Abel Gance - Napolean

Napolean is a pretty smart dude, I liked how he used his belt buckle as a mirror to see the enemy behind him, just a side note that was entertaining to watch :) The camera shots in the film vary from close up, medium, and wide angle. The audience gets the full effect of what is going on in the snowball fight, as the camera shows where they land. The story seems fast paced. There is a lot of action going on during the fight, and when guys are taken down in the snow.
This film uses incredible transitions.

This film explores transitons! Here Gance uses a crossfade technique to show the character over the background, which is quite interesting for this time.

He also uses an Vignette

The next portion is incredible, he uses fast cuts to create suspense and energy. The fast cuts are another use of transitions. 

He also uses photo montage, in this shot it is three different scenes but in others, it is one image cut into three different parts which is extremely interesting to see.

This camera angle gives the idea of motion, the horses are running towards the camera getting bigger and closer to the screen. Also it is interesting that the filming here is shot in high key, with a strong contrast.

Whereas, in this shot the woman looks like she is glowing. Her hair and face are blurred out to the background and the light is soft. She appears almost heavenly.

There are only a few examples here, but the film is full of amazing transitions which is a highly new idea for film at this time.