Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Ken Jacobs
David Hamilton
Florence Jacobs
Ken Jacobs
Ken Jacobs
Ken Jacobs
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
A dissection and analysis of Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son , a 1905 film version of the nursery rhyme photographed by G. W. "Billy" Bitzer for the American Mutoscope & Biograph Company. The original film, photographed with a stationary camera on eight sets, is first presented intact. It depicts a street fair, in which acrobats and jugglers perform while a group of sailors brawl and Tom is seen stealing a pig. A dozen pursuers give chase. They search buildings, jump into haystacks, climb out of chimneys, and vault fences before capturing Tom at a well in a barnyard. In the new film, the original footage is photographed from the screen upon which it is being projected with the purpose of demonstrating the possible range in methods of depicting the same story. The filmmaker employs the freeze-frame, reverse action, slow motion, wipes, masks, superimpositions, flicker effects, split screen, rapid cutting, and changes in sequence. He photographs portions of the original frame and moves the camera around and away from the projected image, at times creating extreme, grainy close-ups. At other times, the screen is seen in long-shot: a screen-within-a-screen. Two color sequences are added to the original film, and at one point the bulb of the projector is photographed. The original film is once again presented intact, and in a coda, the original sequences appear in rapid progression.
Film Details
Technical Specs
