Jumping the Blanket
About Jumping the Blanket
In a barracks yard, four men hold a blanket tight. A fifth, in a hat, watches. A sixth runs in and tries to jump onto the blanket. The French title also calls it hazing in a barracks: Brimade dans une caserne.
Cast & crew
More about Jumping the Blanket
Louis Lumière directed and produced Le Saut à la couverture. It was on the first paid Cinématographe program at the Salon Indien, Grand Café, 14 Boulevard des Capucines, Paris, on 28 December 1895. The shot runs 41 seconds.
Themes
Background
The Grand Café audience on 28 December 1895 paid to see a string of these single-shot views. This one is the barracks number on that list.
Making
Lumière placed the camera square on the yard. The joke is whether the runner lands in the blanket or the holders dump him.
Look
Louis Lumière filmed the yard in one setup. The blanket and the runner stay inside the same frame for the whole 41 seconds.
Preservation
The 41-second shot survives. A copy is on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- The alternate French title, Brimade dans une caserne, names the gag as barracks hazing rather than a game.
- Six men are in the frame: four on the blanket, one watching, one jumping.
- It shared the 28 December 1895 bill with Les Forgerons.
- No performer is credited.
- A Commons file is filed as Le Saut à la couverture (1895).
Scenes
- Four men brace the blanket while a sixth man runs and jumps for the middle.
