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Sea Wave Films
The 'sea wave' genre might be one of the more surprising genres to come out of early film. But for Victorian audiences there was something hypnotic about these compact studies of movement.
Surely most of us, if we've ever stood before the sea have found ourselves transfixed by the rhythms of gently lapping waves. The violent churn of a really rough sea gives us something else again - a real sense of the ocean's magnificent, sometimes alarming power.
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Rough Sea at DoverRough Sea at Dover
Non-Fiction18950 minsSilent
Waves crash onto a jetty on the Kentish shoreline in one of Britain's earliest surviving films
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Incoming TideIncoming Tide
Non-Fiction18981 minsSilent Location: Worthing
Worthing waves at us in this mesmerising early film
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Waves Break on Bow of a ShipWaves Break on Bow of a Ship
Non-Fiction19001 mins
A vicarious ocean-going experience
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Rough Sea at Roker (1901)Rough Sea at Roker (1901)
Non-Fiction19012 minsSilent Location: Roker
Mesmerising film of sea waves on the north east coast of England.
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Rough SeaRough Sea
Non-Fiction19001 minsSilent
Dover’s Admiralty Pier could be the setting for these Victorian shots of waves breaking.
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Waves Breaking on a PierWaves Breaking on a Pier
Non-Fiction18961 minsSilent
Intrepid tourists brave the great waves breaking on the marina wall at Brighton
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Seawaves No. 1Seawaves No. 1
Amateur film18981 minsSilent
A virtual Victorian paddle; Morecambe West End Pier stretches out in front as waves crash at your feet
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Seawaves No. 2Seawaves No. 2
Amateur film18981 minsSilent
Waves roll onto a shingle beach and breakwater on the Northeast coast
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Sea Breaking against Some RocksSea Breaking against Some Rocks
Non-Fiction18981 minsSilent
Waves on the North Devon coastline
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Rough Seas Breaking on RocksRough Seas Breaking on Rocks
18992 mins
A simple - and simply mesmerising - film of waves breaking on a rocky shore.