Berlin (1910)

Okay, final tweaks to my new Chronal Stabilizer are complete, so let's shoot for the 1939 World's Fair....DRAT. Entschuldigen Sie bitte? Was und wo bin ich? Berlin? Wow...

As in the case of many of these early features, the actual creators (Director, Editor, Cameraperson etc)...given that the 8 minute film has been assembled from shorter fragments filmed from 1900-1910 and stored in the Deutsche Mutoskop und Biograph G.m.b.H archives, the contributors could be myriad. Regardless, the tracking and moving shots were all shot with an incredibly steady hand, with our mystery photographers using carefully-driven carts, cable cars and boats to compensate for lack of self-stabilization in the early tech.

And such sights we are shown...busy streets full of tourists, shoppers and deliverymen, parks and landmarks, waterfront warehouses, apartments and piers, parks and landmarks, architecture from the 15th through the 19th centuries residing cheek-to-jowl, well-dressed folk in suits, dresses and hats of every make and model. The horse-drawn wagon, cable car and the pedestrian are still king in this era, with a rare bicycle or automobile showing itself now and again, and many boats still powered by sail.

This lovely feature remained in the Deutsche Mutoskop und Biograph G.m.b.H archives in a frankly miraculous state of preservation, until discovered by the Media Maven known only as NASS, who ran the footage through an AI in order to:

✔ FPS boost to 60 frames per second
✔ Image resolution boost
✔ Improve video sharpness and brightness
✔Add sound and color!

So as I twiddle with the Chronal Stabilizer again (the Instructions are in Metric but the markings are in Imperial? Huh.) I raise a frothy mug of Vienna Roast with heavy cream to NASS and all film restorers everywhere...Colorized, Soundtrack.