In 1896 a panorama shot was not achieved by turning a camera to give a wider field of vision. Cameras were too heavy and bulky. Instead, a panorama was achieved by placing a camera on a moving object -- often a railroad, but also a boat and at least once a balloon -- and moving the camera past an interesting subject. A "pan shot" would not begin to achieve its modern meeting for a decade.
In the meantime, scenes like this one, of the harbor of Cologne, gave audiences a chance to see a distant city of which they have heard with a greater sense of familiarity than a still picture. It also offered the locals something to ooh and ah in civic pride when it played in the theater. It was in many ways a standard picture.
In the meantime, scenes like this one, of the harbor of Cologne, gave audiences a chance to see a distant city of which they have heard with a greater sense of familiarity than a still picture. It also offered the locals something to ooh and ah in civic pride when it played in the theater. It was in many ways a standard picture.
