Scenes at Balmoral

1896 Documentary 1 minute Directed by William Downey

About Scenes at Balmoral

On October 3, 1896, Queen Victoria and her family walk back and forth at Balmoral while children jump for the camera. The queen sits with her Pomeranian, Turi, in her lap. Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra, and the Duke and Duchess of Connaught are in the groups. A carriage and horses pass through the shots.

Cast & crew

More about Scenes at Balmoral

The firm W. & D. Downey, royal photographers, filmed the groups on October 3, 1896. The BFI says the camera was built by the firm's employee T. J. Harrison and ran 60mm film. Victoria's diary that day says they were photographed "by the new cinematograph process, which makes moving pictures by winding off a reel of films."

Themes

  • a queen in front of a camera
  • family at Balmoral
  • the first look at a cinematograph
  • Queen Victoria
  • Balmoral
  • Nicholas II
  • Turi
  • 60mm film
  • Downey

Background

The shoot came about ten months after the Lumière public shows in Paris. Victoria had the results thrown in a drawing room on November 23.

Making

The BFI credits the cameraman as the son of the royal photographer W. Downey. On November 23, 1896, the groups were projected for the queen.

Reviews

Victoria's diary for November 23, 1896, calls the animated pictures "a very wonderful process, representing people their movements and actions as if they were alive."

Look

T. J. Harrison's 60mm camera, hand-cranked outdoors at Balmoral. A loading error left the image jumping vertically.

Technique

The National Library of Scotland combined the BFI nitrate with a Movietone print so that damage in one copy could be covered by the other.

Preservation

The original nitrate is at the BFI National Archive. The National Library of Scotland also used a Movietone print for its digital version. The BFI player copy restores the tint.

Notes

  • It is the earliest film of Queen Victoria, and the earliest film shot in Scotland held by the National Library of Scotland.
  • Princess Beatrice is among the people named in the cast lists.
  • The BFI's circulating copy restores the original tinting.
  • The National Library of Scotland concluded Downey had loaded the film wrong, which left a hard vertical jump.

Scenes

  • Victoria sits with the Pomeranian Turi in her lap while the camera turns.
  • The children jump as the adults walk up and down.

Also available

  • BFI Player (Scenes at Balmoral)