Grandma's Reading Glass

A boy examines things through his Grandmother’s magnifying glass, and early film takes a huge step forward.

In this innovative play on perspective from GA Smith, a boy examines things through his Grandmother’s magnifying glass… and film grammar takes a huge step forward. Unlike the neutral observations of actuality films, or filmed theatre (as some early film has been pejoratively termed) this film deploys what would become known as the point of view shot. This is just one example of how the playfulness and inventiveness of the early film pioneers directly shaped the evolution of film as a visual language.