Edwin S. Porter was a pioneering American film director born in 1870 in Pennsylvania who directed the 1903 western film The Great Train Robbery. The 11-minute film consisted of 20 separate shots and was innovative for its time in using a variety of scenes and angles. It featured a shot of a bandit firing directly at the camera that startled audiences. The Great Train Robbery toured the United States for 7 years and was the premier attraction of the first nickelodeon in 1905, cementing Porter's status as a pioneer of early cinema.

1. Edwin S Porter
The Great Train
Robbery

2. Clip

3. Bio
Edwin S Porter was born on april the 27th in 1870. He was
born in connellsville, pennsylvania. He died in april 30th
1941.
At the start of his life he lived in connellsville, pennsylvania,
where he went to school. He then travelled to new york to
pursue his film director dream. He travelled through the
west indies and south america. During his trips he
promoted his creations by showing his films in fairgrounds
and open fields.

4. Great train overview
The one-reel film, with the running time of 11
minutes was put together by Edwin S porter. It
was filmed in 20 separate shots. But the shot that
caught the most attention was the shot of the
bandit shooting the gun at the camera. No earlier
film has created such a variety of scenes.
The film toured around the united states for 7
years. In 1905 it was the premier attraction for the
first nickelodeon.

5. Great train robbery in depth
In the great train robbery there wasn't many different types of shots. There was
loads of jump shots, for example when the bandits were getting off and on the
train. And there was also many longshots, the longshots can be seen in scenes
where the bandits are confronting people or rallying up the hostiles.
In the film, there was special effects added when gunshots were being let off.
Edwin S Porter created a smoke bomb and when the gun went off the bomb
created smoke.