Fire!

1901
Silent
5m

A dramatic rescue from a burning building by heroic firemen is one of our most important films

James Williamson's early fire drama is not only a magnificent telling of a traditional fire rescue narrative familiar from magic lantern sets and the popular illustrate press. It is also one of the most important milestones in the development of film language. Watch how the policemen, who first spots the fire, runs from one position outside the burning house into another location outside the fire station. This construction of 'film space' is entirely unremarkable today, but this kind matching action was completely unheard of in 1901. It's a genuine first.

A fire breaks out in a house; the local fire brigade turn out to deal with it; a man is rescued from a burning room, etc.

Inventing Film Language

As with any new technology, it was film’s early adopters whose innovations and discoveries began to map out what is possible.

The first filmmakers had a lot to learn, but they learnt quickly, driven by their own creative ambitions and by audiences' hunger for novelty. Most of the techniques we know today were in place by the end of the Victorian period.

It was the Victorian pioneers who developed the essential building blocks of film; close-ups, pans and travelling shots; editing and principles of continuity. And their ambition spurred them to innovate numerous tricks and effects, from jump-cuts, to double-exposure and even split screen. Generations of later filmmakers would refine these methods, but the groundwork had already been done.