Frames from Incident at Clovelly Cottage, 1895

Clovelly Cottage, 19 Park Road Barnet EN5 5RY

Birt Acres (23 July 1854 – 27 December 1918) was an American and British photographer and film pioneer. Among his contributions to the early film industry are the first working 35 mm camera in Britain (Wales), and ''Birtac'', the first daylight loading home movie camera and projector. He also directed a number of early

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

Early life

Born in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, on 23 July 1854, to English parents. He became an orphan at the age of 14, during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

and was raised by an aunt.

Career

Acres invented the first British 35 mm moving picture

camera A camera is an optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), with ...

, ''Birtac'' which was the first daylight loading home movie camera and

projector A projector or image projector is an optical device that projects an image (or moving images) onto a surface, commonly a projection screen. Most projectors create an image by shining a light through a small transparent lens, but some newer typ ...

; he was also the first travelling newsreel reporter in international film history and the first European film maker who had his films shown in the United States in public performances. He contributed much to the introduction and development of

cinematography Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens to focu ...

in all its aspects, from the construction of cameras, projectors, film viewers, coating and slitting machines and the manufacture of highly sensitized 35 mm raw film stock, to mobile newsreel reporting and the public projections of moving pictures. With his partner Robert W. Paul, he was the first person to build and run a working 35 mm camera in Britain. ''

Incident at Clovelly Cottage ''Incident at Clovelly Cottage'', also known as ''Incident Outside Clovelly Cottage, Barnet'', shot by Birt Acres and produced by Acres and his collaborator Robert W. Paul in March 1895, was the "first successful motion picture film made in Br ...

'' was made in March 1895 and featured Acres' wife with their infant son in a pram outside Acres' then home of Clovelly Cottage, Park Road, Chipping Barnet, which still exists. Acres and Paul fell out after Acres patented their design in his own name on 27 May 1895. He made some very early

s during the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwa ...

including in 1895: a film of the '' Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race'', ''The Arrest of a Pickpocket'', ''The Comic Shoeblack'', ''The Boxing Kangaroo'' and ''Performing Bears''. On 10 January 1896, he gave a display of moving pictures to the Lyonsdown Photographic Society at the Lytton Road Assembly Rooms in New Barnet. This was the first public film show to an audience in the United Kingdom. Acres was a Fellow of the

Royal Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is one of the world's oldest photographic societies. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as the Photographic Society of London with ...

. On 14 January 1896, he demonstrated his ''Kineopticon'' system to members and wives of the Society, at the Queen's Hall in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Robert Paul's first solo theatrical programme was at the

Alhambra Theatre The Alhambra was a popular theatre and music hall located on the east side of Leicester Square, in the West End theatre, West End of London. It was built originally as the Royal Panopticon of Science and Arts opening on 18 March 1854. It was clo ...

on 25 March 1896. Acres is buried in Walthamstow, London.

Most important achievements

* 1889 Apparatus for washing prints (patented). * 1891

Printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...

process for

stereoscopic Stereoscopy (also called stereoscopics, or stereo imaging) is a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any stereoscopic image is ...

photograph A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now create ...

s (for continuously contact print making) (patented). * 1893 Hopper feed installation for rapidly projecting slides in a biunial (two-in-one)

lantern A lantern is an often portable source of lighting, typically featuring a protective enclosure for the light sourcehistorically usually a candle or a oil lamp, wick in oil, and often a battery-powered light in modern timesto make it easier to ca ...

to create the illusion of movement (patented). * 1895 Kinetic Camera with appliance for loop forming (patented). * 1895/96 Electroscope, apparatus for continuous viewing by more than one spectator of 35mm film. * 1896 Installation for wholesale production of raw stock 35 mm film. * 1896 Kineopticon, improved apparatus for projecting 35 mm film (patented). * 1897 Cine camera with 2 lenses to resolve flicker problems and to enhance brightness. * 1898 Birtac, home movie camera for daylight loading of 17.5 mm film (patented).

Filmography

References

External links

*
Birt Acres biography and credits at BFI Screenonline

a
earlycinema.com

An 1896 Fairground Programme on the Europa Film Treasures site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Acres, Birt American people of English descent American cinematographers British cinematographers Cinema pioneers Artists from Richmond, Virginia 1854 births 1918 deaths American emigrants to England