Louis Feuillade directs this short film -- a one-reeler -- from the perspective of the Magi, searching for the Christ.
Although Feuillade had already shown himself quite capable of working outside the proscenium arch, he emphasizes it here, not just with exterior, but interior masking: notice, if you will, high the broken fence in the first shot and the rocks in the second duplicate the relations of the stage although in smaller masking; it is only with the third shot that he fills the frame.
I venture to say that Feuillade did this deliberately, not simply because he was Gaumont's go-to director, turning out dozens of films a year, but because this was a nativity play, and the audience had already seen plenty of them on the stage and had expectations. If they wanted a stage production, Feuillade would give them one, complete with some very fancy costuming and only slightly-moderated gestures.
Although Feuillade had already shown himself quite capable of working outside the proscenium arch, he emphasizes it here, not just with exterior, but interior masking: notice, if you will, high the broken fence in the first shot and the rocks in the second duplicate the relations of the stage although in smaller masking; it is only with the third shot that he fills the frame.
I venture to say that Feuillade did this deliberately, not simply because he was Gaumont's go-to director, turning out dozens of films a year, but because this was a nativity play, and the audience had already seen plenty of them on the stage and had expectations. If they wanted a stage production, Feuillade would give them one, complete with some very fancy costuming and only slightly-moderated gestures.