Editing Blacksmith Scene

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Blacksmithing Scene
| image          = BlacksmithScene.jpg
| caption        = Image from ''Blacksmithing Scene''
| director       = [[William Kennedy Dickson|William K.L. Dickson]]
| producer       = 
| writer         = 
| starring       = Charles Kayser<br>John Ott
| music          = 
| cinematography = [[William Heise]]
| editing        = 
| distributor    = [[Edison Manufacturing Company]]
| released       = {{film date|1893|5|9}}
| runtime        = 34 seconds
| country        = United States
| language       = [[Silent film|Silent]]
| budget         = 
| gross          =
}}

[[File:Blacksmith Scene.ogv|thumb|''Blacksmithing Scene'']]

'''''Blacksmith Scene''''' (also known as '''''Blacksmith Scene #1''''' and '''''Blacksmithing Scene''''') is an 1893 American [[Short film|short]] [[black-and-white]] [[silent film]] directed by [[William Kennedy Dickson|William K.L. Dickson]], the [[Scottish people|Scottish]]-[[French people|French]] [[inventor]] who, while under the employ of [[Thomas Edison]], developed one of the first fully functional [[film|motion picture]] [[movie camera|cameras]]. It is historically significant as the first [[Kinetoscope]] film shown in public exhibition on May 9, 1893, and is the earliest known example of actors performing a role in a film. It was also the first U.S. motion picture film ever copyrighted that same year.<ref>{{cite web |title=Scholar at the Library of Congress Identifies the First Motion Picture Ever Copyrighted |url=https://newsroom.loc.gov/news/scholar-at-the-library-of-congress-identifies-the-first-motion-picture--ever-copyrighted/s/6b6eaee5-b504-4776-82f7-f6c2fc114c18 |website=Library of Congress Newsroom |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=25 February 2024 |date=13 October 2022}}</ref> 102 years later, in 1995, ''Blacksmithing Scene'' was selected for preservation in the United States [[National Film Registry]] by the [[Library of Congress]] as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Complete National Film Registry Listing |url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/|access-date=2020-09-17|website=Library of Congress}}</ref> It is the second-oldest film included in the Registry, after ''[[Newark Athlete]]'' (1891).

==Production==
The film was produced by the [[Edison Studios|Edison Manufacturing Company]], which had begun making films in [[1890 in film|1890]] under the direction of William K.L. Dickson. It was filmed entirely within the [[Edison's Black Maria|Black Maria]] studio at [[West Orange, New Jersey]], in the United States, which is widely referred to as "America's First Movie Studio". It is believed to have been filmed in April 1893 and was shown publicly, in a [[Kinetoscope]] viewer, at the [[Brooklyn Museum|Brooklyn Institute]] on May 9, 1893.<ref name="silent">{{cite web |url=http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/B/BlacksmithScene1893.html | title=PFSL : Blacksmith Scene | work=Silent Era |accessdate=2007-03-14 }}</ref>

According to the [[Internet Movie Database]], the film was made in a 35&nbsp;mm format with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The movie was intended to be displayed on a [[Kinetoscope]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000005/technical |title=Internet Movie Database Technical Specifications |website=[[IMDb]] |accessdate=2007-03-14 }}</ref> Dickson selected a lens that worked best for [[medium shot]]s and medium close-up shots and probably stationed his camera approximately ten to twelve feet from the anvil.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=America's film legacy : the authoritative guide to the landmark movies in the National Film Registry|last=Eagan, Daniel.|date=2010|publisher=Continuum|others=National Film Preservation Board (U.S.)|isbn=9781441116475|location=New York|pages=2|oclc=676697377}}</ref>

The men featured are not true blacksmiths, nor are they in a blacksmith shop working on metal: they are performers on a set pretending to be blacksmiths and to have a drink in between. While the background is simply left black, the crew went through some trouble to bring in a real anvil, real sledgehammers and leather aprons.<ref name=":0" />

==Cast==
{| class="wikitable" 
! Actors !! Characters
|-
| [[Charles Kayser]] || Blacksmith
|-
| [[John Ott (actor)|John Ott]] || Assistant
|}

==Awards and nominations==
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
!Year
!Award
!Category — Recipient(s)
|-
| 1995 || [[National Film Registry]] || National Film Registry
|}

== Current status ==
A surviving 35-mm print of this film was found at the [[The Henry Ford|Henry Ford Museum]]; it is the source of the negative preserved by the [[Museum of Modern Art]] film archive.<ref name="silent" /> Another copy is at the [[Edison National Historic Site]], administered by the [[National Park Service]]. Because the film was finished before 1925, its [[copyright]] has expired; it is freely available on the [[World Wide Web]].

==See also==
*[[Treasures from American Film Archives]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title | 0000005 | Blacksmith Scene}}
* {{Internet Archive film|id=blacksmith1893}}
* {{YouTube|aaFYkP7R0as|''Blacksmith Scene''}}
* ''Blacksmith Scene'' essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, 2010 {{ISBN|0826429777}}, pages 1–2 [https://books.google.com/books?id=deq3xI8OmCkC]

{{William Kennedy Dickson}}

[[Category:1893 films]]
[[Category:1893 short films]]
[[Category:1890s American films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:American silent short films]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Edison Manufacturing Company films]]
[[Category:Films directed by William Kennedy Dickson]]
[[Category:Films shot in New Jersey]]
[[Category:Surviving American silent films]]
[[Category:Thomas Edison]]
[[Category:United States National Film Registry films]]