Colin Williamson, Assistant Professor in Cinema Studies at University of Oregon, has wide-ranging interests, including animation, special effects, and media archaeology. With these angles and more in mind, he brings a unique perspective and some myth busting to his standout films of 1903.

Colin is the author of Hidden in Plain Sight: An Archaeology of Magic and the Cinema and the forthcoming Drawn to Nature: American Animation in the Age of Science. He is also currently Associate Editor at Animation: An Interdisciplinary Journal.

Films and resources mentioned:

• Electrocuting an Elephant (1903) - Edwin S. Porter
• The Cheese Mites (1903) - F. Martin Duncan
• The Kingdom of the Fairies (1903) - Georges Méliès
• Mary Jane’s Mishap (1903) - George Albert Smith
• The Great Train Robbery (1903) - Edwin S. Porter
• Execution of Czolgosz with Panorama of Auburn Prison (1901) - Edwin S. Porter
• The Unclean World (1903) - Cecil Hepworth
• A Trip to the Moon (1902) - Georges Méliès
• Blade Runner (1982) - Ridley Scott
• Under the Seas (1907) - Georges Méliès
• Hugo (2011) - Martin Scorsese
• Citizen Kane (1941) - Orson Welles
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1903) - Edwin S. Porter
• What Happened in the Tunnel (1903) - Edwin S. Porter
• Life of an American Fireman (1903) - Edwin S. Porter
• Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat (1896) - Louis Lumière