Scene from the Elevator Ascending Eiffel Tower
About Scene from the Elevator Ascending Eiffel Tower
A camera rides an elevator of the Eiffel Tower during the 1900 Paris Exposition. As the car rises, the fair opens out, including the view toward the Trocadéro and the Palace of Electricity. The car then comes down.
Cast & crew
More about Scene from the Elevator Ascending Eiffel Tower
James H. White directed it for Edison in July 1900 and the company released it in August. Thomas A. Edison copyrighted it on 9 August 1900 (D16386). The Edison catalog sold the full trip at 200 feet and the ascent alone at 125 feet. A 130-foot length is also listed. It belongs to the Paris Exposition, 1900 series. Wikidata times a copy at 1 minute.
Themes
Background
An Edison actuality shot at the Paris Exposition of 1900 and sold that August in more than one length.
Making
White filmed from inside an ascending elevator in July 1900.
Look
James H. White set the camera in the elevator so the frame widens over the fair as the car climbs, then covers the descent.
Technique
The ride itself is the tracking shot: one ascent and one descent, sold complete at 200 feet.
Preservation
A paper print is in the Library of Congress. A copy is on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- Another catalog title is Panoramic View from the Eiffel Tower, Ascending and Descending.
- The Library of Congress paper-print note also sees Napoleon's tomb and the exhibit buildings away from the Seine.
- The Edison blurb calls the tower 1,000 feet high.
- One of about 30 films in Edison's Paris Exposition series.
Scenes
- The fair spreads out as the elevator leaves the ground.
- At the top the camera looks toward the Trocadéro and the Palace of Electricity.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Scene from the elevator ascending Eiffel Tower.ogv)
