Person
F. Percy Smith
London, England
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…
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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)
Filmography
Movies and shows, newest first
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2016
Minute Bodies: The Intimate World of F. Percy Smith
Movie Cinematography
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1945
Fresh As a Daisy
Movie Director of Photography
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1944
Kew and Me
Movie Director of Photography
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1944
Memories
Movie Director of Photography
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1943
The Life History of the Onion
Movie Director of Photography
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1943
The Life Cycle of the Pin Mould
Movie Director of Photography
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1942
The Life Cycle of the Newt
Movie Director of Photography
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1942
Overlooked
Movie Director of Photography
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1942
The Life Cycle of the Maize
Movie Director of Photography
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1942
Singing While They Work
Movie Director of Photography
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1940
Wisdom of the Wild
Movie Director
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1938
The Tough 'un
Movie Director of Photography
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1938
Far and Wide
Movie Director of Photography
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1938
The Catch of the Season
Movie Director of Photography
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1936
New Generation
Movie Director of Photography
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1936
Life in the Balance
Movie Director of Photography
More credits
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1936
Safety First
Movie Director of Photography
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1936
Lupins
Movie Director of Photography
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1936
He Would a-Wooing Go
Movie Director of Photography
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1935
Cabbage
Movie Director of Photography
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1935
A Queer Diet
Movie Director of Photography
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1935
White Flies and Tomatoes
Movie Director of Photography
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1935
Mixed Bathing
Movie Director of Photography
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1935
Thistledown
Movie Director of Photography
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1934
Roots
Movie Director of Photography
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1933
Gathering Moss
Movie Director
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1933
Amazing Maize
Movie Director of Photography
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1933
Brewster's Magic
Movie Director
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1932
Romance in a Pond
Movie Director
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1932
Nature's Double Lifters
Movie Director of Photography
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1931
The World in a Wine-Glass
Movie Director of Photography
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1931
Magic Myxies
Movie Director
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1930
The Strangler
Movie Director of Photography
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1930
Peas and Cues
Movie Director
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1930
Down Under
Movie Director
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1929
Scarlet Runner & Co
Movie Director
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1929
The Frog
Movie Director
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1927
Floral Co-operative Societies
Movie Director of Photography
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1927
Plant Magic
Movie Director of Photography
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1927
The Story of a Glass of Water
Movie Director of Photography
