The Dickson Experimental Sound Film

This short film was a test for Edison's "Kinetophone" project, the first attempt in history to record sound and moving image in synchronization. This was an experiment by William Dickson to put sound and film together either in 1894 or 1895. Unfortunately, this experiment failed because they didn't understand synchronization of sound and film. The large cone on the left hand side of the frame is the "microphone" for the wax cylinder recorder (off-camera). The Library of Congress had the film. The wax cylinder soundtrack, however, was believed lost for many years. Tantalizingly, a broken cylinder labeled "Violin by WKL Dickson with Kineto" was catalogued in the 1964 inventory at the Edison National Historic Site. In 1998, Patrick Loughney, curator of Film and Television at the Library of Congress, retrieved the cylinder and had it repaired and re-recorded at the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archive of Recorded Sound, Lincoln Center, New York. Since the Library did not possess the necessary synchronizing technology, Loughney - at the suggestion of producer Rick Schmidlin - sent multi-Oscar winner Walter Murch a videotape of the 17 seconds of film and an audiocassette of 3 minutes and 20 seconds of sound with a request to marry the two. By digitizing the media and using digital editing software, Murch was able to synchronize them and complete the failed experiment 105 years later. This 35mm film was generously made available to the Internet Archive by Walter Murch and Sean Cullen.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• edison
• william
• dickson
• experimental
• sound
• film
• kinetophone
• walter
• murch

[PaulStryper24]

i love that video, the dickson Experimental Sound Film P.S. if the museum sold that cylinder,how much would it cost? P.P.S. i like your style! from: paulstriper24

[belowline]

I have no idea how much it would cost today, I imagine quite a bit. Thanks for the compliment, but this film was actually digitized, synchronized, and edited by Walter Murch. Read the story of its restoration in its "About This Video" blurb, its pretty interesting.

[calimar28]

What do you guys think of the film? I dont like the plot, but the sub-plot was ok.

[freakybuzz]

The dancing ain't so great, either. :-)

But seriously, being as this was an experiment, it's historical value is inestimable.

[EmmetEarwax]

Yes, it was providential that the broken cylinder was preserved. Both motion pictures AND phonographs were in their infancy. Trying to synchronize sound & picture was a trrying process. Watch "Singing in the Rain" for a hilarious story of the business, the part on trying to film "Dueling Cavaliers"

[zenarchitect]

so so great! what a treasure - thanks for posting!

[wks1978]

Well done to the people who restored this, it must have been very difficult to deduce the 2 playback speeds and synchronise the sound and picture, but I feel from looking at Dickson's bow changes that the picture is still slightly behind the sound.

[PaniniButt]

In my history class, this video became known as "Two Dudes, One Violin"

[ThEDarKMasterBlack]

I Have Nightmares With This Song, :(

Excuse Me, My English Is Not Good, But i Speak Spañish (Im Venezuelan xD)

Thanks Of Lot For This Video, Is A Diamond Of The History

[drapermovies]

First ever video to music

So the first known music video

[SatchmoSings]

Edison tried to do "sound on set" which, with a wax cylinder would have been virtually impossible; it didn't occur to him or Dickson to just film the scene and then created the sound to the photographed picture as was done HERE in about 1914:

watch?v=a7cF0nw5S-g

Easily amplified with the Victor Auxetophone (no electronics involved) this could have been a real reality.

[SatchmoSings]

@fatcatbeauty You're absolutely correct; we can all handily see how it is rotating, getting all the sound down!

[Ps3Aaron1]

that dancing is so homosexual and their expression is NOT AMUSED

[dentonscheibal3]

This is better than Rebecca Black