THE FAIR IN MOTION
Lee  Gaskins'  MEET ME AT THE FAIR  The 1904 St. Louis World's   Fair  
                     Web  Design and Art/Illustration   copyrighted  2008 
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On Opening Day- April 30, 1904, a crowd of 187,793 celebrated the grand festivities. To the left of the image is an  small 2 minute  silent moving picture of Opening Day. The 4 minute film was edited down to 2 minutes (because of limited web space (as well as the last 2 minutes, just showing same scene).  Please remember that this was simple and crude film-making, simply panning from a tripod.  Yet, it can still give us a tantalizing glimpse into what the Fair was from a different standpoint than   static photographs.   

The left  motion picture was released on May 13, 1904 by the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company. The film company started in 1895 by  inventor and nickelodeon film producer, W. K. L. Dickson,   who worked at the Thomas Edison laboratory; he partnered with inventors  Herman Casler and Henry Marvin and  Elias Koopman (inventor of the  pocket lighter).


The company filmed  the Pope, and was made the first western in 1901. They also made one of the first  full length feature films. 
D. W. Griffith was brought into the Biograph Company in 1908, and their product matured. With Griffith's association with Biograph; the company's movies matured with new techniques (moving camera shots, close-ups, etc.),  and the rising of such stars as: Lionel Barrymore, Mary Pickford, and Lillian Gish. The company's films became  increasing grand and sophisticated, not to mention- popular and lucrative. 

The American Mutoscope and Biograph Company was the first one to shoot in a small `village' called Hollywood, in 1910. Biograph helped build Hollywood into the huge motion picture production land it is today.

The company  employed the  first black-American producer/director, vaudevillian Bert Williams.

Biograph was the last movie company to convert from silent to sound, with its first movie in over 70 years in 1999!

The company now makes  independent films,  commercial production, television, music videos and other multimedia. Being a complete production company, they  can provide post-production and even distribution. New films in development include  `Bob's Night Out,'  and `The Mary Pickford Story,'

1)  Panoroma  of 1904 Exposition from German Building
2)  Opening Ceremonies 
3)  Exposition Naval Battle
4)  Princess Rajah Dance
5)  Asia in America
6)  Parade of Floats
7)  Filipino Scouts Perform Musical Drill
8)  West Point Cadets
9)  Women Delegates Parade

YouTube Video Links to 1904 WF film Footage