Industrial Sidelights

Goat farming, salmon farming and copper mining all feature in this enlightening oddity.

Industrial - or pre-industrial? There's an attractive cottage-industry feel to this odd trio. Note the goat farmer's low-tech (but hopefully just as effective) pasteurisation process, or the writhing deckful of salmon in the next sequence. Goat farming, salmon farming and copper mining might not obviously have much in common, but they're all a little off the beaten track for filmmakers, and - usefully - all take place outdoors, meaning fewer lighting issues.

The prolific Kineto company was one of several business ventures established by the American film pioneer Charles Urban, a leading figure in the British film industry around this time. Urban was a keen believer in the educational potential of film, arguing that "To amuse and entertain is good; to do both and instruct better." The locations in this film are unknown, but it appears that the copper mining sequence, at least, was not shot in the UK.