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| History |
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History  From its humble beginnings, Biograph's history dates back to 1895 when a disenchanted inventor, and nickelodeon film producer, W. K. L. Dickson, who worked at the Thomas Edison laboratory discovered a way to capture life on film, moving images. After this discovery, Edison became disinterested in this new novelty. Dickson however, had the foresight for its potential. Dickson left the Edison in 1895, to form the first ever company that solely focused on the production of moving pictures. This company was the American Mutoscope & Biograph Company. Dickson formed the company with two other inventors, Herman Casler and Henry Marvin, and one more founder/investor, Elias Koopman, who invested all of the money he had made from his own invention, the pocket lighter. Biograph became the chief competitor to Edison and in 1896; the Biograph Projector showed the first projected images from an American film company to the first American movie theatre audience. With this historic event, Biograph was soon to become the leader in the new movie industry.Some of the many other historical things Biograph accomplished were filming the Pope for the first time, being the first production company to be contracted by the White House, making the first western in 1901, being the first movie company in southern California to make an actual dramatic film, and making one of the first full length feature films. Biograph was also associated with many political legends, such as Presidents William McKinley, and Benjamin Harrison. Abner McKinley, the President's brother, and President Harrison both owned stock in Biograph. Another historic associate was a young journalist who assisted W. K. L. Dickson in his filming of the Boer war for Biograph in 1899. The young journalist was Winston Churchill. In 1908 marked a turning point in Biograph's history. Biograph, which was producing films in New York, and California, contracted a young actor to direct its films. That actor was D. W. Griffith. After Griffith's association with Biograph, the company guided motion pictures into maturity and nurturing its universal language. Many early stars developed their craft with Biograph, such as Mary Pickford, Lionel Barrymore, and Lillian Gish. With innovations such as close-ups, crosscutting, moving shots, and the iris shot, Biograph had such an influence on film that its name became synonymous with the medium. Under the direction of D. W. Griffith, Biograph's popularity and box-office receipts skyrocketed, so did aesthetic, with magnificent historical tales, and intimate scenes of heart-wrenching human drama. Biograph became the landmark in American filmmaking, both for its artistic merits and for its breakthrough use of flashbacks, fade-outs, and close-ups. By this time, Biograph opened up branch offices in many foreign countries, including England, France, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands. Audiences all over the world saw the unique and innovative Biograph movies.
Can you imagine that everything that is motion pictures was either invented, or began at Biograph; the close up, fade outs, dissolves, suspense editing. Biograph's main accomplishment was actually not a technical one. In 1910 famed director D. W. Griffith discovered a great "Little village" to shoot many of the Biograph films. The weather was great and it had room to grow. He shot a film "In Old California" there; the first time a movie was ever shot in this village. This village was known as Hollywood. The pioneers at Biograph turned Hollywood from a small farming town to the movie and entertainment capital of the world. Biograph also launched the careers of many famous individuals such as director D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford, Mack Sennett, Lionel Barrymore and Lillian Gish, and the first black-American producer/director, vaudevillian Bert Williams, among others. Biograph was the last movie company to convert from silent to sound, with it's first movie in over 70 year in 1999. Now in a new century, Biograph continues with quality independent films, also encompassing commercial production, television and multimedia.
We would like to thank David Pearson for many of our photos. |
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