Pferd und Reiter springen über ein Hindernis
Plot
This extremely short film, lasting only a few seconds, documents a single continuous action: a horse and its rider successfully clearing a wooden obstacle during what appears to be a training exercise or competition. The camera remains stationary, capturing the approach, the powerful leap over the barrier, and the landing from a side view. The rider maintains control throughout the jump, demonstrating skill and horsemanship. The entire sequence is a straightforward, unedited record of this equestrian feat, representative of the earliest forms of motion picture documentation. The film concludes as the horse and rider continue moving forward after the jump.
About the Production
This film was created using Ottomar Anschütz's own chronophotographic equipment and projection device, the 'elektrischen Schnellseher' (Electrical Tachyscope). Anschütz was a pioneering photographer who specialized in capturing rapid motion sequences, particularly of animals and humans in action. The production was not a narrative film but a scientific and technical demonstration of the camera's ability to capture and reproduce movement. The rider and horse were likely subjects familiar to Anschütz, possibly military personnel or civilian equestrians, used to demonstrate the apparatus. The entire process was a significant technical undertaking for its time, requiring specialized equipment and expertise.
Historical Background
The year 1888 was a period of intense innovation and competition in the field of visual media, often referred to as the 'pre-cinema' era. While Thomas Edison was developing his Kinetoscope in America and the Lumière brothers were preparing their Cinématographe in France, Ottomar Anschütz was independently forging a path in Germany. This was a time when the concept of 'moving pictures' was transitioning from a scientific curiosity into a potential public spectacle. The world was on the cusp of a new visual language. In Germany, this period was marked by rapid industrialization and a strong interest in scientific and technical progress. Anschütz's work was part of this broader cultural fascination with technology, speed, and capturing the fleeting moments of reality. His films were not artistic narratives but technical documents, showcasing humanity's newfound ability to freeze and replay time itself, a concept that was revolutionary and mind-boggling to audiences of the late 19th century.
Why This Film Matters
The cultural significance of 'Pferd und Reiter springen über ein Hindernis' lies in its status as one of the foundational building blocks of cinema. While not a narrative film, it represents a critical step in the development of the medium: the successful capture and projection of lifelike motion. It demonstrated that photography could transcend its static nature and enter the fourth dimension of time. This short film, along with Anschütz's other works, helped pave the way for the narrative films that would soon follow. It showed inventors and the public that capturing reality in motion was possible, fueling the imagination and spurring further innovation. Culturally, it reflects the late 19th-century obsession with technology, speed, and the deconstruction of movement for scientific study, a fascination that would eventually evolve into the art form of cinema. It stands as a testament to the parallel, non-linear development of film technology across different countries.
Making Of
The creation of 'Pferd und Reiter springen über ein Hindernis' was a culmination of Ottomar Anschütz's work in high-speed photography. Anschütz, a master of chronophotography, developed a camera with an extremely fast shutter capable of capturing sequential images of rapid movement. For this film, he would have set up his camera in a fixed position, likely outdoors with consistent lighting. The horse and rider would have had to perform the jump multiple times to ensure the sequence was captured correctly. The biggest challenge was not the filming itself, but the playback. Anschütz had to invent his own viewing apparatus, the Tachyscope, which used a rotating disc of glass-plate photographs illuminated by a Geissler tube (a type of gas-discharge tube) that flashed in synchronization with the images, creating the illusion of fluid motion. This was a complex electrical and mechanical feat for 1888. The production was less a collaborative film set and more the work of a single inventor-scientist demonstrating his groundbreaking technology.
Visual Style
The cinematography of 'Pferd und Reiter springen über ein Hindernis' is defined by its simplicity and technical constraints. The camera is static, mounted on a tripod at a fixed distance from the subject. The framing is a wide shot, designed to capture the entire action of the horse and rider from start to finish. The lighting is entirely natural, as artificial film lighting did not exist. The image quality, by modern standards, would be coarse and lacking in detail, but for its time, the clarity and stability of the image were remarkable achievements. The most significant cinematographic element is the camera's shutter speed, which had to be fast enough to capture the rapid motion of the jumping horse without excessive blur—a major technical hurdle that Anschütz overcame. The 'cinematography' here is not about artistry but about the successful technical execution of capturing motion, a foundational principle of the medium.
Innovations
The primary technical achievement of this film is the successful capture of rapid, fluid motion using Ottomar Anschütz's proprietary high-speed shutter and chronophotographic camera system. This was a significant leap forward from the stilted, jerky sequences of earlier experimenters. The second major achievement was the development of the Tachyscope viewer, which used a rapidly flashing Geissler tube to illuminate sequential images on a rotating disc, creating a smooth illusion of movement. This was an innovative method of projection that predated the use of flexible film strips in many systems. Anschütz's work demonstrated the viability of capturing and displaying brief, realistic motion loops, a crucial step towards the development of modern cinema projectors. The film itself serves as a proof-of-concept for these groundbreaking technologies.
Music
This film is a silent work, created during the silent era of cinema. It would have been exhibited without any synchronized musical score or sound effects. Any auditory experience would have been provided by the environment of the exhibition space or the mechanical noise of the Tachyscope itself. In modern retrospectives or archival screenings, it might be accompanied by music of the period or a specially composed score, but this was not part of its original presentation.
Memorable Scenes
- The entire film consists of a single, iconic scene: the powerful and graceful leap of the horse and rider over the wooden barrier, captured in a continuous, unbroken take that was a technical marvel of its time.
Did You Know?
- This is one of the earliest known motion pictures ever created, pre-dating the more famous works of the Lumière brothers and Thomas Edison by several years.
- The film was not shot on flexible film stock but was likely a sequence of images captured on individual glass plates or a similar medium, designed for viewing in Anschütz's Tachyscope.
- Ottomar Anschütz's Tachyscope, used to exhibit this film, was a coin-operated device that could display a short loop of images to a single viewer at a time, making it a precursor to the Kinetoscope.
- Anschütz was primarily a celebrated chronophotographer before ventering into motion pictures, famous for his detailed studies of bird flight and animal locomotion.
- The film was created not for entertainment in the modern sense, but as a scientific and technical demonstration to showcase the capabilities of motion capture technology.
- The original title is in German, directly translating to 'Horse and Rider Jump Over an Obstacle'.
- Anschütz demonstrated his device and films, including this one, to prominent figures of the era, including Kaiser Wilhelm II and the future Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.
- Unlike the Edison and Lumière systems which used 35mm film, Anschütz's early experiments like this one used a different format, contributing to its unique place in film history.
- The brevity of the film was a technical necessity of the era, as capturing and storing longer sequences of moving images was not yet feasible.
- This film is a crucial example of the parallel development of cinema technology in Germany, independent of the more widely documented French and American innovations.
What Critics Said
Contemporary critical reception for such a technical demonstration was not recorded in the way we understand film criticism today. Reports from the time, however, indicate that Anschütz's exhibitions were met with astonishment and wonder. Viewers were reportedly amazed by the lifelike quality of the motion, describing it as a magical or miraculous experience. The press of the day focused on the technological marvel rather than any artistic merit. In modern times, film historians and critics view 'Pferd und Reiter springen über ein Hindernis' as an invaluable historical artifact. It is not judged on entertainment value but on its immense importance as one of the earliest surviving examples of recorded motion. Critics of film history recognize it as a key piece of evidence in understanding the complex origins of cinema, highlighting Anschütz's often-overlooked contribution.
What Audiences Thought
Audiences in 1888 who viewed this film through Anschütz's Tachyscope were reportedly captivated and astonished. For most, it was their first time ever seeing a photograph move. The experience was often described as 'living photography' or a 'miracle.' The novelty of seeing a horse and rider, captured in a fleeting moment of action, brought to life before their eyes was a profound and unforgettable experience. The coin-operated nature of the Tachyscope made it an individual, private wonder rather than a communal one, which likely heightened the sense of personal discovery. There were no expectations of story or character; the sheer technological feat was the entire attraction. Today, audiences encountering this film in archives or compilations of early cinema experience it differently, viewing it through a historical lens and appreciating it for its pioneering role in the birth of a new art form.
Film Connections
Influenced By
- Eadweard Muybridge's Animal Locomotion studies
- Étienne-Jules Marey's chronophotographic experiments
This Film Influenced
- Subsequent Edison Kinetoscope films
- Lumière brothers' early actualities
- All subsequent films depicting equestrian sports
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Film Restoration
The preservation status of this specific 1888 film is extremely precarious. As it was likely created on glass plates or a similarly fragile medium and not on durable celluloid film, the original materials are almost certainly lost or have disintegrated over time. The film's existence today is known through historical records, catalogs, and possibly surviving reproductions or prints made later. It is considered a 'lost film' in its original form, though its historical importance is well-documented. Any existing versions would be copies of copies, and its survival is a testament to the efforts of film archives dedicated to preserving the earliest artifacts of cinema history.