An American Time Capsule

Duration: 300 ft.

Year Published: 1969

Creator: Pyramid Films

Complete Record: Displays American History through a montage of over 1300 scenes cut to Sandy Nelson’s drum beat. Depicts the history of the United States from the Revolutionary War to the time of President Nixon. This 3-minute short shows American History from America's beginning to 1968, when the film was made. It employs quick and rhythmic editing (utilizing over 1,300 shots that go so fast that the human brain can't register the split-second images) of paintings and photographs depicting historical events and personages. However, the history presented was selected to match the militaristic drumbeat ("Beat That Drum" by famous drummer Sandy Nelson ) so that only images of America at war, destroying indigenous peoples, and American men in power are represented. It ends with a portrait of Richard M. Nixon.


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