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Percy Smith was most famous for his nature cinematography. He did however make several 'animated map' films, of which Fight for the Dardanelles (1915) is an example.
The film uses stop-frame animation techniques to illustrate contemporary military action in the Dardanelles, and various maps are used to show the progress of events.
It is difficult to ascertain the materials used in the film but it seems that small cardboard cutouts represented the movement of ships and personnel. Intertitles explain tactics, and shelling explosions are illustrated by what appear to be animated clouds of cotton wool.
The techniques used in the film might seem primitive to the modern eye but presumably Fight for the Dardenelles was of great educational value at a time when audiences were hungry for news of action overseas.
Jenny Hammerton
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Complete film (6:10)
