A Switchback Railway
Encyclopedia
A Switchback Railway is an 1898
British short
black-and-white silent
actuality film
, directed by Robert W. Paul
, featuring patrons riding on a switchback railway
at a fairground. "This dynamically composed actuality," according to Micahael Brooke of BFI Screenonline, "was clearly a success, so much so that James Williamson and the Riley Brothers released their own switchback railway films only a few months later." It is included on the BFI DVD R.W. Paul: The Collected Films 1895-1908.
1898 in film
-Events:*May 19 - Vitagraph is founded in New York.*Birt Acres invents the first amateur format, Birtac, by splitting 35 mm film into two halves of 17.5 mm.-Films released in 1898:*The Ball Game*The Nearsighted School Teacher...
British short
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
black-and-white silent
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
actuality film
Actuality film
The actuality film is a non-fiction film genre that like the documentary film uses footage of real events, places, and things, yet unlike the documentary is not structured into a larger argument, picture of the phenomenon or coherent whole. In practice, actuality films preceded the emergence of the...
, directed by Robert W. Paul
Robert W. Paul
Robert W. Paul was a British electrician, scientific instrument maker and early pioneer of British film.-Early career:...
, featuring patrons riding on a switchback railway
Switchback railway
The original Switchback Railway at Coney Island was the first roller coaster designed as an amusement ride in America. It was designed by LaMarcus Adna Thompson in 1881 and constructed in 1884. It appears Thompson based his design, at least in part, on the Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway which was a...
at a fairground. "This dynamically composed actuality," according to Micahael Brooke of BFI Screenonline, "was clearly a success, so much so that James Williamson and the Riley Brothers released their own switchback railway films only a few months later." It is included on the BFI DVD R.W. Paul: The Collected Films 1895-1908.