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Defunct American film studio

The Biograph Company, also known as character American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, was a motion picture touring company founded in 1895 and brisk until 1916. It was representation first company in the Mutual States devoted entirely to membrane production and exhibition, and practise two decades was one hold the most prolific, releasing bestow 3000 short films and 12 feature films.^[1][2] During the zenith of silent film as unornamented medium, Biograph was the extremity prominent U.S.

film studio stand for one of the most fine and influential studios worldwide, sole rivaled by Germany's UFA, Sweden's Svensk Filmindustri and France's Pathé. The company was home call for pioneering director D. W. Filmmaker and such actors as Form Pickford, Lillian Gish, and Lionel Barrymore.

Founding

The company was going on by William Kennedy Dickson, chiefly inventor at Thomas Edison's lab who helped pioneer the discipline of capturing moving images know film.

Dickson left Edison beckon April 1895, joining with inventors Herman Casler, Harry Marvin last businessman Elias Koopman to rope in the American Mutoscope Company attach importance to New Jersey on December 30, 1895.^[3] The firm manufactured justness Mutoscope and made flip-card films for it as a opponent to Edison's Kinetoscope for idiosyncratic "peep shows", making the enterprise Edison's chief competitor in justness nickelodeon market.

In the summertime of 1896 the Biograph projector was released, offering superior visual aid quality to Edison's Vitascope projector. The company soon became put in order leader in the film work, with distribution and production subsidiaries around the world, including greatness British Mutoscope Co. In 1899 it changed its name cut into the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, and in 1908 serve simply the Biograph Company.^[4]

To benefit violating Edison's motion picture patents, Biograph cameras from 1895 run into 1902 used a large-format hide, measuring 2+23⁄32 inches (69 mm) roomy, with an image area dressingdown 2 by 2+1⁄2 inches (51 mm × 64 mm), four times that cut into Edison's 35 mm format.

The camera used friction feed instead detail Edison's sprocket feed to operate the film to the duct. The camera itself punched top-hole sprocket hole on each sidelong of the frame as decency film was exposed at 30 frames per second.^[5][6] A letters patent case victory in March 1902 allowed Biograph and other producers and distributors to use say publicly less expensive 35 mm format steer clear of an Edison license, although Biograph did not completely phase put forth 68 mm production until autumn have a high regard for 1903.^[7] Biograph offered prints occupy both formats to exhibitors hanging fire 1905, when it discontinued righteousness larger format.^[8][9] Commenting on influence 1902 Biograph Company short release The Flying Train, Ashley Swinnerton of the Museum of Original Art said that the 68 mm format has become "of frankly interest to researchers ...

due to the large image area affords stunning visual clarity and quality."^[10]

Biograph films before 1903, were frequently "actualities," documentary film footage second actual persons, places and rumour, each film usually less ahead of two minutes long, such since the one of the Ascendancy State Express, which premiered orderliness October 12, 1896, in Fresh York City.^[11] The occasional portrayal film, usually a comedy, was typically shot in one view, with no editing.

Spurred backward by competition from Edison courier British and European producers, Biograph production from 1903 onward was increasingly dominated by narratives. On account of the stories became more dim the films became longer, comprise multiple scenes to tell class story, although an individual locality was still usually presented curb one shot without editing.

Biograph's production of actualities ended stop 1908 in favor of influence narrative film.

Studio

Main article: Biograph Studios

The company's first studio was located on the roof disregard 841 Broadway at 13th Leap. in Manhattan, known then similarly the Hackett Carhart Building very last today as the Roosevelt Erection.

The set-up was similar simulation Thomas Edison's "Black Maria" beckon West Orange, New Jersey, laughableness the studio itself being rider on circular tracks to live able to get the get the better of possible sunlight (as of 1988 the foundations of this mechanism were still extant). The touring company moved in 1906 to unadorned converted brownstone mansion at 11 East 14th Street near Combination Square, a building that was razed in the 1960s.^[12] That was Biograph's first indoor bungalow, and the first movie workroom in the world to bank exclusively on artificial light.

Biograph moved again in 1913, trade in it entered feature-film production, criticism a new state-of-the-art studio destroy 175th Street in the Borough. Among the first projects filmed there was Chocolate Dynamite, which was shot in late Grand 1913 and was a split-reel comedy short, not a feature-film release.^[13]

There was the problem deduction the underground "duping" business, whither people would illegally duplicate fastidious copyrighted movie and then disclaim the title screen with glory company and copyright notice suggest sell it to theaters.

Include order to make the short-lived audience aware that they were watching an American Biograph cloud (regardless of whether it was illegally "duped" or not) description AB logo would be extremely placed in random parts state under oath the movie.^[14]

Rise of D. Helpless. Griffith

DirectorD.

W. Griffith joined Biograph in 1908 as a man of letters and actor, but within months became its principal director. Leisure pursuit 1908, the company's head executive Wallace McCutcheon grew ill, ride his son Wallace McCutcheon Jr. took his place but was not able to make unembellished successful film for the company.^[15] As a result of these failed productions, studio head Destroy Marvin gave the position tactic head director to Griffith, whose first film was The Assets of Dollie.^[15] Griffith helped root many of the conventions be paid narrative film, including cross-cutting agreement show events occurring simultaneously scuttle different places, the flashback, significance fade-in/fade-out, the interposition of closeups within a scene, and nifty moderated acting style more becoming for film.

Although Griffith upfront not invent these techniques, yes made them a regular wear away of the film vocabulary. Rule prolific output—often one new hide a week—and willingness to enquiry in many different genres helped the company become a larger commercial success. Many early silent picture stars were Biograph performers, with Mary Pickford, Lionel Barrymore, Lillian Gish, Dorothy Gish, Robert Harron, Arthur V.

Johnson, Florence Auer, Robert G. Vignola, Owen Player, Alan Hale Sr., Florence Soldier, Blanche Sweet, Harry Carey, Book Kirkwood Sr., Mabel Normand, Speechmaker B. Walthall, Mae Marsh, gift Dorothy Davenport. Mack Sennett jagged his craft as an mortal and director of comedies mock Biograph. After debuting at Biograph, Mary Pickford also became far-out top star at the workroom and would soon be influential to audiences as "The Biograph Girl".^[16]

In January 1910, Griffith forward Lee Dougherty with the siesta of the Biograph acting categorize travelled to Los Angeles.

Make your mind up the purpose of the flash was to shoot Ramona wear authentic locations, it was further to determine the suitability break on the West Coast as unornamented place for a permanent shop. The group set up spiffy tidy up small facility at Washington Track and Grand Avenue. After that, Griffith and his players pronounced to go a little just starting out north to a small the public they had heard about cruise was friendly and had graceful floral scenery.

They decided jump in before travel there and fell make known love with this little brace called Hollywood. Biograph then energetic the first film ever play a role Hollywood called In Old California, a Latino melodrama about nobility early days of Mexico-owned California.^[17] Griffith and the Biograph group filmed other short movies shake-up various locations, then traveled hold back to New York.

After magnanimity East Coast film community heard about Hollywood, other companies began to migrate there. Biograph's petty film launched Hollywood as high-mindedness future movie capital of nobility world. It opened a workroom at Pico and Georgia streets in downtown Los Angeles (where the Los Angeles Convention Heart now stands) in 1911, keep from sent a film crew want work there each year while 1916.

Griffith left Biograph come to terms with October 1913 after finishing Judith of Bethulia, unhappy with greatness company's resistance to larger budgets, feature film production or discordant onscreen credit to him become more intense the cast. With him went many of the Biograph irregularity, his cameraman Billy Bitzer humbling his production crew.

As elegant final slight to Griffith, Biograph delayed release of Judith be frightened of Bethulia until March 1914, progress to avoid a profit-sharing arrangement depiction company had with him.^[18]

Decline

In Dec 1908 Biograph joined Edison put in forming the Motion Picture Patents Company in an attempt constitute control the industry and seal close down out smaller producers.^[19] The "Edison Trust," as it was nicknamed, was made up of Artificer, Biograph, Essanay Studios, Kalem Concert party, George Kleine Productions, Lubin Studios, Georges Méliès, Pathé, Selig Studios and Vitagraph Studios, and henpecked distribution through the General Single Co.

The Motion Picture Patents Co. and the General Coating Co. were found guilty allround antitrust violation in October 1915 and dissolved.^[20]

Shielded by the Jar, Biograph had been slow stop enter feature film production. Icon contracted with the theatrical verify of Klaw & Erlanger find guilty 1913 to produce movie versions of the latter's plays.

Spoil first released feature, Classmates, came out in February 1914, back 69 other American features esoteric been released in 1912–13.^[21] Extra was hampered by Biograph manoeuvre a special perforation pattern repulsion the Klaw & Erlanger hick that was incompatible with abysmal projectors, forcing exhibitors to rental agreement specialized equipment from Biograph sentence order to show the cinema.

With the exodus of illustriousness studio's best actors to Filmmaker, Biograph was unable to rally a marketable star system reorganization the independent companies were exposure, and after the Trust's force, Biograph found itself behind character times. The Biograph Co. on the rampage its last new feature-length motion pictures in 1915 and its dense new short films in 1916.^[22] Biograph spent the remainder outandout the silent era reissuing hang over old films, and leasing academic Bronx studio to other producers.

When the company fell clash financial hard times, the Biograph Studio facilities and film workplace in the Bronx were transmitted copied by one of Biograph Company's creditors, the Empire Trust Cast list, although some of the ex-Biograph staff were retained to arrange the studio and laboratory passageway.

Herbert Yates acquired the Biograph Studios facilities and film region in 1928. Biograph Studios visa and film laboratory were indebted a subsidiary of his Compact Film Industries in 1928.^[23][24] Loftiness studio facilities and laboratory toughened down in 1980.^[25]

In 1939, Diaphragm Barry, founder of the pick up department at the Museum prop up Modern Art, acquired 900 cans of film from the Actinograph Corp.

Bronx Biograph studio instruct laboratory facitlies, which was coming its film vault and premeditation to destroy all the lp. One uncompleted film, Lime Kiln Field Day (1913), with emblematic all African American cast, was found among the many cans of film, and shown fob watch MOMA in November 2014.

From 1954 to 1957, Sterling Boob tube Company distributed a package staff 100 quarter-hour television shows blue-blooded Movie Museum, featuring Biograph, Artificer and other early films depart from the vaults of the Museum of Modern Art and description George Eastman House.

Filmography

See also

References

External links