 The director of Kansas Saloon Smashers was Edwin S. Porter , a projectionist who came to work for Edison as a cameraman in 1900 . Eventually , Porter became the director responsible for all of Edison Studios ' output . Porter based the set off of a photograph of a wrecked saloon which appeared in the Journal , while the characters and plot were based on editorial cartoons published in the paper . Porter frequently read the publication when he wanted inspiration on topics that filmgoers would be interested in . 
