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February 1901: Edison's New Studio
The reasons for Edison's move to a new studio were two-fold. Firstly, exhibitors were beginning to establish long-term agreements with vaudeville houses, which resulted in a greatly increased demand for fresh material. Secondly, as production had tailed off at the old 'Black Maria' studio, which had fallen into disrepair, Edison had grown increasingly reliant upon his licencees for new films. With his legal position being challenged in the courts by Biograph, Edison was keenly aware of the fact that, should he lose the legal war, he would be left in an untenable position: the licencees that currently provided his films would become rivals overnight and, with their film-making facilities, would leave his manufacturing company in a potentially fatal position. Having decided to remain in the film business in 1900, Edison pushed ahead with plans for a new studio, and suitable premises were eventually found at 41 East 21st Street, in the heart of New York's theatrical district.
The indoor studio was on the roof of the building, situated above the offices of Percival Walter's Kinetograph Exchange. Waters later recalled:
"The Edison Company was to have the exclusive use of the studio on the roof and a room approximately 8 x 10 feet lighted by a sky light and another room approximately 25 feet by 10 feet electrically lighted which was used as a dark room and dressing room and access to these two rooms through my place of business and the privilege of using the front rooms on my floor as dressing rooms."
The studio was rented by Edison's Kinetograph Department in October 1900, and the building was ready on 12th January 1901. By mid-February, it was ready for production to begin. Edwin S. Porter played a large part in outfitting the studio, and was moved from the Edison laboratory to the studio to act as cameraman under actor and scenic designer, George S. Fleming who, in turn, reported to James White. Despite his junior position to Fleming, it soon became clear that Porter was the creative influence in the collaboration process. Film production at the studio began in earnest with more than sixty films being produced there in the following six months. One of the first of these was Kansas Saloon Smashers, a reproduction of Carrie Nation's infamous saloon-wrecking exploits, which was torn from the front pages of the newspapers. The partnership also filmed a number of vaudeville performers who flocked to the studio in much the same way that they had to the Black Maria.
It was during this period that Porter began to expand film's canvas by producing an increasing number of multi-shot films. One of the first of these was Terrible Teddy, The Grizzly King (copyrighted 23rd February 1901) a comedy in which, in the first scene, Teddy Roosevelt, accompanied by his photographer and press agent is seen shooting a black cat from the branches of a tree. In the second scene Roosevelt is shown riding rather grandly along a footpath on his stallion with his cronies following. While this was progress of a sort from the one-shot films that had previously comprised American cinema's output, there was not yet any attempt at spatial or temporal continuity; the two scenes were simply animated representations of a two-panel cartoon that appeared in the New York Journal and Advertiser that same month. In The Finish of Bridget McKeen, the second shot served as a punchline to the action in the first: filmed against a painted backdrop, Bridget, a maid attempts to start a real stove using kerosene. An explosion propels Bridget (now a dummy who has replaced the actor thanks to stop-motion photography) into the air and, after a disproportionate length of time, her body parts fall to the floor. This scene then dissolves - another first - to a shot of a painted backdrop which contains Bridget's tombstone. "Here Lies the Remains of Bridget McKeen Who Started a Fire with Kerosine." These films represented the beginning of a shift from non-narrative to narrative film that would quickly gather pace in 1903 with the release of Porter's The Great Train Robbery. [ADD]
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