Dreams are closely associative with cinema. That idea isn't really explored here, as the film only consists of two scenes and lasts around a minute. However, it is an early exploration of the film language of how to tell a dream and how to tell, or separate, the inner narrative of the dream from the outer narrative of "reality". Moreover, it's a rather early film to consist of spatially separate scenes, although there had been a few already, including G.A. Smith's own "The Kiss in the Tunnel" (1899).
The first scene is the dream and the film narrated by the male character within the dream. He's fantasizing about having an affair with a younger woman. In the second scene, we see him awake in bed with his older, less attractive "real" wife. Smith's transition between shots consists of an in-camera out-of-focusing at the end of the first shot and then beginning the second scene out-of-focus before pulling it within focus. There's also a sort of disrupted match on action, with the actors being within the same position for each scene--the man continuing his embracing action into the second shot. It's a good effect, especially for its continuity and how the focusing is analogous to coming out of a dream and awakening. Ferdinand Zecca, for Pathé, used a dissolve in his remake, "Dream and Reality" (Rêve et réalité) (1901), but, then, he seems to have been using dissolves for all shot transitions at this time.
Many of the other early films about dreams don't split the scenes, but the separation of dream world and "reality" is implied by the character going to sleep, weird things happening, and then the actor waking up. These are usually trick shot films, which Georges Méliès largely invented. Edwin Porter's "Dream of a Rarebit Fiend" (1906) is an example. Another way to separate them was with a scene-within-a-scene, accomplished by blacking out part of the set, or masking part of the camera lens, and filming the awake part; then, the effect is reversed and filmed again. Zecca did this in "Story of a Crime" (Historie d'un crime) (1901), and Porter did it in "Life of an American Fireman" (1903) and other films. Smith actually introduced this scene-within-a-scene effect to motion pictures with such films as "Santa Claus" (1898). These early efforts aren't quite as interesting and exciting as, say, "Sherlock, Jr." (1924) or "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (2004), but they are important for having gotten us started.
The first scene is the dream and the film narrated by the male character within the dream. He's fantasizing about having an affair with a younger woman. In the second scene, we see him awake in bed with his older, less attractive "real" wife. Smith's transition between shots consists of an in-camera out-of-focusing at the end of the first shot and then beginning the second scene out-of-focus before pulling it within focus. There's also a sort of disrupted match on action, with the actors being within the same position for each scene--the man continuing his embracing action into the second shot. It's a good effect, especially for its continuity and how the focusing is analogous to coming out of a dream and awakening. Ferdinand Zecca, for Pathé, used a dissolve in his remake, "Dream and Reality" (Rêve et réalité) (1901), but, then, he seems to have been using dissolves for all shot transitions at this time.
Many of the other early films about dreams don't split the scenes, but the separation of dream world and "reality" is implied by the character going to sleep, weird things happening, and then the actor waking up. These are usually trick shot films, which Georges Méliès largely invented. Edwin Porter's "Dream of a Rarebit Fiend" (1906) is an example. Another way to separate them was with a scene-within-a-scene, accomplished by blacking out part of the set, or masking part of the camera lens, and filming the awake part; then, the effect is reversed and filmed again. Zecca did this in "Story of a Crime" (Historie d'un crime) (1901), and Porter did it in "Life of an American Fireman" (1903) and other films. Smith actually introduced this scene-within-a-scene effect to motion pictures with such films as "Santa Claus" (1898). These early efforts aren't quite as interesting and exciting as, say, "Sherlock, Jr." (1924) or "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (2004), but they are important for having gotten us started.