The film opens with the cameraman on top of a camera. He descends into the larger scale camera. He then walks behind the curtain of a movie theatre. People begin to arrive for the show. As the film is put into the reel, the music begins to play. We see a woman asleep in her bed and then children asleep on park benches. The city is still asleep. We are then shown mannequin's, the city has yet to awaken, factories and shots of people beginning to walk in the streets.
We then see a car arrive outside of the Cameraman's home to pick him up. He begins to go to work filming in the city. He films a train, a woman waking up and getting ready for the day. Children and men awakening from their sleep in the streets. We then see the camera lens pulling in and out of focus as we see flowers come into focus and then we are shown shutters opening and closing as the aperture on the camera opens and closes--showing us how the camera works.
The city really starts to come alive. Men pulling airplanes, street cars being lined up. People are now bustling in the streets. We begin to see the machines that were shown earlier come to life as people begin to use them in their jobs. We see a rush of people as gates are opened. A woman brushes her teeth in a close-up.
We see more and more the cameraman getting shots of movement throughout the city. We see the trains, cars of people, dogs walking, horse and buggies moving throughout the city. Then there are still photos that are cut into the film which goes from rapid movement to stillness. This leads into the editing process. We are shown how these still photos become life captured into the cinematic frame.
The cameraman then shows us a couple signing wedding a registration while another signs divorce papers. Finally, we see the grieving sign death certificates intercut with grieving people at graves, a death procession, a woman in labor, a couple entering a carriage on their wedding day. The woman gives birth and the cameraman sets up going up an elevator. Then we watch as the street trains intersect in overlapping frames and the screen begins to become dizzying. A man with a head injury is shown being treated as an ambulance comes for him.
A fire brigade is dispatched. And we next see a woman having her eyebrows done, another woman with her hair washed while a man has his beard shaved. All of this is intercut with people performing their jobs--washing clothes, sharpening an ax for instance. We watch as cash transactions are made, a woman creates wrappers for an assembly line, phone operators connect calls, cigarettes are packed into the boxes the woman was making. The speed increases and increases until we see a pair of hands typing, playing piano, a gun appears. It all moves faster and faster until once again the pace slows inside of a cave where a man uses an ax to pick away for coal in a mine.
We are moved inside of a factory as elements from the earth are melted before being taken back to one of the machines earlier seen in the film as the cameraman films oncoming water from a river in the city by using a crane to lift him above the water and string him across the width of it as well. The frames once again speed up and show the cameraman intermixed with shots of machines working until he is back in the streets filming street cars. We then see women combing their hair and men washing their faces in the bath as the work day ends for them. This all before a shot of a tree in the sun.
Next we see people crowded onto the beach, then people doing exercises. We see a workers news report being put together and then a woman throwing a discuss, performing a high jump. Men then begin the high jump and pole vault as people look on. And a group of men play volleyball, hurdles are performed. We see people begin to watch horses running at the track before a man dives into water followed by a group jumping in the water.
People exit a boat as a woman puts mud on her body and another applies lipstick. Another woman uses mechanical exercise equipment. The cameraman is seen washing the mud off of his body as a magician performs magic trick for children. We are then taken through a woman working out, more shotput, women playing basketball, a man throwing a javelin and men playing soccer. Then, a carousel moves around and it is intercut with men riding motorcycles.
Next we are taken inside a bar where a beer is poured into a glass and the camera man is seen inside the glass. We see a woman shooting targets. Chess and checkers matches are seen inside of the Lenin club. Then bottles and spoons being played as instruments.
We are back in the movie theatre and we see people watch as the camera stand moves without human assistance and the camera attaches itself to the stand and begins to move. The stand then walks out of frame with the camera and the camera case closes and slides off. The screen in the theatre goes black and white before dancers are seen with someone playing the piano. We then see large crowds of people in the city that the camera man captures. We then see the eyes of the woman cutting the film before the aperture on the camera closes with the eye still superimposed on top of it looking out at the world.
