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Wonderful London

  • May 20, 2014
  • 1 min read

Back in 1924, a couple of filmmakers, Harry B. Parkinson and Frank Miller, made what was then a popular series of silent films that they called Wonderful London.  Almost a full century later, filmmaker Simon Smith decided to recreate the shots of the earlier film -- exactly -- and bridge two centuries.  He overlapped the images and created a film where you can see 1924 and 2014 simultaneously, as one movie.  The music is Mahler's Symphony #4.



Mr. Smith describes it a bit himself, below --


Wonderful London in 1924 and 2014In 1924, Harry B. Parkinson and Frank Miller documented London in a fantastic series of short films, known as "Wonderful London". Over the last few months, I have stood in their foot-steps, recapturing their shots exactly, and have blended the two together creating a window through time.The music used is Symphony No. 4 by Gustav MahlerThe recording is credited to Steve JonesLicensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0The composition is now in the public domain, and more information can be found on this great website … http://imslp.org/wiki/Symphony_No.4_(Mahler,_Gustav)Wonderful London is available on DVD from the BFI here … http://www.bfi.org.uk/blu-rays-dvds/wonderful-londonMaking this short follows my previous film “London in 1927 and 2013” tracing the footsteps of Claude Friese-Greene. It can be found here … https://vimeo.com/81368735web: www.mrsimonsmith.comtwitter: @mrsimonsmith


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