Screen Archive South East is a public sector moving image archive serving the South East of England. The archive's collections of magic lantern slides, films, videos and associated materials capture the many varied aspects of life, work and creativity from the early days of screen history to the present day and serve as a rich and invaluable historical resource.
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Symphonic Pastorale
Feel the intertwining rhythm of wind and water in this filmic poem which builds up to a storm before the peace of an apple orchard in blossom
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Overview
Rhythmic editing gives this amateur film a very special quality. Scudding clouds and waving trees hint at the storm to come. A solitary swan glides on still water. The sky darkens and the wind gets stronger, while water surges and heaves in violent elemental movement. Intercutting quickly between trees, skies, and water we see floodwater surging past a bridge before stillness returns. A pair of swans spoon while sheep graze amongst the blossoms of a peaceful apple orchard.
Frank Perrin Barnitt was a Tunbridge Wells solicitor who was also a highly skilled photographer and amateur film maker. Many of his films feature the natural world and range from poetical films about the land, traditional farming and rural handicrafts to natural history films on a microscopic level. In each of these films, Barnitt displays a high degree of technical skill as well as directorial ability as well as an ongoing enthusiasm for narrative film making. After retiring in 1945, Barnitt moved to Oulton Broad in Suffolk.
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