actuality : Spreety TV Online Glossary
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actuality n. 1. An early short film genre,
typically ranging from 1 to 10 minutes in length and generally comprised of a
single, continuous and unedited shot, depicting some actual event.
Typical actualities include La Sortie des Ouvriers de
l’Usine Lumière à Lyon (Employees Leaving the Lumière Factory at Lyon,
1895) and Demonstrating the Action of the Brown Hoisting and Conveying
Machine in Unloading a Schooner of Iron
Ore, and Loading the Material on
the Cars (1900). Actualities occasionally featured works of fiction, such
as a scene from a play, but they were shot as a record of the actual performance
rather than a presentation of a narrative story. The early Edison actualities
were often recreations staged inside the Black Maria, Edison’s studio in West Orange, New
Jersey. Whatever the subject, the emphasis was often
more on motion than historical significance, such as The Royal Henley
Regatta (1897) or Waves Breaking on the Sea Shore (1898). More
modern – and decidedly longer – examples include Andy Warhol’s 321-minute
(5½-hour) Sleep (1963) and 485-minute (8-hour) Empire (1964).
2. News that is seen on television or heard on the
radio as it is actually happening. 3. A video clip or sound bite
recorded from a live event. Also actualité. Compare cinéma
vérité; documentary; minimal cinema; non-narrative; single shot film.
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