Motion Pictures Become Federal Records *

Motion Pictures Become Federal Records * Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/15/1/15/2743188/aarc_15_1_4m71k81240l61h0x.pdf by guest on 30 September 2021 By HERMINE M. BAUMHOFER U. S. Air Force Central Motion Picture Film Depository OTION pictures are a pleasant form of entertainment the world over; even television cannot dim their luster. Yet M originally they were not developed for amusement purposes and have been and are increasingly being used in more serious ways. The earliest use of motion pictures was for scientific purposes. As late as 1895 August Lumiere, the French inventor of the cine- matograph, thought of them only as an aid to science. When Georges Melies, the director of a Paris theater, sawthe practical entertainment values of Lumiere's projection apparatus and wanted to buy it, the inventor replied with one of the prize understatements of all time: "Young man, my invention is not for sale; for you it would represent ruin. Possibly sometime in the future it may be used as a scientific curiosity, but otherwise it has no economic significance." 2 In that same year Alfred Clark, head of the Elec- trical and Musical Industries, Ltd., produced "Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots," 3 and 3 years earlier Edison, in his mobile studio the "Black Maria," had produced "The Big Sneeze" with Fred Ott.4 Lumiere's statement is historically important, however, be- cause it highlights an interesting aspect of motion-picture development. The strongest impetus to experiments with series of pictures shown in such a way that they would simulate movement was provided by persons interested in studying the body movements of man and animals, although there had been some experiments in the entertainment field during the early 19th century. Photography, 1 Opinions expressed by the writer do not necessarily represent the official views of the USAF Central Motion Picture Film Depository. The writer is indebted, however, to Loran L. Fisher, Chief of the Depository, for helpful suggestions. 2 Hans Traub, "Als Man Anfing zu Filmen," in Schriften der UFA Lehrschau, Band 2, UFA Buchverlag, G.M.B.H. (Berlin, 1940), p. 54. 3 Ibid., p. 62. 4 Charles L. Turner, A Chronological Outline of Film History (National Broadcast- ing Company, Inc., 194.0), p. 1. 15 16 THE AMERICAN ARCHIVIST developed in the late 1840's, was considered ideal for the purpose provided it could be so improved that the path of actual motion could be shown clearly enough for detailed analysis. The first motion analyst to use photography was the Frenchman Claudet, who in 1852 developed an apparatus that took four Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/15/1/15/2743188/aarc_15_1_4m71k81240l61h0x.pdf by guest on 30 September 2021 simultaneous exposures. In the United States the most famous motion study of this type was performed by Eadweard Muybridge (Edward James Muggeridge) at the request of and with financial help from Governor Leland Stanford of California, who wanted to settle a bet. With the aid of 24 cameras Muybridge photographed horses at full gallop to determine whether at any one period of his stride a horse lifted all four feet off the ground.5 To show the results of his experiment graphically he placed the photographs on a disk, only the upper part of which was visible. When the disk was rotated quickly the individual exposures came into view for but a fraction of a second so that the horses appeared to be moving. Muybridge's motion analysis and his presentation that simulated moving pictures were of great interest to the scientific world.6 When he lectured in Berlin in 1891, the audience included Menzel, the painter; Helmholtz, the scientist; Moltke, the military genius; and Siemens, the industrialist.7 His experiments were also of interest to Etienne Jules Marey, a French physiologist, who had been specializing in the problems of locomotion. Marey, using but one camera, recorded successive phases of ac- tion on a single plate, thus producing for the first time a strobo- scopic effect. He clothed his models in black and outlined their arms and legs in white to show the progress of motion on one photograph. This process, named chronophotography, is used to- day in books on golf or dance techniques, where it is very effective in demonstrating form or performance.8 The development of pictures that would portray motion led to other scientific methods. The American painter, Thomas Eakins, proposed that scales of measurement be superimposed upon the photographic image — perhaps the first suggestion of the data- 6 Beaumont Newhall, The History of Photography from 1839 to the Present Day (The Museum of Modern Art, 1949), pp. iO3ff. 8 Cinematographic progress may well have been delayed for 4 years through a truly "Hollywood" occurrence. Muybridge was accused of killing his wife's lover and, although acquitted, had to leave the country in 1874. Consequently he did not complete his experiments until 1877. Beaumont Newhall, op. cit., p. 104. 7 Hans Traub, op. cit., p. 50. 8 Ibid., p. and plate 24. MOTION PICTURES BECOME FEDERAL RECORDS 17 analysis film that is now indispensable to research.9 Georges Demeny, director of Marey's psychological laboratory, developed a synchronization of speech and image by means of the phonoscope, which was widely hailed as a successful teaching aid. The final transition from Muybridge's row pictures to the actual Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/15/1/15/2743188/aarc_15_1_4m71k81240l61h0x.pdf by guest on 30 September 2021 moving pictures of Edison, Lumiere, and others, depended on the development of special materials and equipment that were not available until after 1880. The first step was the successful process- ing of gelatin emulsion by George Eastman in 1880. The second was the development of transparent and flexible film by the Rev. Hannibal Goodwin of Newark, New Jersey, in 1887.10 Quick and continuous photography was now possible. A method of presenting it successfully to the public followed shortly when Edison perfected his viewing apparatus, the kinetoscope. Projection apparatus by Edison, Lumiere, Armat, and others completed the initial require- ments. Shortly after the necessary techniques had caught up with the idea of depicting motion for scientific record purposes, Frank B. and Lillian M. Gilbreth successfully used motion-picture film in their motion studies. The amusing books written by their children have done much to popularize motion study as a new management concept, and the "therbligs," or motion elements, defined by the Gilbreths are becoming a part of our current vocabulary. As early as 1892 u the Gilbreths began the use of photography. At first they made still pictures to depict motion, then stereoscopic slides, and later motion pictures. In many of their experiments they showed the subject in front of a cross-sectioned background with a microchronometer placed by it in order to correlate motion with time consumed. This was probably the first use of the data-analysis film suggested earlier by Thomas Eakins. The Gilbreths also pre- pared a sign that gave all pertinent data on the specific investigation and was briefly placed in the field, thus becoming a part of the film record. Another technique, possibly suggested by Marey's experiments, was the use of miniature electric lights attached to the hand of the worker, so that the path of motion could be photographed.12 This "micro-motion" technique with the use of motion pictures was 9 Beaumont Newhall, op. cit., p. 108. 10 Robert Taft, Photography and the American Scene (New York: Macmillan Co., I942)> PP- 379 and 386. 11 Frank B. and Lillian M. Gilbreth, Fatigue Study (New York: Sturgis & Walton Co., 1916), p. 31. 12 Frank B. and Lillian M. Gilbreth, Applied Motion Study (New York: Sturgis & Walton Co., 1917), pp. 79ft 18 THE AMERICAN ARCHIVIST first presented by the Gilbreths to the American Society of Mechan- ical Engineers in 1912.13 "Movies," however, were soon almost exclusively monopolized by the entertainment industry. Even factual reporting was done by newsreel companies for entertainment purposes. The most sig- Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/15/1/15/2743188/aarc_15_1_4m71k81240l61h0x.pdf by guest on 30 September 2021 nificant of these, from a technical point of view, were probably the filming of the Corbett-Fitzsimmons fight in 1897, which was photographed on 11,000 feet of film, and the Jeffries-Sharkey fight in 1899, which was photographed with the aid of artificial light by the Biograph Company. The first newsreel of national importance apparently was the one showing the funeral of President McKinley in 1901.14 Seventeen years were to elapse after the creation of the first motion picture before the Federal Government showed even the slightest interest in this new record medium, although it had long been using still pictures. There is fragmentary evidence that the Navy began still photography or had still photographs made of ships and drydocks around 1850, about 12 years after Daguerre's process became known. Navy photographers accompanied Perry to Japan in 1853. During the Civil War the Quartermaster Corps and the Engineer Corps took official photographs for military purposes. Western territorial surveys began utilizing the camera as a recording medium as early as 1853. By the time the motion picture had been developed almost all agencies of the Government performed photography for record purposes and photographic laboratories were set up at military bases as far afield as Alaska. In spite of the Government's active use of still photography as a record medium, it took the birth of aviation to stimulate its use of motion pictures for record purposes.

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