The Nativity (S)

Although Feuillade had already shown himself quite capable of working outside the proscenium arch, he emphasizes it here, not just with exterior, but interior masking: notice, if you will, high the broken fence in the first shot and the rocks in the second duplicate the relations of the stage although in smaller masking; it is only with the third shot that he fills the frame. I venture to say that Feuillade did this deliberately, not simply because he was Gaumont's go-to director, turning out dozens of films a year, but because this was a nativity play, and the audience had already seen plenty of them on the stage and had expectations. If they wanted a stage production, Feuillade would give them one, complete with some very fancy costuming and only slightly-moderated gestures.