Tracking Shots
Flashbacks: New Zealand History on Film
Royalty in the Limelight
Sold on the virtues of film, the Salvation Army put its Limelight Department at the service of the New Zealand Government.
In March 1901 the Army offered Premier Richard Seddon a permanent record on film of the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York. The negatives “could be placed among the archives of the history of the State.” The cost would be £250, excluding traveling expenses. Terms were agreed and this royal record became the first government-commissioned film.
Ironically, although it was meant to preserve the event forever, only fragments of the original 1025 metres of film survive.
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