The Great Train Robbery

According to Lydia Plowman (1994), "The �primitive mode of representation' is a term used by Burch to describe the nascent stages of film before it developed into the �institutional mode of representation', the standard set of film conventions with which we are familiar" (2). Edwin S. Porter's The Great Train Robbery (1903) maintains elements of the primitive mode of representation, but in its 14 scenes lasting approximately 12 minutes the film displays a variety of innovative techniques familiar to modern filmgoers.

The Great Train Robbery maintains a simple plot, little character development, and a number of innovative techniques like parallel editing, ellipsis, camera movement, location shooting and jump- or cross-cuts. The plot of the film revolves around a bank robbery, the terrorization of train passengers, the escape of the bandits, the formation of a posse, and the eventual defeat of the bandits. None of the cast is credited in the film and the film incorporates a variety of early film techniques representative of the primitive mode of representation. Involvement of audience, uniqueness of experience, fragmentation of experience, n

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