One of the milestones in cinematic history was the first narrative film, The Great Train Robbery (1903). It was directed and shot by Edwin S. Porter, a former associate of Thomas Edison. The movie is only about 10 minutes long, with 14 scenes. It was the most popular and commercially successful film of the pre-nickelodeon era and established the idea that movies could be a commercially viable medium.

The plot was inspired by a real event which occurred in 1900 when four members of Butch Cassidy’s ‘Hole in the Wall’ gang stopped a train on the Union Pacific Railroad tracks in Wyoming. The bandits forced the conductor to uncouple the passenger cars from the rest of the train and then they blew up the safe in the mail car. They got away with $5,000 in cash.

The Great Train Robbery has fourteen carefully crafted scenes. It is a narrative with multiple plot lines, and the story is told utilizing elements which have been endlessly copied up to the present day: a train holdup at gunpoint; a daring robbery; violence and death – and finally, the apprehension of the outlaws after a shootout.

The film incorporated several innovative techniques; many of them were used for the first time by Porter. These include parallel editing, minor camera movement, location shots, editing and experiments with camera placement.

The film begins with the bandits beating up the telegraph operator in scene one. Later, the operator’s daughter discovers her bound-up father (scene ten). Then, there is a cut to the operator’s recruitment of a posse to go after the bandits (scene eleven). Scene twelve shows the bandits on the run; then splitting up the booty after a final shoot-out.

The Great Train Robbery employed the first use of ‘panning’ shots: the camera follows the action – the train – as it moves; it was also the first film in which a character is forced to dance as gunshots shots are fired at their feet. This fictional portrayal became a tired, often-repeated cliché in many westerns for years to come.

A straw dummy was also used for the first time in the scene where the fireman is thrown off the moving train. The film ends with the iconic image of the bandit shooting directly at the camera. This simple effect was hugely popular and it caused a minor uproar. The audience was shocked.

Many of the cinematic techniques still in use today were pioneered in The Great Train Robbery more than a hundred years ago.

[Re-post from 2015]