Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

Melbourne Cup 1896 (1896)

play Please note: this clip is silent
clip Still or moving image? education content clip 3

This clip chosen to be PG

Clip description

This clip shows a group of men posing for the camera at the 1896 Melbourne Cup. Unfamiliar with moving image, the men remain still as if posing for a photograph. A horse gallops into the foreground and blocks our view until Walter Barnett, the film’s producer, gives the horse a pat on its rump.

Curator’s notes

With the early introduction of moving image film, people tended to remain still, as did the camera.