kobe1413 William Heise and W.K.L. Dickson worked together to record this short for Edison Laboratories. In it, one of the co-workers, Fred Ott, places a bit of something in his nose, making him sneeze. This was one those early shorts, that the Edison group made, where they were basically just messing around. The guys seemed to always be looking for something funny or original to film, and often turned to the men that worked around them to star in front of the camera. This was one of the earliest close-ups, Ott's entire face taking up much of the screen.YOU WILL LIKE THIS FILM, IF YOU LOVED: "The Kiss" (1896) IF YOU HATED: "Contagion"

J D Watching Fred Ott's Sneeze can be equated to the birth of any new medium. The first music was presumably nothing more than sticks and stones banging together. The first stories, just rough interpretations of daily routines. Even the first video games are, in a way, their medium's version of Fred Ott's Sneeze.Pong, when it was first released, showcased two rectangles and a small square that bounced between them. It was short, simple, and did what it needed to introduce the world to a new medium. As time went on, video games grew into something much bigger - eventually using cinematic techniques like storytelling, camera angles, and even acting. Now, while video game players still consider Pong fun, it is a far cry from the medium it stood at the forefront of.The same can be said in all respects to Fred Ott's Sneeze. While only five seconds long, it did precisely what it set out to do. It was short, simple, and introduced the world to a new medium. Film-making eventually grew into something much bigger... much grander, but its humble beginnings should never be forgotten.From a critical perspective, lighting the scene was clearly difficult - and Ott's clearly fake sneeze mimics the actor's obvious hesitation about appearing in such a strange new medium. In the decades that followed, and people became comfortable in front of the camera, on-screen acting blossomed.Here, in these five short seconds, lies the birth of film-making.

Boba_Fett1138 This film was purely made for publicity purposes, as a series of still photographs to accompany an article in Harper's weekly, so it wasn't even supposed to be even ever shown as a motion-picture in the first place. It must have been a real blast for Edison and Co. to make this movie and I'm sure it good a good laugh out of people at the time.To me the sneeze itself really didn't seemed real, also because of the reason that of course in those days they couldn't shoot for several minutes straight, in order to wait for Fred Ott to finally sneeze. But who knows, maybe that really is how people sneezed over 100 years ago. It was a very highly sophisticated looking sneeze. A real gentleman's sneeze.The movie isn't looking of the greatest quality but this is of course all due to the fact that this film was never meant to be shown as a motion-picture in the first place.The film is historically interesting for a couple of reasons 1. It of course is the first ever recorded sneeze, as if that is really historically significant. 2. It was the first ever motion picture to be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office and 3. It's the first film to feature a close-up of a persons face. So without really knowing at the time, and without those intentions I would guess, this movie has become part of film-history.8/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

oldbadeyes First of all I have to say that for me as an allergy sufferer I felt a strong desire for reviewing this comprehensive piece of cineastic enlightenment. William Dickson was probably the first who mastered the technique of omission. Following by originating Hemingway, the great writer, the director of Record Of A Sneeze understands how to focus on the main parts by leaving out disturbing elements. The result we see is a true epic in its shortest form: A harsh and dry sneeze, nothing more, nothing less and that' s it. But not at all because according to H´s iceberg theory six seventh of the true meaning are still invisible under water. However I cannot do this interpretation on your behalf, so go open the treasure of Dickson films yourself and discover a universe of puzzle pieces which, when stuck together, will always make you smile. 9/10, an outstanding short and dark Dickson, recommended