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THE MECHANIZED EYE is part of the film retrospective UNSEEN CINEMA that explores long-forgotten American experimental cinema. This was the first important international exposition after the invention of cinema, and filmmakers used it as a venue to demonstrate innovations. Many of them made films to bring the 1900 exposition to life for their audiences at home. Exhibitors freely grouped films into nascent narratives such as those displayed here in a historic 5-film compliation – EIFFEL TOWER FROM TROCADERO PALACE (1:03 mins) – PALACE OF ELECTRICITY (50 secs) – CHAMPS DE MARS (1:13 mins) – PANORAMA OF EIFFEL TOWER (1:21 mins) – SCENE FROM THE ELEVATOR ASCENDING EIFFEL TOWER (1:43 mins). White’s camera offers several 360-degree pans of views of the fairground, then amazes by tilting up and down the Eiffel Tower, and the series concludes with a stunning tracking shot to the highest point above Paris. James White, a technician working for Raff & Gammon, the distributor for Edison’s Kinetoscope, was hired by Edison’s business manager William Gilmore. At Edison Manufacturing, he supervised film production, a position he held until 1903 when he was sent to England to manage Edison’s film business there. Willaim Heise, Dickson’s assistant during experiments on the Kinetophone, was trained in photography and operated the camera for the early productions in Edison’s Black Maria (1893-1895). When Dickson left Edison in April 1895, Heise stayed and filmed a number of productions with James White. Heise took over direction in October 1896. Edison Manufacturing Co., formed to market products invented by Thomas Edison, handled his motion picture and closely related phonograph business.—PAUL SPEHR 35mm 1.33:1 black & white silent with music 18fps 6:48 minutes. Camera: James White, William Heise; New music by Eric Beheim. Courtesy: Paper Print Collection, Library of Congress.Technical note: Visible artifacts derived from duplication of original 35mm paper prints.