The Man Who Made Movies: W. K. L. Dickson

by Spehr, Paul

• ISBN13: 9780861966950
• ISBN10: 0861966953
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-10-27
• Publisher: Indiana Univ Pr

Summary

W.K.L. Dickson was Thomas Edison's assistant in charge of theexperimentation that led to the Kinetoscope and Kinetograph -- the firstcommercially successful moving image machines. In 1891--1892, he established what weknow today as the 35mm format. Dickson also designed the Black Maria film studio andfacilities to develop and print film, and supervised production of more than 100films for Edison. After leaving Edison, he became a founding member of the AmericanMutoscope Company, which later became the American Mutoscope & Biograph,then Biograph. In 1897, he went to England to set up the European branch of thecompany. Over the course of his career, Dickson made between 500 and 700 films,which are studied today by scholars of the early cinema. This well-illustrated bookoffers a window onto early film history from the perspective of Dickson's ownoeuvre.

Author Biography

Paul Spehr is former Assistant Chief of the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division at the Library of Congress, Washington D.C.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Man Who Made Movies	p. 1
Introducing Mr. Dickson	p. 7
Family Matters	p. 9
1883-1888 With Edison, Electricity and Iron Ore	p. 19
Goerck Street	p. 21
The Business of Invention: Electricity, Ore and the Phonograph	p. 37
Personal Matters	p. 51
From a Ladies' Watch to a Locomotive: The New Laboratory	p. 61
1888-1893 The Quest for the Kinetoscope-Kinetograph	p. 73
The Germ of an Idea	p. 75
The Beginning of a Quest: The Kineto-Phonograph	p. 82
Trials, Errors, Mergers, Shenanigans and Speculation: Cylinders, Electricity, Phonographs and Iron	p. 93
Competition!	p. 105
A Certain Precipitate of Knowledge: The Kinetograph, Spring 1889	p. 119
Edison Triumphs in Europe and Dickson has a Busy Summer	p. 135
"Good Morning, Mr. Edison": The Strip Kinetograph	p. 148
Caveat, Film, an Announcement and a Conundrum: The Kineto After Paris	p. 170
"We Had a Hell of a Good Time...". Ore Milling and Electricty: Dreams and Reality	p. 183
The Nickel-in-the-Slot Phonograph	p. 195
"See the Germ Work... Edison 'Out-Edison's Edison"	p. 200
Edison's Agent	p. 215
"A Method of Taking and Using Photographs". Patenting the Kineto	p. 225
"... Unaltered to Date". Creating the Modern Motion Picture	p. 236
The Kinetoscope and Black Maria	p. 254
1894-1896 Making Movies and Marketing the Kinetoscope	p. 277
Personal Affairs. Pictures, Words and Inventions	p. 279
Wizard Edison's Wonderful Instrument: The Kinetoscope	p. 295
A Discontented Winter	p. 351
Between Careers. Publishing and New Opportunities	p. 390
1896-2003 Biographing: Filming in the States and Abroad	p. 407
The Age of Movement. A New Enterprise	p. 409
The Playful Specter of the Night. The Biograph on Screen	p. 444
Home Again	p. 466
The Pope and the Mutoscopes	p. 491
News in a Pictorial Way	p. 519
The Road to Ladysmith: The Biograph Goes to War	p. 543
To Pretoria and Beyond: The Heart of the Biographer at Rest	p. 577
1903-1935 After the Movies: A Laboratory and a Search for a Place in Posterity	p. 595
The Hope to See a Bright Future. The W.K-L. Dickson Laboratory	p. 597
A Peculiar Memory for Details	p. 618
The Grandad of Us All	p. 647
Bibliography	p. 657
Index	p. 671
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.