A D V E N T U R E S   in   C Y B E R S O U N D

In 1896, George Albert Smith (1864-1959) of Hove, England, patented a camera and projector system. Smith, a stage hypnotist and psychic, astronomer and magic lantern lecturer, was the proprietor of St Anne's Well Pleasure Gardens in Hove at the time. He orders a prototype from local engineer Alfred Darling, who subsequently makes many contributions to cinema technology.

That same year Smith's neighbour James Williamson (1855-1933) also buys a movie camera. Williams ran a chemist's shop which supplied photographic equipment and services and was fascinated with scientific novelties. These Hove film-makers create numerous minute-long films that transform cinema. Smith invents the 'close-up' and is the first to use double-exposure to achieve ghostly effects.

Williamson's narrative films employed a host of trickery and contained one of cinema's first chases. The latter had only a short creative career, before he returned to the equipment business. Smith went on to develop the first successful colour film process, Kinemacolor, but was virtually put out of business as a result, due to a patent suit filed by William Friese-Greene.

Source: http://www.cequel.co.uk/acclarke/shc.html

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