Solar Eclipse
- 1900
Lots of local colour as the town and its tots turn out to put on a show in the spring
The children are the stars of this pageant, but people of all ages have come out to celebrate. Judging by the young lady in the blossom-covered float, it could be springtime, which would make her the Queen of the May, with all her pretty attendants. The youngsters are dressed up like their parents in professional uniforms. There are juvenile farmers, and petite policemen. There may well be tiny butchers, bakers and candlestick-makers too. And don't miss the young lady with the enormous head.
The camera is cleverly placed to the side of the route to give the audience a good view of the floats and costumes as the procession goes by.
It was a lucky filmmaker who managed to be on hand to capture real 'hard news', as in the disastrous launch of HMS Albion. The second Boer War, the biggest international story of the late-Victorian era, lured several cameramen to South Africa. Others responded to audience demand for moving pictures of such events by dramatising them for the camera.