movie" though it was shot in New York and New Jersey. Now, it wasn't the first motion picture to use film to tell a dramatic story, that would be the French film, "A Trip to the Moon" (1902). But unlike "A Trip to the Moon" which essentially just built a theatrical stage and filmed the play, The Great Train Robbery invented tools that are the foundation of today's filmmakers. These are things like shooting on location, parallel editing (cutting back and forth between two different scenes that are occurring at the same time), post production special effects (specifically- mat shots or composite shots) and even a close up. One special effect that is easy to see is when they cut in the middle of the action to replace an actor with a dummy so the bandit could throw him off the moving train. This film is so revolutionary it's no wonder that it was produced by Thomas Edison.

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According to reports. The film had such an impact on the audience that when the bandit shot at the camera at the end of the film the audience literally screamed and ducked.