Feeding the Seagulls

Greedy seagulls at Portrush, Northern Ireland

Birds swoop in to gather scraps thrown into the rippling waves from an unseen hand - just the combination of movement and perspective required to highlight the virtues of the moving picture camera. The film was shot at Portrush on the north coast of Ireland on 68mm film, almost twice the size of the standard 35mm, and the stock was toned a steel blue for added effect. Audiences to its showing at the Palace Theatre on 6 March 1899 must have been delighted.