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This brief but attractively composed one-shot film offers viewers an uncomplicated view of waves
crashing against rocks. While Rocky Shore may seem like a brief and minor film,
the subject of the sea was actually a common one in early cinema. The complex
and unpredictable nature of waves was a perfect subject for showing off the
accurate recreations now possible with film. We know from our own experiences how hypnotic it can be to watch waves break, and the film captures something of that quality; such a sight projected on a large screen would have been a novel spectacle for early audiences.
This film may be one of a series shot in Spain and Portugal in 1896 by the
cameraman Henry Short for R.W. Paul, whose famous Rough Sea at Dover premiered the same year. The proliferation of sea films suggests that they were
particularly popular with Victorian audiences.
Christian Hayes
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Complete film (0:21)
