A boy examines things through his Grandmother's magnifying glass, and early film takes a huge step forward.

In this innovative play on perspective from GA Smith, a boy examines things through his Grandmother's magnifying glass... and film grammar takes a huge step forward. Unlike the neutral observations of actuality films, or filmed theatre (as some early film has been pejoratively termed) this film deploys what would become known as the point of view shot. This is just one example of how the playfulness and inventiveness of the early film pioneers directly shaped the evolution of film as a visual language.

TRICK. A boy examines a series of items with his grandmother's reading glass.

Irised cut in shot scans a newspaper and settles on an advert for Bovril. A young boy is seen to be holding his grandmother's magnifying glass whilst she is darning socks beside him. The boy then picks off the back of a watch and inspects the mechanism. An irised shot of the watch mechanism. (20) The boy then takes the glass to the birdcage. An irised shot of the bird inside the cage. (39) He then looks at his grandmother's face. CU irised shot of his grandmother's eye. (60) Grandmother then holds a cat in her workbasket for her grandson to look at. CU cat in an irised shot. (79) The cat escapes and hte boy looks at his grandmother's darning. She then goes to take the glass from him. (89)