Blacksmith Scene

Blacksmith Scene is an 1893 actuality showing three men working at a smithy while drinking beer. The film is silent, in black and white, and a minute long.

In the early days of cinema, directors typically recorded everyday events such as the arrival of ships or workers leaving a factory. These short films were called "actualities." Later, with the advent of better equipment (which could record for longer), directors began to introduce more complicated narratives into film.

Blacksmith Scene is one of the earliest extant films, and has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. It was directed by William K. L. Dickson for Thomas Edison.