Essential Films
Share
The Essential Films series of reviews is intended to help readers understand how film has gone from being a mere curiosity to the most popular art form worldwide in little more than a century, by analysing individual films from the dawn of the medium to the present day. The selection of titles will follow a rough chronological path, aimed essentially at tracing the development of the medium. The f
In 1883, Eadweard Muybridge trained his cameras on a buffalo already reduced from sixty million to a few thousand. 'Buffalo Running' is no mere scientific record, it is cinema's earliest act of ecological conscience. In immortalising this noble beast at the edge of extinction, Muybridge laid the foundations of wildlife documentary film.
👉 Read the full article here: https://www.essential-films.co.uk/post/running-out-of-time-eadweard-muybridge-buffalo-running-and-cinema-s-first-act-of-conservation
06/04/2026
Chronophotography found its earliest major successes in the United States in the 19th century. Within decades, the US transformed the emerging medium into a leading national industry. Explore the Essential Films canon to uncover the American cinematic journey.
👉 Click here for the full list: https://www.essential-films.co.uk/film?country=United+States¢ury=19th+Century
29/03/2026
"Woman Throwing Baseball" (1887) is a collection of photographs depicting women repeating the action of kneeling to pick up a baseball and then throwing it high into the air. Featuring multiple female subjects of diverse ages and physiques, and captured from various angles, this study takes Eadweard Muybridge’s standard formula, extending it towards its natural conclusion. To analyse locomotion, the director understood that, from a scientific standpoint, conclusions must be drawn from more than one example. Furthermore, given the complex architecture of the human body, the same muscle groups needed to be captured from a range of viewpoints. In pursuing his research, Muybridge had unconsciously begun to write the rules of filmmaking by developing early, specific viewpoint techniques that enhance the continuity of visual narrative.
👉 Find out more https://www.essential-films.co.uk/film/woman-throwing-baseball-1887
Click here to claim your Sponsored Listing.
Category
Address
London
