As Kennedy suggests early 20th century cinema-goers saw a series of short fiction and non-fiction films, comedies or dramas; the “star” feature would be a “two-reeler” not more than 20 minutes long. The program also included newsreels, national and international, and sometimes ‘topical’ news films showing events of local interest filmed by and for the local cinema, like those made by Henry Gore of Dunedin or Leslie Lester of Burra, South Australia, both of whose films feature on this site. These films were made specifically for local audiences and the filming of events of interest was encouraged as much for commercial reasons as any sense of recording posterity-- local images drew local crowds, keen for the thrill of catching a glimpse of themselves, friends or family on the big screen.

By the war’s end in 1918/1919, cinema’s ‘classical’ format was established: a feature length film of around 80 to 90 minutes, accompanied by advertising, short films and a newsreel or two. The ‘star system’, already entrenched from the early 1910s, meant that stars like Charlie Chaplin, Fatty Arbuckle and Mary Pickford were household names. 

While films of the era had no recorded sound, the viewing experience was not silent and it was not unusual for a lecturer, or raconteur, to accompany educational or topical films, and provide a spoken commentary; this was particularly common when travelogues, or in our case films from the front, were shown. Spectators were more raucous as well, with plenty of cheering for the heroes and booing of the villains as they appeared on the screen.