W.K.L (William Kennedy Laurie) Dickson was born in
1860 in Minihic-sur-Ranse, France to an English father and a mother
from Scottish descent.
In February 1879, the Dickson family, consisting
of William, his widowed mother and two sisters, left France and moved
to England, where Dickson read about Edison from a London newspaper.
The nineteen year old Dickson wrote to Thomas Edison and presented
himself as, “...a friendless and fatherless boy” with
“patience, perseverance, an ardent love of science and above
all a firm reliance on God”. Dickson concluded his letter by
asking for employment. Dickson received a refusal.
Three months later, the Dickson’s were on the
move again, this time to the United States, In 1981, William sent
a telegram to Edison asking for work in the Menlo Park laboratory.
Edison again said no. But in 1883, William again applied and was given
a job as assistant.
In 1887, when Thomas Edison initially started thinking
about moving pictures, Dickson was occupied with experimentation on
a costly ore extraction process. The following year Edison set Dickson
to work developing his ideas. Edison’s idea was centered around
his sound capture device - the phonograph.
Initially Edison described a series of microphotographs
arranged in a spiral formation around the exterior surface of a cylinder
- in the same way as recorded sound tracks were etched onto the surface
of the tinfoil cylinders in the phonograph. In addition Edison described
the illumination of these microphotographs from inside the cylinder
using electric sparks.
The early experimentations carried out in Edison’s
laboratories show a determined effort to make this cylinder method
succeed. Other ideas put forward by Edison to Dickson included the
coating of the cylinder with emulsion but this proved difficult.
In 1888, he was assigned to examine the progress
of photographer Eadweard Muybridge, and other various rival inventors
who were recording motion. Dickson took to the task with zeal and
explored every facet of the new technique. Dickson travelled to New
York to obtain some “daguerreotype experiment” supplies.
Dickson placed orders for many interesting supplies
- Magic Lantern plates, and plates from Eadweard Muybridge’s
Animal Locomotion Experiments.
In September of 1888 Dickson ordered a quantity of
microphotographic lenses - clearly for use in building a camera and
viewing instrument.
He also studied the early transparent celluloid of
John Carbutt and created an alliance with the George Eastman company.
Dickson then sought Hannibal Goodwin, an Episcopalian minister who
had applied photographic emulsion to roll film, and coerced him into
giving the idea to Eastman for manufacturing.
On August 2nd 1889, Edison left Dickson to continue
with the cylindrical moving picture machine and sailed to Europe where
he met Jules Marey. Returning to his laboratories on October 6th he
found an addition to his premises - a new “Photographic Building”
had been erected to accommodate Dickson’s experiments.
Edison seemed more interested in his Ore Extraction
process and left Dickson to the moving picture machine.
Dickson devised a crude camera in November 1890 and
filmed his first trial, MONKEYSHINES, featuring the movement of fellow
assistant Fred Ott. Calling the machine Kinetograph, he presented
it to Edison, but there were still numerous problems. The moving pictures
produced were only viewable using huge monocular magnification - under
which the microscopic images would almost certainly appear grainy.
Work on the cylinder device ended late in 1890 and
work began on a moving picture Kinetoscope using roll film. By May
of 1891 Dickson had produced a working prototype, this followed with
a camera and patent specifications for the Kinetograph camera and
Kinetoscope viewer were filed on 24th August 1891.
Dickson's invention was simple and consisted of a
filmstrip of several images which was passed in front of an illuminated
lens and behind a spinning wheel. The momentary view gave customers
a brief glance at each of 46 pictures in the course of one second.
An optical effect gave the illusion of lifelike motion.
The introduction of the Kinetoscope in October of
1892, set a standard that is still used today, the film was a 35mm
stock from Eastman, advanced by sprockets, and illuminated by an electric
bulb.
Dickson identified the need for films to show in
these machines and when Dickson perfected the Kinetograph Camera in
October 1892, he set to work designing a studio to make these films.
Building work began on the studio in December in
the grounds of Edison’s West Orange Laboratory. The studio was
constructed of wood and tar paper with a removable roof and sat on
circular tracks enabling rotation to trap the maximum amount of sunlight.
The studio became known as the “Black Maria” due to its
supposed similarities to the police wagons of the period.
Many vaudeville acts travelled to New Jersey, often
waiving their fee including Eugene Sandlow - “The Strongest
Man in the World”, and Ruth Dennis - “High Kicker”.
In the two years that followed, Dickson’s Kinetoscope attracted
performances from Barnum and Bailey’s Circus and Buffalo Bill’s
Wild West Show - featuring Annie Oakley and Buffalo Bill Cody.
Edison had no interest in the films so Dickson, copyrighted
them in his name.
April 1,1894 saw the appointment of a new general
manager of Edison’s Enterprises - William E. Glimore. Friction
was soon generated between Dickson and Gilmore, Gilmore insisting
that all copyrights held in Dickson’s name be changed to Edison.
Despite the hype and sensational business the Kinetoscope
viewers were doing, Dickson knew that the shortcomings were already
being perfected by inventors abroad. He urged Edison to consider a
projection device, but Edison was skeptical about the long term success
of the curious machine. He saw no need in exhibiting to large groups
of people and asked Dickson to cancel all further experiments.
The growing differences between Dickson and his employer
was aggravated further when Edison put Dickson’s colleague,
Charles Kayser, to work developing a projection apparatus for motion
pictures. Edison had previously stated categorically that he had no
interest in projecting moving pictures in favor of the current peephole
method.
Dickson learned about Thomas Armat who had invented
and presented his projector at the Atlanta Cotton States Exposition.
Armat had spent all of his money inventing the projector and couldn't
find any financial backers to help him produce it. Dickson convinced
Armat to sell his invention to Edison and let Edison have the credit
for the invention.
The projector was a bulky but effective camera and
projector system that sparked a revolution. Unfortunately, it also
sparked Edison's temper.
Around this time is recorded a confrontation between
Dickson and William Gilmore, little is known about what exactly was
said but it is believed Gilmore accused Dickson of being disloyal
to Edison. Dickson, upset and angry resigned from Edison’s Company
on April 2nd 1895.
Edison changed the name of Armat's invention to the
Vitascope and claimed it as his own.
Dickson spent time with engineer friend Henry Norton
Marvin and his partner Herman Casler. With Marvin and Casler, Dickson
discussed the idea of a simple alternative to the Kinetoscope. By
early June in 1895, Casler’s camera was in operation and Dickson
appears to have spent that summer at Casrastota, New York, with Marvin
and Casler and probably made some of the first mutoscope films.
Dickson was now firmly committed to the development
of the Mutoscope. November 5, 1895 a patent was issued and later that
month, patent applications were made for a handheld mutoscope, a mutoscope
adapted with a mirror device to project motion pictures, and soon
after a film projector which they called the Biograph.
The American Mutoscope company was established on
December 27th 1895. The partners were listed as Dickson, Marvin, Casler
and Elias Hoopman and their offices at 841 Broadway, in New York.
Dickson released Biograph's first film, EMPIRE STATE
EXPRESS (1896)
Dickson also attempted to manufacture a camera and
projector system called the Biograph which was superior to the Vitascope,
but lacked the proper sales force to compete with Edison.
In 1897, Dickson and his mother returned to England.
Dickson’s knowledge of the European marketplace made him an
ideal candidate for manager of the Mutoscope and Biograph Syndicate’s
London Office. Soon after Dickson sold a portion of his interest in
Biograph.
He died in 1935 in Twickenham, Middlesex, England.
Dickson was the REAL FATHER OF FILM, and Biograph
eventually became a major studio, launching the careers of Edwin S.
Porter, D. W. Griffith, Billy Bitzer, Mary Pickford, Lillian Gish,
and Mack -Sennett and many others.
