'' How It Feels to Be Run Over'' is a one-minute British
silent trick film
In the early history of cinema, trick films were short silent films designed to feature innovative special effects.
History
The trick film genre was developed by Georges Méliès in some of his first cinematic experiments, and his works remain ...
, made in 1900, and directed by
Cecil M. Hepworth. As in other instances of the very earliest films, the film presents the audience with the images of a shocking experience, without further narrative exposition.
Plot summary
A coach is coming, and moves out of the frame at one side of the field of view. Soon after, an approaching car veers off course and moves straight to the viewer (the camera). As it approaches, the occupants wave frantically, hoping to stave off the impending collision. At the moment the car fills the entire frame the film
cuts to
title card
In films and videos, an intertitle, also known as a title card, is a piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of (hence, ''inter-'') the photographed action at various points. Intertitles used to convey character dialogue are referred ...
s that bear the text "Oh, mother ''will'' be pleased".
Cast
*
Cecil Hepworth
Cecil Milton Hepworth (19 March 1874 – 9 February 1953) was a British film director, film producer, producer and screenwriter. He was among the founders of the Cinema of the United Kingdom, British film industry and continued making films ...
as Driver
*
May Clark
May Clark (1 June 1885 – 17 March 1971) was an English silent film actress turned cinematographer. She played Alice in the 1903 film ''Alice in Wonderland'', the first film adaptation of Lewis Carroll's 1865 children's book ''Alice's Advent ...
as Passenger
* Several actors as passengers
Missing Intertitle
In the original film, the intertitle says, "Oh, ''mother'' will be pleased". When the footage was found, it was missing the "Mother" intertitle. It just read, "Oh, will be pleased."
See also
* ''
Explosion of a Motor Car'', another 1900 Hepworth film involving an automobile
References
External links
*
Further reading
*Tanya Shilina-Conte, "How It Feels: Black Screen as Negative Event in Early Cinema and 9/11 Films." Special Issue on "Film and Phenomenology". Studia Phaenomenologica 16 (2016): 401–30.
{{Cecil Hepworth
1900 films
British silent short films
British black-and-white films
Trick films
Films about automobiles
Articles containing video clips