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Fast Glass: Modernity, Technology, and the Cinematic Lens Allain Daigle University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

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Fast Glass: Modernity, Technology, and the Cinematic Lens Allain Daigle University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee University of Wisconsin Milwaukee UWM Digital Commons Theses and Dissertations May 2019 Fast Glass: Modernity, Technology, and the Cinematic Lens Allain Daigle University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.uwm.edu/etd Part of the Film and Media Studies Commons, and the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Commons Recommended Citation Daigle, Allain, "Fast Glass: Modernity, Technology, and the Cinematic Lens" (2019). Theses and Dissertations. 2056. https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/2056 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by UWM Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UWM Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FAST GLASS: MODERNITY, TECHNOLOGY, AND THE CINEMATIC LENS by Allain Daigle A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English at The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee May 2019 ABSTRACT FAST GLASS: MODERNITY, TECHNOLOGY, AND THE CINEMATIC LENS by Allain Daigle The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2019 Under the Supervision of Professor Tami Williams This dissertation tells a cultural history of how lenses became cinema lenses. While lenses are essential for film production, we know very little about the early history of cinema lenses. Rather than just focusing on which lenses were used on certain movies, I historicize how lens production became an industry. Between the 1880s and the 1920s, lens production shifted from an artisanal craft to a commercial industry. By looking at how companies created lenses for film production and projection, I expand early film history to account for the creative work of opticians, engineers, advertisers, and distributors. In more specifically focusing on how lenses became “cinema lenses,” I historicize how ideas central to film studies – perspective, objectivity, subjectivity, and realism – were considered in relationship to lenses. I examine four influential optical companies in Germany (Zeiss), France (E. Krauss), the United States (Bausch & Lomb), and England (Taylor-Hobson). By examining international optics alongside film history, we can see that lenses were not just the product of remarkable inventors or ever-improving designs. Ultimately, I argue that lenses were shaped by a wide range of social, cultural, and industrial debates about the role that technologies of vision played in 19th and 20th century life. ii © Copyright by Allain Daigle, 2019 All Rights Reserved iii For my Mom For my Dad iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction | Lens Culture ............................................................................................................. 1 The Myth of a Total Cinema ......................................................................................... 6 Lens Culture ................................................................................................................ 12 Chapter 1 | Modern Glass: Zeiss and the Industrialization of Vision ........................................... 17 Modern Vision ............................................................................................................ 21 Visions of Science: Zeiss and Scientifically Designed Lenses ................................... 31 The Work of Glass: Anastigmats and The Industrialization of Vision ....................... 40 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 57 Chapter 2 | Vision and/as Technology: E. Krauss and Parisian Instrument Culture .................... 61 Visions of Paris: Photographic Lenses and Urban Instrument Culture ...................... 65 E. Krauss and Early Cinema ....................................................................................... 75 Interlude: Lens Culture and Film Practice .................................................................. 87 A Growing and Changing Lens Market ...................................................................... 93 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 101 Chapter 3 | “The End of a Foreign Monopoly:” Bausch and Lomb and the Wartime Expansion of Optical Glass Production ......................................................................................... 105 “To Greater Vision Through Optical Science:” Bausch and Lomb Optical Company ................................................................................................................................... 110 A Lack of Glass ........................................................................................................ 117 Wartime Expansion at Bausch and Lomb ................................................................. 126 Wartime Visions ....................................................................................................... 132 The Optical Society of America ............................................................................... 140 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 145 Chapter 4 | Fast Glass: Cooke and the Cinematic Lenses of 1920s Hollywood ......................... 151 Taylor-Hobson and the Postwar British Optical Industry......................................... 158 Taylor-Hobson Moves into the Movies .................................................................... 170 Quality Lenses for Quality Cameras: Bell & Howell, Filmo, Eyemo, and Pioneer Cameras..................................................................................................................... 182 Quality Control: Fast Glass and Studio Practice ....................................................... 190 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 203 Conclusion | The Glass Age ........................................................................................................ 206 Works Cited ................................................................................................................................ 212 Curriculum Vitae ........................................................................................................................ 237 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 Zeiss Anastigmat ............................................................................................................ 19 Figure 2 Diagram of Bits and Blobs ............................................................................................. 33 Figure 3 Herbert and Smith examine the "defect" on a photographic plate ................................. 39 Figure 4 Glastechnisches Laboratorium ....................................................................................... 44 Figure 5 The Glass Works of Schott & Genossen ........................................................................ 45 Figure 6 Demonstrating the benefits of scientifically-designed lenses ........................................ 47 Figure 7 An E. Krauss lens on a Lumière Cinematographe ......................................................... 57 Figure 8 Mirrored images of E. Krauss Lenses in Dziga Vertov's Man With a Movie Camera .. 63 Figure 9 E. Krauss advertisement for binoculars. ......................................................................... 78 Figure 10 Notice of Krauss' Exclusive License ............................................................................ 78 Figure 11 Horses in motion........................................................................................................... 82 Figure 12 Pathé Freres Catalogue ............................................................................................... 100 Figure 13 Bausch and Lomb Optical Company Advertisement ................................................. 106 Figure 14 Bausch & Lomb's Store, 1853 .................................................................................... 111 Figure 15 The Triple Alliance logo ............................................................................................ 116 Figure 16 Ives. Airplane Photography. ....................................................................................... 134 Figure 17 Diagrams of ineffective aerial photography. .............................................................. 135 Figure 18 John J. Bausch illustrated as a visionary immigrant................................................... 148 Figure 19 November 1930 Announcement for the Speed-Panchro Lenses ................................ 153 Figure 20 Cooke 1902 Catalog ................................................................................................... 161 Figure 21 1922 Burke & James Cooke Lens Catalog. ................................................................ 173 Figure 22 Cinephor Ads 1921 and 1925. .................................................................................... 176 Figure 23 Cover of the January 1925 American Cinematographer. ........................................... 178 Figure 24 An advertisement featuring Bell & Howell’s three flagship cameras ........................ 183 Figure 25 “Why it pays to pay more for this Camera.” ............................................................ 185 Figure 26 Bell & Howell begins advertising Cooke Lenses in 1925. American Cinematographer. August 1925. 17.
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