Birt Acres
Encyclopedia
Birt Acres was a photographer and film pioneer.
Born in Richmond, Virginia
to English parents, he invented the first British 35 mm moving picture
camera
, the first daylight loading home movie
camera and projector
, Birtac, was the first travelling newsreel
reporter in international film history and the first European film maker who had his films shown in the United States in public performances. He contributed much to the introduction and development of cinematography
in all its aspects, from the construction of cameras, projectors, film viewers, coating
- and slitting machines and the manufacture of highly sensitized 35 mm raw film stock, to mobile newsreel reporting and the public projections of moving pictures.
With his partner Robert W. Paul
, he was the first person to build and run a working 35 mm camera
in Britain. The pair fell out after Acres patented their design in his own name on 27 May 1895. He made some very early silent film
s during the Victorian era
including in 1895: a film of the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race
, The Arrest of a Pickpocket, The Comic Shoeblack, The Boxing Kangaroo and Performing Bears.
Acres was a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society
. On 14 January 1896, he demonstrated his Kineopticon system to members and wives of the Society, at the Queen's Hall
in London
. This was the first public film show to an audience in the United Kingdom
. Robert Paul's first solo theatrical programme was at the Alhambra Theatre
on 25 March 1896.
Born in Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
to English parents, he invented the first British 35 mm moving picture
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
camera
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
, the first daylight loading home movie
Home movies
A home movie is part of the motion picture filmmaking process made by amateurs, often for viewing by family and friends. When the hobby began, home movies were produced on photographic film, but accessibility of video production with video cameras and low cost data storage devices has made the...
camera and projector
Movie projector
A movie projector is an opto-mechanical device for displaying moving pictures by projecting them on a projection screen. Most of the optical and mechanical elements, except for the illumination and sound devices, are present in movie cameras.-Physiology:...
, Birtac, was the first travelling newsreel
Newsreel
A newsreel was a form of short documentary film prevalent in the first half of the 20th century, regularly released in a public presentation place and containing filmed news stories and items of topical interest. It was a source of news, current affairs and entertainment for millions of moviegoers...
reporter in international film history and the first European film maker who had his films shown in the United States in public performances. He contributed much to the introduction and development of cinematography
Cinematography
Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...
in all its aspects, from the construction of cameras, projectors, film viewers, coating
Coating
Coating is a covering that is applied to the surface of an object, usually referred to as the substrate. In many cases coatings are applied to improve surface properties of the substrate, such as appearance, adhesion, wetability, corrosion resistance, wear resistance, and scratch resistance...
- and slitting machines and the manufacture of highly sensitized 35 mm raw film stock, to mobile newsreel reporting and the public projections of moving pictures.
With his partner Robert W. Paul
Robert W. Paul
Robert W. Paul was a British electrician, scientific instrument maker and early pioneer of British film.-Early career:...
, he was the first person to build and run a working 35 mm camera
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
in Britain. The pair fell out after Acres patented their design in his own name on 27 May 1895. He made some very early silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
s during the Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
including in 1895: a film of the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race
The Oxford and Cambridge University Boat Race (1895 film)
The Oxford and Cambridge University Boat Race is an 1895 British short black-and-white silent documentary film directed and produced by Birt Acres...
, The Arrest of a Pickpocket, The Comic Shoeblack, The Boxing Kangaroo and Performing Bears.
Acres was a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society
Royal Photographic Society
The Royal Photographic Society is the world's oldest national photographic society. It was founded in London, United Kingdom in 1853 as The Photographic Society of London with the objective of promoting the Art and Science of Photography...
. On 14 January 1896, he demonstrated his Kineopticon system to members and wives of the Society, at the Queen's Hall
Queen's Hall
The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect T.E. Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. From 1895 until 1941, it was the home of the promenade concerts founded by Robert...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. This was the first public film show to an audience in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Robert Paul's first solo theatrical programme was at the Alhambra Theatre
Alhambra Theatre
The Alhambra was a popular theatre and music hall located on the east side of Leicester Square, in the West End of London. It was built originally as The Royal Panopticon of Science and Arts opening on 18 March 1854. It was closed after two years and reopened as the Alhambra. The building was...
on 25 March 1896.
Most important achievements
- 1889 Apparatus for washing prints (patented).
- 1891 Printing process for stereoscopic photographs (for continuously contact print making) (patented).
- 1893 Hopper feed installation for rapidly projecting slides in a biunial (two-in-one) lanternLanternA lantern is a portable lighting device or mounted light fixture used to illuminate broad areas. Lanterns may also be used for signaling, as 'torches', or as general light sources outdoors . Low light level varieties are used for decoration. The term "lantern" is also used more generically to...
to create the illusionIllusionAn illusion is a distortion of the senses, revealing how the brain normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. While illusions distort reality, they are generally shared by most people....
of movement (patented). - 1895 Kinetic Camera with appliance for loop forming (patented).
- 1895/96 ElectroscopeElectroscopeAn electroscope is an early scientific instrument that is used to detect the presence and magnitude of electric charge on a body. It was the first electrical measuring instrument. The first electroscope, a pivoted needle called the versorium, was invented by British physician William Gilbert...
, apparatus for continuous viewing by more than one spectator of 35mm film. - 1896 Installation for wholesale production of raw stock 35 mm filmFilmA film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
. - 1896 Kineopticon, improved apparatus for projecting 35 mm film (patented).
- 1897 Cine camera with 2 lensesLens (optics)A lens is an optical device with perfect or approximate axial symmetry which transmits and refracts light, converging or diverging the beam. A simple lens consists of a single optical element...
to resolve flickerFlickerFlicker may refer to any of the following:* Flickers, woodpeckers of the subgenus Colaptes* Flicker , a fading between frames that occurs on a cathode-ray screen at low refresh rates...
problems and to enhance brightness. - 1898 Birtac, home movie camera for daylight loading of 17,5 mm film (patented).
Filmography
| Date | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1895 | The Arrest of a Pickpocket The Arrest of a Pickpocket The Arrest of a Pickpocket is an 1895 British short black-and-white silent crime film, produced and directed by Birt Acres for exhibition on Robert W. Paul's peep show Kinetoscopes, featuring a policeman catching a pickpocket with the assistance of a passing a sailor... |
Director | |
| 1895 | Charge of the Uhlans | Director, Producer | |
| 1895 | Crude Set Drama Crude Set Drama Crude Set Drama is an 1895 British short black-and-white silent comedy film, produced and directed by Birt Acres for exhibition on Robert W. Paul's peep show Kinetoscopes, featuring two drunken men and a boy squabbling in a small bar... |
Director, Producer | |
| 1895 | The Derby The Derby (1895 film) The Derby is an 1895 British short black-and-white silent documentary film, produced and directed by Birt Acres for exhibition on Robert W. Paul's peep show Kinetoscopes, featuring the end of the May 29 1895 Epsom Derby viewed from a raised position close to the finishing line with the main stand... |
Director, Cinemtaographer, Producer | |
| 1895 | The German Emperor Reviewing His Troops | Director | aka Kaiser Wilhelm Reviewing His Troops (USA) |
| 1895 | Opening of the Kiel Canal Opening of the Kiel Canal Opening of the Kiel Canal is an 1895 British short black-and-white silent documentary news film directed and produced by Birt Acres... |
Director, Cinemtaographer, Producer | aka Inauguration of the Kiel Canal by Kaiser Wilhelm II (UK) |
| 1895 | The Oxford and Cambridge University Boat Race The Oxford and Cambridge University Boat Race (1895 film) The Oxford and Cambridge University Boat Race is an 1895 British short black-and-white silent documentary film directed and produced by Birt Acres... |
Director, Cinemtaographer, Producer | |
| 1895 | Performing Animals; or, Skipping Dogs Performing Animals; or, Skipping Dogs Performing Animals; or, Skipping Dogs is an 1895 British short black-and-white silent documentary film, produced and directed by Birt Acres for exhibition on Robert W. Paul's peep show Kinetoscopes, featuring one dog jumping through hoops and another dancing in a costume... |
Director, Cinemtaographer, Producer | |
| 1895 | Rough Sea at Dover Rough Sea at Dover Rough Sea at Dover is an 1895 British short black-and-white silent documentary film directed and produced by Birt Acres and Robert W. Paul.... |
Diretor, Cinemtaographer, Producer | |
| 1895 | Shoeblack at Work in a London Street | Director | |
| 1895 | Smith and Machinery at Work | Director, Cinemtaographer, Producer | |
| 1895 | Tom Merry, Lightning Cartoonist | Director, Cinemtaographer, Producer | aka Tom Merry William Mecham William Mecham was a British cartoonist and performer, taking the stage and pen name Tom Merry.He was a professional caricaturist who gave 'Lightning Cartoon' presentations on the music hall stage, and was the first celebrity of any kind to appear in a British film.-Cartoonist:William Mecham was... , Lightning Cartoonist, Sketching Kaiser Wilhelm II (four films were made of Tom Merry drawing notable figures, the others were Lord Salisbury (1896), William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time... (1896) and Bismarck Otto von Bismarck Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg , simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian-German statesman whose actions unified Germany, made it a major player in world affairs, and created a balance of power that kept Europe at peace after 1871.As Minister President of... (1895)) |
| 1896 | The Boxing Kangaroo The Boxing Kangaroo The Boxing Kangaroo is an 1896 British short black-and-white silent documentary film, produced and directed by Birt Acres for exhibition on Robert W. Paul's peep show Kinetoscopes, featuring a young boy boxing with a kangaroo... |
Director | |
| 1896 | Boxing Match; or, Glove Contest Boxing Match; or, Glove Contest Boxing Match; or, Glove Contest is an 1896 British short black-and-white silent documentary film, produced and directed by Birt Acres for exhibition on Robert W. Paul's peep show Kinetoscopes, featuring a staged boxing match between Sergeant-Instructor Barrett and Sergeant Pope with a round, an... |
Director | |
| 1896 | Dancing Girls Dancing Girls Dancing Girls is an 1896 British short black-and-white silent film directed and produced by Birt Acres.... |
Director | |
| 1896 | Golfing Extraordinary, Five Gentl | Director | |
| 1896 | Landing at Low Tide Landing at Low Tide Landing at Low Tide is an 1896 British short black-and-white silent comedy film, produced and directed by Birt Acres for exhibition on Robert W. Paul's peep show Kinetoscopes, featuring a falling into the water as she is helped from a small boat... |
Director | |
| 1896 | Pierrot and Pierrette | Director | |
| 1896 | A Surrey Garden | Director | |
| 1896 | Yarmouth Fishing Boats Leaving Harbour Yarmouth Fishing Boats Leaving Harbour Yarmouth Fishing Boats Leaving Harbour is an 1896 British short black-and-white silent documentary film, directed by Birt Acres, featuring a fleet of fishing smacks leaving the harbour at Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, UK... |
Director | |
| 1897 | Henley Regatta | Director | |
| 1897 | An Unfriendly Call | Director | |
| 1900 | Briton vs. Boer | Producer | |