Francis Martin Duncan (1873–1961) was a British naturalist and

nature documentary A nature documentary or wildlife documentary is a genre of documentary film or series about animals, plants, or other non-human living creatures, usually concentrating on video taken in their natural habitat but also often including footage of tr ...

pioneer who worked for producer

Charles Urban Charles Urban (April 15, 1867 – August 29, 1942) was an Anglo-American film producer and distributor, and one of the most significant figures in British cinema before the First World War. He was a pioneer of the documentary, educational, propag ...

. He specialised in micro-cinematography and pioneered many of the techniques of future natural history filmmaking.

Biography

Duncan was the son of noted palaeontologist

Peter Martin Duncan Peter Martin Duncan FRS (20 April 1821 – 28 May 1891) was an English palaeontologist. Biography Duncan was born at Twickenham on 20 April 1821, his father, Peter King-Duncan, a descendant of an old Scottish family, being a leather merchant ...

. While a student he assisted his father by taking up photography, and acquired a particular interest in

microphotography Microphotographs are photographs shrunk to microscopic scale.

. In the early 1890s he experimented with

chronophotography Chronophotography is a photographic technique from the Victorian era which captures a number of phases of movements. The best known chronophotography works were mostly intended for the scientific study of locomotion, to discover practical informa ...

(sequence photography), showing the results in motion on a

Zoetrope A zoetrope is one of several pre-film animation devices that produce the illusion of motion by displaying a sequence of drawings or photographs showing progressive phases of that motion. It was basically a cylindrical variation of the phénak ...

. He was recruited by Charles Urban for the newly formed

Charles Urban Trading Company The Charles Urban Trading Company specialised in travel, educational and scientific films. It was formed in 1903 in London by the Anglo-American film producer Charles Urban, who struck out on his own after five years at the Warwick Trading Company. ...

in 1903. Together they launched a film series, ''The Unseen World'', showcased 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 of London. It was built originally as the Royal Panopticon of Science and Arts opening on 18 March 1854. It was closed after two yea ...

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

from 17 August 1903, which showed scenes of animal life, with particular emphasis on micro-cinematographic views. The shows were advertised as being shown by the 'Urban-Duncan Micro-Bioscope'. Among the films shown were ''Circulation of Blood in a Frog's Foot'', ''Red Sludge Worms'' and the notorious ''

The Cheese Mites ''The Cheese Mites'' ( 1903) is a British short silent documentary film, produced by Charles Urban and directed by F. Martin Duncan. Plot A gentleman is put off his lunch when he holds up a magnifying glass and sees a microscopic view of the ...

'', the views of which were preceded by a scene of a man (played by Duncan himself) horrified by what he sees when he views a piece of Stilton through a magnifying glass. Duncan continued to work for Urban until 1908, when he was succeeded by

F. Percy Smith Frank Percy Smith (12 January 1880–24 March 1945) was a British naturalist and early nature documentary pioneer, who explored time-lapse photography, microphotography, microcinematography, and animation. Biography Percy Smith was the son ...

. He continued his career as a zoologist at

London Zoo London Zoo, also known as ZSL London Zoo or London Zoological Gardens is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for science, scientific study. In 1831 o ...

and as a populariser of nature subjects, writing many books on natural history. He also worked as an editor on some of the '' Secrets of Nature'' film series in the 1920s. His 1943 book ''British Shells'' was positively reviewed as a useful introduction to

conchology Conchology () is the study of mollusc shells. Conchology is one aspect of malacology, the study of molluscs; however, malacology is the study of molluscs as whole organisms, whereas conchology is confined to the study of their shells. It includ ...

Filmography

* ''The Unseen World'' (1903) (series, including ''

'') * '' Studies of Natural History'' (1903) (series) * '' The Busy Bee'' (1903) (series) * '' Marine Studies'' (1903) (series) * ''

The Empire of the Ants "The Empire of the Ants" is a 1905 short story by H. G. Wells about the littleness of humanity and the tenuousness of the dominion ''Homo sapiens'' enjoys on Earth. A 1977 film, ''Empire of the Ants'', was loosely based on Wells' story. Plot su ...

'' (1906)

Selected publications

* ''First Steps in Photo-Micrography: A Handbook for Novices'' (1902) * ''Insect Pests of the Farm and Garden'' (1906) * ''Denizens of the Deep'' (1907)
''Our Insect Friends and Foes''
(1911) * ''The Seashore: A Book for Boys and Girls'' (1912)
''Bees, Wasps and Ants''
(1913)
''Cassell's Natural History''
(1913) * ''Wonders of Insect Life'' (1915)
''Insect Life in Pond and Stream''
(1917)
''How Animals Work''
(1919) * ''Animals of the Sea'' (1922) * ''The Book of the Countryside'' (1928) * ''Close-ups from Nature'' (1930) * ''British Shells'' (1943) * ''Wonders of Wild Flower Life'' (1947)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, F. Martin 1873 births 1961 deaths British documentary filmmakers British naturalists British nature writers British zoologists