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Percy Smith
description About
A distinguished pioneer of scientific filmmaking, Percy Smith was born in London in 1880. Working as a clerk at the Board of Education, Percy began to photograph the natural world around him, nursing a lifelong fascination with all manner of plant and animal life. His close-up photograph of a bluebottle's tongue caught the attention of film entrepreneur Charles Urban, who quickly began to exhibit Percy's work in London theatres. After the considerable success of sequences such as The Balancing Bluebottle, where he recorded flies juggling, Percy finally joined Urban as a full-time filmmaker in 1910. Before the outbreak of the First World War, Percy completed over fifty nature films for the Urban Sciences series including, in 1910, the famous piece, The Birth of a Flower. An early example of stop-motion photography, the film was hugely popular. Meticulously researching his subjects, Percy devised ingenious ways to film slow-growing plant life - modifying his equipment with gramophone needles, candle wicks and other assorted objects, allowing him to continue filming plant movement even as he slept. In 1911 his study, The Strength and Agility of Insects sparked a huge press debate - detailing a range of insects as they lift tiny dumbbells, twirl matchsticks and juggle objects much heavier than themselves he had to dispel rumours of trickery and cruelty by revealing his innovative filming techniques. Percy went on to serve as a naval photographer during the War and, upon his return, began work for British Instructional Films (BIF). Contributing to the company's widely acclaimed Secrets of Nature series he worked on numerous films, including An Aquarium in a Wineglass (1926), The Home Wrecker (1929) and Magic Myxies (1931). He continued to work on the project in the 1930s when it became known as Secrets of Life and in 1939 published Secrets of Nature, a review of the filming techniques used throughout the series. (via wildfilmhistory.org)
Info
- wc Gender: Male
- calendar_month Birth Date: 1880-01-12
- event Death Date 1945-03-24
- school Known for: Directing
- star Popularity: 1.1
- info Birth Place London, England
- visibility Views: 2 views
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star User Ratings:
image Images
movie_edit Directing
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The Acrobatic Fly
1910-02-16
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The Birth of a Flower
1910-11-11
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To Demonstrate How Spiders Fly
1909-05-16
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The Strength and Agility of Insects
1911-08-04
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The Plants of the Pantry
1927-01-01
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Magic Myxies
1931-02-01
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The World in a Wine-Glass
1931-04-01
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The World in a Wine-Glass
1931-04-01
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Story of the Silk Moth
1908-01-01
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Romance in a Pond
1932-07-01
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Romance in a Pond
1932-07-01
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Brewster's Magic
1933-01-01
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Brewster's Magic
1933-01-01
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The Battle of the Plants
1926-01-01
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Floral Co-operative Societies
1927-01-02
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Floral Co-operative Societies
1927-01-02
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Peas and Cues
1930-07-11
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Peas and Cues
1930-07-11
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Scarlet Runner & Co
1929-04-17
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Scarlet Runner & Co
1929-04-17
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The Strangler
1930-12-31
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Gathering Moss
1933-01-02
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Gathering Moss
1933-01-02
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Fresh As a Daisy
1945-03-01
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Tale of a Tendril
1925-11-11
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The Tough 'un
1938-01-01
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Memories
1944-01-01
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The Strangler
1930-12-31
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Amazing Maize
1933-01-01
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To Demonstrate How Spiders Fly
1909-05-16
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The Wonders of Harmonic Designing
1913-06-01
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Tale of a Tendril
1925-11-11
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The Battle of the Plants
1926-01-01
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The Plants of the Pantry
1927-01-01
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Nature's Double Lifters
1932-06-10
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He Would a-Wooing Go
1936-06-10
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Lupins
1936-06-10
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The Life Cycle of the Newt
1942-06-10
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Overlooked
1942-01-01
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Singing While They Work
1942-01-01
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Fight for the Dardanelles
1915-01-01
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Fight for the Dardanelles
1915-01-01
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Fight for the Dardanelles
1915-01-01
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Safety First
1936-01-01
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Minute Bodies: The Intimate World of F. Percy Smith
2016-10-11
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The Life History of the Onion
1943-01-25
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The Life Cycle of the Pin Mould
1943-01-23
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The Life Cycle of the Maize
1942-01-01
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Plant Magic
1927-01-01
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The Story of a Glass of Water
1927-01-01
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Seed Time
1926-01-01
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The Frog
1929-01-01
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The Phantom
1926-01-01
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Down Under
1930-01-01
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Varieties of Sweet Peas
1911-11-14
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Bertie's Cave
1925-01-01
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Nature's Handiwork
1921-02-20
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The Birth of a Flower
1910-11-11