At this stage the Lumieres seem to have been pointing their cameras at anything that would hold still enough to shoot and the gold fish that were swimming around in their round bowl don't seem to have objected to being observed.
In most wise, this is a pointer at what not to do in terms of shooting a motion picture. There is a pointlessness to the goldfish swimming around that rouses my impatience. The Lumieres would think this over and soon learn that opposing lines of motion would make the watcher observe the entire frame, most notably in their view of the Brooklyn Bridge.
Were that the only point -- this is what not to do -- it wouldn't be a worthwhile picture, but by shooting the fish in a globular bowl, they effectively use a fish-eyed lens, which offers distortions. The history of cinema has witnessed a struggle between the objective and subjective camera and the optically distorting lenses like the fish-eyed lens, has been a powerful tool for the subjective camera. Here it is at the start.
In most wise, this is a pointer at what not to do in terms of shooting a motion picture. There is a pointlessness to the goldfish swimming around that rouses my impatience. The Lumieres would think this over and soon learn that opposing lines of motion would make the watcher observe the entire frame, most notably in their view of the Brooklyn Bridge.
Were that the only point -- this is what not to do -- it wouldn't be a worthwhile picture, but by shooting the fish in a globular bowl, they effectively use a fish-eyed lens, which offers distortions. The history of cinema has witnessed a struggle between the objective and subjective camera and the optically distorting lenses like the fish-eyed lens, has been a powerful tool for the subjective camera. Here it is at the start.