Who's Who of Victorian Cinema

Brian Coe 1930-2007

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 00:26:42 GMT

It is sad to have to report the death last month of Brian Coe, one of the original contributors to the Who's Who of Victorian Cinema book. Brian was Curator of the Kodak Museum 1969-1984, then Curator at the Royal Photographic Society in Bath, before joining the Museum of the Moving Image in 1989 as its special events co-ordinator. He instituted several important exhibitions on photography and cinematography, and his many publications in the field have remained standard works. In particular his The History of Movie Photography is the indispensible guide to its subject, not least for its devotion of nineteenth-century optical toys, chronophotography, Victorian and early cinema technologies. He was a kindly, knowledgeable and gregarious man. He will be much missed.

Films of the Holy Lands in 1897

Sat, 27 Oct 2007 21:02:08 GMT

An astonishing discovery was unveiled at the 2007 Giornate del Cinema Muto, held in Pordenone, Italy. Ninety-three films taken in Palestine, Egypt and Turkey in 1897 (or possibly a little later) were discovered in an antique shop in March 2007 by Lobster Films of Paris, and were exhibited for the first time to the festival. The films, all from negatives, look superb. They are a combination of actualities, showing street and rural scenes, and scenes from what appear to be two childhoods of Christ, one evidently filmed in the 'Holy Lands', the other possibly in France. Much further investigation is required, but it seems likely that the films are those made by Léar, or Albert Kirchner, who is known to have filmed in Palestine and Egypt at this time, and who made a popular Life of Christ.

Patentee of Zoetrope revealed

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 21:16:12 GMT

The first patentee of the Zoetrope, and the person who gave it its name, was William E. Lincoln (1847-19??), a fact not previously recorded in the literature on 'pre-cinema' and nineteenth-century optical toys. First marketed by the Milton Bradley toy and games company, the drum-form Zoetrope was the most popular form of moving image device in Victorian times, after the initial success of the Phenakistiscope spinning disc toy, and before the emergence of the photographic motion picture film industry. The photograph reproduced left of William E. Lincoln, taken when he was seventy-four, has only recently surfaced.

Screen Heritage Survey

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 12:22:46 GMT

From 24 September, the UK Screen Heritage Network is organising an online survey of UK museums and other collections which hold artefacts associated with the moving image and other screen-related entertainments. The Screen Heritage Network is a group of museums, archives, media producers, broadcasters and academic institutions that has come together under the auspices of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council to advance the concept of screen heritage and encourage its preservation and promote wider access. Its interpretation of screen heritage encompasses the magic lantern and optical toys, as well as all aspects of cinema and television production, and on to the video games and handheld technologies of today. The survey runs until the end of November, and the information gathered will be used to create the first-ever directory of collections of moving image and screen-related artefacts in the UK.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 19:14:06 GMT

The Invention of Hugo Cabret is a children's novel by Brian Selznick, designed for the 9-12 age group. It is a historical mystery story, set in Paris in the early 1930s, in a mixture of text and graphics meant to imitate silent movie-style. A leading figure in the story is Georges Méliès, who runs a toy store as he did in reality towards the end of his life, whose fortune becomes intertwined with that of the boy hero, Hugo. The book was first published in the USA in January 2007. The book has generated a lot of interest, and it is rumoured that Martin Scorsese is considering making a film of it. The book can be purchased from Amazon.co.uk. The book also has a website, with background information on Méliès, at www.theinventionofhugocabret.com.

Queen Victoria comes to Canterbury

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 22:25:34 GMT

Queen Victoria comes to Canterbury (July 2007)

The Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee show is featuring at this year's Canterbury Festival. The show is a recreation of Queen Victoria's tour around London on 22 June 1897, to mark sixty years of her reign. The event was filmed by many motion picture camera operators dooted along the route, and the show (already seen in London and Nottingham) takes the audience around the route with a combination of films, photographs, music and actors reading eye-witness testimony from figures such as Mark Twain and Edward Burne-Jones. The show is presented by Luke McKernan, with Neil Brand and Mo Heard reading the eye-witness accounts and Stephen Horne playing the piano. Priority booking for the festival is now open, with general public booking for 13 August. The show takes place at the International Study Centre, next to Canterbury Cathedral, on 19 October. Further details here.

When the Movies Began...

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 09:36:51 GMT

The latest feature to be added to the Who's Who of Victorian Cinema web site is When the Movies Began. This is a chronology of the world's film productions and film shows before May 1896. It was originally compiled by Stephen Herbert and published as a booklet by The Projection Box in 1994. This updated and redesigned version incorporates new research, in particular the work of Deac Rossell, and it will be regularly revised and updated. There is also a full introduction and list of references. Any comments and corrections are welcome. When the Movies Began is included within the Features section of this web site.

Nineteen (Obscure) Frames that Changed the World

Sun, 20 May 2007 12:37:49 GMT

In October 1888 the French born inventor Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince recorded what is thought to be the first film in the history of cinema. His subject was Leeds Bridge – the ebb and flow of humanity – people going about their daily business unaware that their motions were being inscribed into history. The surviving frames of this footage are owned by the National Media Museum in Bradford where Curator of Cinematography, Michael Harvey, has been working with New York video artist Ken Jacobs for 18 months to provide footage for the unique exhibition Nineteen (Obscure) Frames That Changed the World. "Ken Jacobs probes the magnitude and infinity of the existing frames, using a unique 3D projection system (with 3d glasses) to reveal hidden beauty and unlock great waves of motion. Ken Jacobs’ films, performances and installations inspire a sense of awe and mystery that audiences must have felt when confronted by moving images at the very start of cinema." The exhibition opens on Thursday 24 May and runs from 25 May–1 June, 11.30am–6.30pm with free entry. Further information here.

Projection Box Awards

Sat, 19 May 2007 22:59:52 GMT

Early film and pre-cinema publishers The Projection Box have announced a new award for essays on projected and moving images to 1915. The aims of this award are to encourage new research and new thinking into any historical, artistic or technical aspect of projected and moving images up to 1915; and to promote engaging, accessible, and imaginative work. The first prize of £250 is for an essay of between 5,000 and 8,000 words (including notes). The deadline for entries is 18 January 2008. The winning essay will also be published in an issue of Early Popular Visual Culture (Routledge). At the discretion of the judges, two runners-up will each receive books and CD-Roms of their choice (published by The Projection Box), to the value of £100. Further details from www.pbawards.co.uk.

Who's Who of Victorian Cinema news feed

Sat, 19 May 2007 15:11:24 GMT

Who's Who of Victorian Cinema now features an RSS news feed. The feed will provide you with all of the news on Victorian cinema (the era of motion pictures 1871-1901) as it is published on this site. To subscribe to the feed, just click on the RSS XML icon or add our URL to a news reader (if you are new to using RSS, find out more from the BBC news site).