The power of moving photography is exploited in this early film, not to dazzle audiences' eyes but to turn their stomachs. The camera is mounted on the bow of a ship ploughing forward through a squall, and as the boat lurches up and down, the image does too - meaning that the viewer experiences the (unpleasant) sensation of movement too. The canny composition means that the frame contains both the ship and the waves, each moving in different directions.
