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George Albert Smith (filmmaker)

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254: 509:, intended to commercially exploit the Kinemacolor process. Urban’s future wife, Ada Jones, purchased the Kinemacolor patent from Smith. This enabled Urban to sell Kinemacolor licenses all around the world. Smith felt he was cheated into selling his invention too cheaply, and Urban believed that Smith was selling secrets to rival inventors. However, Smith remained an employee of the Natural Color Kinematograph Company and testified on its behalf during the 1914 lawsuit by rival inventor 277:. Smith also began to present these dioramic lectures at the Brighton Aquarium, where he had first performed with Douglas Blackburn in 1882. Smith's skilful manipulation of the lantern, cutting between lenses (from slide to slide) to show changes in time, perspective and location necessary for story telling, would allow him to develop many of the skills he would later put to use as a pioneering film maker developing the grammar of film editing. 497:
Smith was granted a patent for the new process, which abandoned the three-colour approach of Edward Turner in favour of a two-colour (red-green) The process was first demonstrated on 1 May 1908, followed by further demonstrations in 1908 and public demonstration from early 1909 as far afield as Paris
44: 222:. Hall concluded that Smith (using his stage abilities) faked the results that Gurney trusted in his research papers, and this may have led to Gurney's mysterious death from a narcotic overdose in June 1888. Following Gurney's death, his successors, 273:, which he cultivated into a popular pleasure garden, where from 1894 he started staging public exhibitions of hot air ballooning, parachute jumps, a monkey house, a fortune teller, a hermit living in a cave and magic lantern shows of a series of 388:
In 1899 Smith, with the financial assistance of Urban, constructed a glass house film studio at St. Ann's Well Gardens, ushering in a highly creative period for him as a film maker. That year he shot the single scene
401: 174:, London in 1864. His father Charles Smith was a ticket-writer and artist. He moved with his family to Brighton, where his mother ran a boarding house on Grand Parade, following the death of his father. 210:
from 1883 to 1888. In 1887, Gurney carried out a number of "hypnotic experiments" in Brighton, with Smith as his "hypnotiser", which in their day made Gurney an impressive figure to the British public.
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to the end of his twice-daily programme of projected entertainment at the Brighton Aquarium, as an outlet for his burgeoning film production. Many of Smith's early films, including
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system of his own. Both he and his neighbour Williamson would go on to become pioneering film makers in their own right creating numerous historic minute-long films.
206:(SPR) accepted Smith's claims that the act was genuine and after becoming a member of the society he was appointed private secretary to the Honorary Secretary 450:
commissioned by Charles Urban of the Warwick Trading Company after rival company Mutoscope and Biograph acquired the rights to film the actual event. In 1903
373:(all 1898), include special effects created using a process of double-exposure patented by Smith. Many of Smith's films were acquired for distribution by 513:, which challenged Smith's Kinemacolor patent. Smith's patent for the Kinemacolor process was revoked in 1915, after which it faded out of public view. 1344: 17: 898:
Gray, Frank (2009), "The Kiss in the Tunnel (1899), G.A. Smith and the Rise of the Edited Film in England", in Grieveson, Lee; Kramer, Peter (eds.),
1056: 153:, his short films from 1897 to 1903, which pioneered film editing and close-ups, and his development of the first successful colour film process, 1084: 1299: 1258: 716: 442:
In 1902 Smith collaborated with old friend Georges Méliès at the Star Films studio in Montreil, Paris, on a pre-enactment of the
304:. In 1897, with the technical assistance of Darling and chemicals purchased from Williamson, Smith turned the pump house into a 1334: 1106: 539: 1202: 654: 411: 439:(all 1900). Film historian Frank Gray describes this experimental period, from 1897 to 1900, as Smith's laboratory years. 177:
It was in Brighton in the early 1880s that Smith first came to public attention touring the city's performance halls as a
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Improvements in, and relating to, Kinematograph Apparatus for the Production of Coloured Pictures - British patent 26,607
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First Colour Moving Pictures Discovered: The First Colour Moving Pictures Made by Lee and Turner (Restored film video)
339:, who had previously acted in pantomime and comic revue. However Smith also corresponded with special effects pioneer 1077: 992: 861: 1324: 1114: 552: 331: 409:
genre and demonstrate the possibilities of creative editing. The following year he experimented with reversing in
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taking the rights to Smith's films with him, at what marked the end of his most active period as a film-maker.
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for developing and printing and developed into a successful commercial film processor as well as patenting a
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Blackburn publicly admitted fraud in 1908 and again in 1911, although Smith consistently denied it.
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and the two began a long business relationship with a joint show of Smith and Méliès' films at the
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In 1904, A. H. Tee took over the lease on St Ann's Well Gardens, and Smith moved to a new home in
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In the late 1940s he was rediscovered by the British film community, being made a Fellow of the
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Charles Urban: Pioneering the Non-Fiction Film in Britain and America, 1897-1925
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History of Brighton that includes the claim that Smith invented the closeup
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The Other World: Spiritualism and Psychical Research in England, 1850-1914
491: 335:(both filmed in 1897) were comedies thanks to the influence of his wife, 293: 171: 154: 288:, which played in Brighton for that summer season, he and local chemist 1122: 1047: 560: 345: 903: 482:, where with finance from Charles Urban, he went on to develop the 122: 86: 126: 498:
and New York, for which Smith was awarded a silver medal by the
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In 1892, after leaving the SPR, he acquired the lease of the
43: 266: 486:, which had been acquired by Urban following the death of 121:(4 January 1864 – 17 May 1959) was an English stage 1092: 490:
in 1903, into the first successful colour film process,
415:(1900), developed dream-time and the dissolve effect in 367:
and, perhaps his most accomplished work from this time,
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Since then it has been heavily studied and critiqued by
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A Yank in Britain: The Lost Memoirs of Charles Urban
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from the estate of financier and philanthropist Sir
145:. He is best known for his controversial work with 421:(1900) and pioneered the use of the close-up with 838:, 5 September 1911, cited in Hall (1964), p. 123. 822:Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research 529:has a permanent display on Smith and Williamson. 1281: 525:in 1955. Smith died in Brighton on 17 May 1959. 402:View From an Engine Front - Train Leaving Tunnel 1078: 395:(1899) which was then seamlessly edited into 284:in March 1896 and spurred on by the films of 280:Smith had attended the Lumière programme in 248: 841: 355:(both 1897) the later of which, along with 1085: 1071: 924: 922: 42: 1345:Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society 847: 773: 771: 744: 742: 982: 957: 893: 891: 385:, Brighton in late 1898 and early 1899. 252: 1259:Woman Draped in Patterned Handkerchiefs 919: 806: 717:Woman Draped in Patterned Handkerchiefs 532: 516: 165: 14: 1282: 768: 739: 465: 1066: 937: 888: 797: 1038:History of film industry in Brighton 897: 507:Natural Color Kinematograph Company 240:Experiments in Thought Transference 24: 976: 951: 931: 25: 18:George Albert Smith (film pioneer) 1366: 1031: 1025:The Strange Case of Edmund Gurney 824:, volume 6 (1889-90), pp. 128–70. 220:The Strange Case of Edmund Gurney 1115:Old Man Drinking a Glass of Beer 777: 748: 553:Old Man Drinking a Glass of Beer 332:Old Man Drinking a Glass of Beer 1014: 1001: 343:whose influence can be seen in 1300:20th-century British inventors 962:. University of Exeter Press. 879: 870: 827: 815: 319:On 29 March 1897, Smith added 204:Society for Psychical Research 151:Society for Psychical Research 13: 1: 1335:British horror film directors 784:Who's Who in Victorian Cinema 732: 460:Charles Urban Trading Company 242:, for the society's journal. 27:British filmmaker (1864–1959) 1179:Grandma Threading her Needle 625:Grandma Threading her Needle 405:(1899) to enliven the staid 181:. In 1882 he teamed up with 160: 7: 1163:As Seen Through a Telescope 609:As Seen Through a Telescope 430:As Seen Through a Telescope 48:George Albert Smith in 1902 10: 1371: 854:Cambridge University Press 632:A Quick Shave and Brush-up 505:In 1909 Urban founded the 135:Royal Astronomical Society 1320:Photographers from Sussex 1310:British parapsychologists 1251:Tartans of Scottish Clans 1203:The House That Jack Built 1101: 876:Hall (1964), pp. 120–123. 848:Oppenheim, Janet (1988). 751:"Smith, G.A. (1864-1959)" 703:Tartans of Scottish Clans 655:The House That Jack Built 412:The House That Jack Built 249:At St. Ann's Well Gardens 141:by French film historian 106: 98: 75: 53: 41: 34: 1195:The Old Maid's Valentine 1131:The Miller and the Sweep 900:The Silent Cinema Reader 885:Hall (1964), pp. 169–72. 647:The Old Maid's Valentine 577:The Miller and the Sweep 444:Coronation of Edward VII 326:The Miller and the Sweep 236:Eleanor Mildred Sidgwick 133:lecturer, Fellow of the 1325:British cinema pioneers 1171:Grandma's Reading Glass 983:McKernan, Luke (1999). 958:McKernan, Luke (2018). 812:Hall (1964), pp. 92–94. 617:Grandma's Reading Glass 569:Hanging Out the Clothes 456:Warwick Trading Company 424:Grandma's Reading Glass 379:Warwick Trading Company 1330:British film directors 1267:A Visit to the Seaside 1155:The Kiss in the Tunnel 938:Smith (25 July 1907). 725:A Visit to the Seaside 601:The Kiss in the Tunnel 547:Making Sausages (1897) 392:The Kiss in the Tunnel 263:St. Ann's Well Gardens 258: 1227:The Death of Poor Joe 1219:The Inexhaustible Cab 1139:Photographing a Ghost 780:"George Albert Smith" 679:The Death of Poor Joe 671:The Inexhaustible Cab 585:Photographing a Ghost 511:William Friese-Greene 500:Royal Society of Arts 488:Edward Raymond Turner 364:Photographing a Ghost 358:The Corsican Brothers 292:acquired a prototype 256: 1007:Hall (1964), p. 173. 928:Hall (1964), p. 172. 533:Selected filmography 523:British Film Academy 517:Later life and death 448:Alexandra of Denmark 321:animated photographs 296:from local engineer 166:Birth and early life 102:Film maker, inventor 1095:George Albert Smith 1048:George Albert Smith 1027:. Gerald Duckworth. 803:Hall (1964), p. 92. 466:At Laboratory Lodge 271:Isaac Lyon Goldsmid 119:George Albert Smith 36:George Albert Smith 1315:British hypnotists 1235:Mary Jane's Mishap 1211:Let Me Dream Again 1107:The Haunted Castle 1093:Films directed by 987:. Projection Box. 906:(published 2004), 687:Mary Jane's Mishap 663:Let Me Dream Again 540:The Haunted Castle 484:Lee-Turner Process 418:Let Me Dream Again 352:The Haunted Castle 259: 170:Smith was born in 1340:English inventors 1277: 1276: 755:BFI Screenonlinee 187:Brighton Aquarium 185:in an act at the 183:Douglas Blackburn 116: 115: 16:(Redirected from 1362: 1305:People from Hove 1187:Spiders on a Web 1087: 1080: 1073: 1064: 1063: 1008: 1005: 999: 998: 980: 974: 973: 955: 949: 948: 946: 935: 929: 926: 917: 916: 895: 886: 883: 877: 874: 868: 867: 845: 839: 831: 825: 819: 813: 810: 804: 801: 795: 794: 792: 790: 775: 766: 765: 763: 761: 746: 639:Spiders on a Web 480:Laboratory Lodge 436:Spiders on a Web 383:Alhambra Theatre 290:James Williamson 282:Leicester Square 275:dissolving views 82: 63: 61: 46: 32: 31: 21: 1370: 1369: 1365: 1364: 1363: 1361: 1360: 1359: 1280: 1279: 1278: 1273: 1243:The Sick Kitten 1097: 1091: 1059:September 2012. 1034: 1017: 1012: 1011: 1006: 1002: 995: 981: 977: 970: 956: 952: 944: 936: 932: 927: 920: 914: 896: 889: 884: 880: 875: 871: 864: 856:. p. 144. 846: 842: 832: 828: 820: 816: 811: 807: 802: 798: 788: 786: 776: 769: 759: 757: 747: 740: 735: 695:The Sick Kitten 535: 519: 468: 251: 179:stage hypnotist 168: 163: 139:Brighton School 94: 84: 80: 71: 65: 59: 57: 49: 37: 28: 23: 22: 15: 12: 11: 5: 1368: 1358: 1357: 1355:Magic lanterns 1352: 1347: 1342: 1337: 1332: 1327: 1322: 1317: 1312: 1307: 1302: 1297: 1292: 1275: 1274: 1272: 1271: 1263: 1255: 1247: 1239: 1231: 1223: 1215: 1207: 1199: 1191: 1183: 1175: 1167: 1159: 1151: 1143: 1135: 1127: 1119: 1111: 1102: 1099: 1098: 1090: 1089: 1082: 1075: 1067: 1061: 1060: 1054: 1045: 1040: 1033: 1032:External links 1030: 1029: 1028: 1021:Hall, Trevor H 1016: 1013: 1010: 1009: 1000: 993: 975: 969:978-0859892964 968: 950: 930: 918: 913:978-0415252843 912: 887: 878: 869: 862: 840: 835:The Daily News 826: 814: 805: 796: 767: 737: 736: 734: 731: 730: 729: 721: 713: 707: 699: 691: 683: 675: 667: 659: 651: 643: 635: 629: 621: 613: 605: 597: 589: 581: 573: 565: 557: 549: 544: 534: 531: 518: 515: 467: 464: 397:Cecil Hepworth 341:Georges Méliès 298:Alfred Darling 250: 247: 232:Henry Sidgwick 224:F. W. H. Myers 216:Trevor H. Hall 191:muscle reading 167: 164: 162: 159: 143:Georges Sadoul 114: 113: 108: 104: 103: 100: 96: 95: 85: 83:(aged 95) 77: 73: 72: 66: 64:4 January 1864 55: 51: 50: 47: 39: 38: 35: 26: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 1367: 1356: 1353: 1351: 1348: 1346: 1343: 1341: 1338: 1336: 1333: 1331: 1328: 1326: 1323: 1321: 1318: 1316: 1313: 1311: 1308: 1306: 1303: 1301: 1298: 1296: 1293: 1291: 1288: 1287: 1285: 1269: 1268: 1264: 1261: 1260: 1256: 1253: 1252: 1248: 1245: 1244: 1240: 1237: 1236: 1232: 1229: 1228: 1224: 1221: 1220: 1216: 1213: 1212: 1208: 1205: 1204: 1200: 1197: 1196: 1192: 1189: 1188: 1184: 1181: 1180: 1176: 1173: 1172: 1168: 1165: 1164: 1160: 1157: 1156: 1152: 1149: 1148: 1144: 1141: 1140: 1136: 1133: 1132: 1128: 1125: 1124: 1120: 1117: 1116: 1112: 1109: 1108: 1104: 1103: 1100: 1096: 1088: 1083: 1081: 1076: 1074: 1069: 1068: 1065: 1058: 1055: 1053: 1049: 1046: 1044: 1041: 1039: 1036: 1035: 1026: 1022: 1019: 1018: 1004: 996: 994:9780952394129 990: 986: 979: 971: 965: 961: 954: 943: 942: 934: 925: 923: 915: 909: 905: 901: 894: 892: 882: 873: 865: 863:0-521-34767-X 859: 855: 851: 844: 837: 836: 830: 823: 818: 809: 800: 785: 781: 778:Gray, Frank. 774: 772: 756: 752: 749:Gray, Frank. 745: 743: 738: 727: 726: 722: 719: 718: 714: 711: 708: 705: 704: 700: 697: 696: 692: 689: 688: 684: 681: 680: 676: 673: 672: 668: 665: 664: 660: 657: 656: 652: 649: 648: 644: 641: 640: 636: 633: 630: 627: 626: 622: 619: 618: 614: 611: 610: 606: 603: 602: 598: 595: 594: 590: 587: 586: 582: 579: 578: 574: 571: 570: 566: 563: 562: 558: 555: 554: 550: 548: 545: 542: 541: 537: 536: 530: 528: 524: 514: 512: 508: 503: 501: 495: 493: 489: 485: 481: 477: 473: 463: 461: 457: 453: 452:Charles Urban 449: 445: 440: 438: 437: 432: 431: 426: 425: 420: 419: 414: 413: 408: 404: 403: 398: 394: 393: 386: 384: 380: 376: 375:Charles Urban 372: 371: 366: 365: 360: 359: 354: 353: 348: 347: 342: 338: 334: 333: 328: 327: 322: 317: 315: 311: 307: 303: 302:Esmé Collings 299: 295: 291: 287: 283: 278: 276: 272: 268: 264: 257:Smith at work 255: 246: 243: 241: 238:) the paper, 237: 233: 229: 228:Frank Podmore 225: 221: 218:in his study 217: 212: 209: 208:Edmund Gurney 205: 200: 198: 197: 192: 188: 184: 180: 175: 173: 158: 156: 152: 148: 147:Edmund Gurney 144: 140: 136: 132: 131:magic lantern 128: 124: 120: 112: 109: 105: 101: 99:Occupation(s) 97: 92: 88: 78: 74: 69: 56: 52: 45: 40: 33: 30: 19: 1265: 1257: 1249: 1241: 1233: 1225: 1217: 1209: 1201: 1193: 1185: 1177: 1169: 1161: 1153: 1145: 1137: 1129: 1121: 1113: 1105: 1094: 1024: 1015:Bibliography 1003: 984: 978: 959: 953: 940: 933: 899: 881: 872: 849: 843: 833: 829: 821: 817: 808: 799: 787:. 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(1964). 733:References 710:Two Clowns 561:The X-Rays 346:The X-Rays 189:involving 60:1864-01-04 1350:Telepaths 904:Routledge 478:, dubbed 472:Southwick 454:left the 314:projector 161:Biography 123:hypnotist 93:, England 70:, England 789:24 April 760:24 April 377:for the 87:Brighton 149:at the 127:psychic 1270:(1908) 1262:(1908) 1254:(1906) 1246:(1903) 1238:(1903) 1230:(1901) 1222:(1901) 1214:(1900) 1206:(1900) 1198:(1900) 1190:(1900) 1182:(1900) 1174:(1900) 1166:(1900) 1158:(1899) 1150:(1898) 1142:(1898) 1134:(1898) 1126:(1897) 1118:(1897) 1110:(1897) 991:  966:  910:  860:  728:(1908) 720:(1908) 712:(1906) 706:(1906) 698:(1903) 690:(1903) 682:(1901) 674:(1901) 666:(1900) 658:(1900) 650:(1900) 642:(1900) 634:(1900) 628:(1900) 620:(1900) 612:(1900) 604:(1899) 596:(1898) 588:(1898) 580:(1898) 572:(1897) 564:(1897) 556:(1897) 543:(1897) 476:Sussex 310:camera 107:Spouse 91:Sussex 68:London 945:(PDF) 1052:IMDb 989:ISBN 964:ISBN 908:ISBN 858:ISBN 791:2011 762:2011 446:and 433:and 349:and 329:and 312:and 267:Hove 234:and 226:and 202:The 76:Died 54:Born 1050:at 399:'s 265:in 1286:: 921:^ 902:, 890:^ 852:. 782:. 770:^ 753:. 741:^ 502:. 494:. 474:, 427:, 361:, 157:. 129:, 125:, 89:, 1086:e 1079:t 1072:v 997:. 972:. 947:. 866:. 793:. 764:. 62:) 58:( 20:)

Index

George Albert Smith (film pioneer)

London
Brighton
Sussex
Laura Bayley
hypnotist
psychic
magic lantern
Royal Astronomical Society
Brighton School
Georges Sadoul
Edmund Gurney
Society for Psychical Research
Kinemacolor
Cripplegate
stage hypnotist
Douglas Blackburn
Brighton Aquarium
muscle reading
second sight
Society for Psychical Research
Edmund Gurney
Trevor H. Hall
F. W. H. Myers
Frank Podmore
Henry Sidgwick
Eleanor Mildred Sidgwick

St. Ann's Well Gardens

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