Underplayed Gems

Fight for the Dardanelles (1915)

Fight for the Dardanelles poster
Directed by
F. Percy Smith
Genre
documentary film, silent film, propaganda film
Country
United Kingdom
Runtime
9 min
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

This silent documentary uses stop-frame animation and cardboard cutouts to map the military situation in the Dardanelles during World War I. It explains troop movements and naval deployments with intertitles and cotton wool explosions.

informativeeducationaldatedstylizedpropagandisticdetachedinstructional

What happens

Fight for the Dardanelles (1915) is a British silent documentary film, directed by F. Percy Smith and produced and edited by Charles Urban. Percy Smith was known as a recorder of nature. He was a pioneer in the field of scientific documentaries. During World War I, however, he used his talents to support the Allied war effort. He shot aerial views of battlefields for British forces and made several animated films. One such was Fight for the Dardanelles. The film uses stop-frame animation to create maps on the screen, and showed the then-current military situation in the Dardanelles, using various maps to assist understanding. Small cardboard cut-outs show the deployment of men and ships. Intertitles explain tactics, and shelling explosions are illustrated by clouds of cotton wool. The techniques used in the film are considered primitive today; however, they satisfied a need at the time for details of the war. The film is currently available in 16mm film format. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

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