User Reviews

Porter showcases his innovation of being able to film glowing lights so well in this beautiful and eerie panorama of Coney Island at night. The camera pan from high above the attractions as well as at ground level, showing all the glowing lights from the area. This, apparently, was one of the first films to be able to show such lights so well at nighttime. Add the difficulty of filming at night because of the length of exposure needed to do so, and Porter's short film was quite an achievement for 1905.

My interest, though, really is not in the technical skill on display. I gave this a 5 out of 10 (a high score for most films, in my opinion, in 1905) because of its dazzling display of lights. What can I say? I like shiny things.

In the early days of cinema, movies very rarely tried to tell stories. Instead, they tended to show what was....and a lot of it was pretty mundane. So, althouhg this film may not seem so hot today, it's a product of its times AND is an invaluable historical record of Coney Island, New York in 1905.

The images of Coney are all done at night...mostly to celebrate the rather recent invention of electrification. I've seen a few clips of similar things earlier in history (such as at World's Fairs)...and audiences of the day enjoyed seeing these sites they'd likely never see in person. Here, you see Luna Park and Dreamland all lit up.

By the way, what is really interesting is to see Coney Island during the day...and quite a few of these films exist from the 1905 period.

This is so cool. Now I know that most viewers won't think so, but seeing Coney Island's Luna Park and other parks at night in all their lit up glory is something to behold. Talk about history! And, apparently, by 1905 film and film techniques had improved so that when you see the panoramic shots today, they appear far less than 106 years-old! Quite beautiful and interesting--even though there isn't a lot of action--just nice sweeping views of the lights that illuminated the parks--parks and attractions that have long since disappeared--demolished or burned down over the decades.

So would the average person be impressed by all this? Maybe not. I am a retired history teacher and so naturally I liked it--and I think a lot of New Yorkers would also enjoy seeing this tiny glimpse into the past.

This short feature consists of about four minutes of very nice-looking, often beautiful footage of Coney Island as it would look at night from a distance, when you can see little except for the many lights. It seems to have been taken early enough in the evening for there to be plenty of activity, since everything seem to be open for business, and yet you do not actually see the human beings, just the lights.

The footage is interesting too, in that it presents a very different look from what the area probably looked like close up. The bustling, rather boisterous atmosphere that amusement park visitors probably would have experienced can barely be sensed, and instead there is an almost serene feeling of beauty in seeing the attractive patterns of the lights.

The panoramic footage of "Coney Island at Night" also calls to mind earlier, similar Edison features such as the series they made at the 1901 Pan-American exhibition. This 1905 feature is even more polished and interesting. It includes some simple but pleasant camera effects in some of the titles, and it accomplishes quite well what it intended to do.

This is a rather ordinary actuality film from early cinema, but I want to comment on it because it's well photographed and made. Edwin S. Porter produced it for the Edison Company, and the film is very similar to other subjects they made: the nighttime panorama views "Pan-American Exposition by Night" and "Panorama of Esplanade by Night" (both 1901), for example. Additionally, early American filmmakers made many films featuring Coney Island; since most of the studios were then located in New York and New Jersey, the amusement park was nearby. For instance, if one wants to see what Coney Island looked like in the daytime, they may watch Porter's "Rube and Mandy at Coney Island" (1903). By 1905, with the prevalence of story films and the nickelodeon era beginning, actuality films such as this one (proto-documentaries and generally non-narrative and non-staged films) became significantly less popular, after years of having been the most popular type of motion picture. Nevertheless, the best photography and sometimes even the most advanced editing and other techniques in early cinema are found in these actualities.

"Coney Island at Night" consists of three shots within four minutes. All three scenes are nighttime views of Coney Island's attractions, with the main effect being that only the lights register on film. The first scene is an establishing shot, skyline panorama (panning shot) leftward. The second shot has the camera tilting down and then up for a view of a tower. The third view a closer, rightward panorama. Panning and tilting were nothing new; actually, they were numbingly used in just about every actuality subject, but the arrangement in this one has a good flow. One novel trick Porter added to this and other films around the same time was the animated titles, which congruously resemble the Coney Island lights and move around before forming the letters and words of the descriptive title cards.

The title of this short 1905 documentary says it all. Somehow, Edwin S. Porter, the chief director of the Edison company, managed to make a film camera that could record glowing lights in order to show the beauty of Coney Island's lights at night. For four minutes this film captures beautiful views of the Amusement Park, such as a general view, a tower in Dreamland, and finally the interior of Luna Park. It's not an outstanding movie and there's not much action in frame for a film (outside camera movement, which was somewhat innovative for 1905), but it serves as a good documentary of Coney Island all those years ago. This movie also makes use of the moving intertitle cards Porter had developed with "The Whole Dam Family and the Dam Dog", which are different and rather interesting in how they were done. Mainly a watch for film historians but quite eye-catching to see.

Skyscrapers of New York from the East River (1903)

*** (out of 4)

A camera is placed on a boat and we get another view of the buildings in NYC. I'm not sure what time this film was shot but the streets are pretty empty.

Panorama from Tower of Brooklyn Bridge (1903)

*** (out of 4)

Biograph film from director Billy Blitzer who would eventually become famous for his work with D.W. Griffith. It's also worth noting that this was shot in 65mm.

Demolishing and Building Up the Star Theatre (1901)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Early gimmick film from Biograph uses exposures caught every four minutes to see the Star Theatre being built. At the end of the film the footage is shown backwards to bring the thing down.

Coney Island at Night (1905)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Edison film directed by Edwin S. Porter shows just what the title says. This film really isn't too interesting but it's worth noting that this was one of the first film that could show glowing lights thanks to a special camera built by Porter.