Monkeyshines, No. 2
This film is not available to watch here yet.
About Monkeyshines, No. 2
A blurry figure in white stands in one place and makes large gestures. The strip was shot to test Edison's cylinder Kinetoscope after Monkeyshines, No. 1. It was a laboratory test, not a film sold to the public.
Cast & crew
More about Monkeyshines, No. 2
William K. L. Dickson and William Heise made the Monkeyshines tests at the Edison laboratory. Scholars disagree on the first strip: June 1889 with Fred Ott, or 21–27 November 1890 with Giuseppe Sacco Albanese. Both men worked in the lab, and the evidence conflicts. No. 2 and No. 3 followed to try other conditions. The recorded length is 30 seconds.
Themes
Making
Dickson and Heise ran the camera to see whether the cylinder machine would record a moving body at all.
Look
Dickson and Heise photographed a single figure against the laboratory setup, at a resolution that leaves the face unclear.
Technique
The strip is a test of the cylinder Kinetoscope, not of the later 35mm strip.
Preservation
The test survives and has been copied with Monkeyshines, No. 1.
Notes
- The tests used the cylinder form of the Kinetoscope, before the later strip film.
- No. 2 was not given a theatrical release.
- The figure is too blurred for a certain identification.
- An Internet Archive item pairs No. 1 and No. 2 under monkeyshines-no-1-no-2-1890.
- Edison Manufacturing Company was the later production name. These tests belong to the laboratory.
Scenes
- A white-clad figure waves in place.
