This early G. A. Smith film is important for a variety of reasons: it uses closeups, which didn't yet exist at the time; it uses masking, to make the closeups appear as though they are being viewed through a magnifying glass, which is what is supposed to be happening here; and they are POV closeups or Point Of View shots to boot. Of course, being groundbreaking in so many regards all at once, the premise of the film lacks story and gives itself over to merely experimenting with POVs and masking. It is thus more significant for its structure instead of narrative purposes, and would later be elaborated on by D. W. Griffith, who developed further complex storytelling in his movies of the 1910's.
The setup is that of a grandma and her son, Willy, looking through a reading glass at numerous things magnified. Such a premise allows room for plenty of experimentation and cutting, by incorporating numerous closeups through circular masks that feature various things within the long shot (or medium closeup in this case). Sandwich ads, a bird in a cage, an eye and more are all featured within the minute this film runs, each a breakdown from the long shot that precedes it. Basic experimentation to be sure, but quite revolutionary and a technique that was later experimented even more by Smith in "As Seen Through a Telescope" and "The Sick Kitten", two shorts which were more focused on a single action rather than a rapid succession crammed within one minute.
"Grandma's Reading Glass" was also quite clearly very popular in the day, as it was the subject of a remake two years later - the Biograph short "Grandpa's Reading Glass". That film also utilizes the same closeup shot of the eye that has made it a landmark today, but tends to largely differ from the other various closeups featured in the original.
The setup is that of a grandma and her son, Willy, looking through a reading glass at numerous things magnified. Such a premise allows room for plenty of experimentation and cutting, by incorporating numerous closeups through circular masks that feature various things within the long shot (or medium closeup in this case). Sandwich ads, a bird in a cage, an eye and more are all featured within the minute this film runs, each a breakdown from the long shot that precedes it. Basic experimentation to be sure, but quite revolutionary and a technique that was later experimented even more by Smith in "As Seen Through a Telescope" and "The Sick Kitten", two shorts which were more focused on a single action rather than a rapid succession crammed within one minute.
"Grandma's Reading Glass" was also quite clearly very popular in the day, as it was the subject of a remake two years later - the Biograph short "Grandpa's Reading Glass". That film also utilizes the same closeup shot of the eye that has made it a landmark today, but tends to largely differ from the other various closeups featured in the original.