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Four shots from early
Courtesy of National Film Library
News-reels: the Derby of 1896
Queen Victoria
in Dublin (1898); London Tra) is from R. W. Paul's film, the
the Dervishes at the battle of Omdurman, and the London Times report o filming the action in Crete in 1897 by the war-correspondent F. Villiars constitute the first coverage of war news.
The First News Reel
The first regular news coverage was by the Biograph Company, an America, firm which established laboratories in Great Windmill Street. Such news a the Boat Race and the Derby was covered at that time. Each subject was onl; 160 feet in length, and a single frame measured 2j ins. by 2 ins.; this will giv< some idea how short the subjects were.
In 1898, A. J. West inaugurated his combination of news and interest film of the Royal Navy, which for so many years ran in the West End of Londoi under the title of " Our Navy ". Shortly after came the era of Charles Urban Will Barker and W. Jeapes. Their firms, the Warwick Trading Company am later the Charles Urban Trading Company, dealt mainly in one-reel new events, such as the Grand National, the Derby and the Boat Race. They wen shown the same night at London music-halls
A number of new firms were started to cover the great news events. Ceci Hepworth, whose pioneering work did so much for the British film production came into the picture. W. S. Barker founded the Autoscope Company, anc W. C. McDowell and A. Bloomfield, two members of the Biograph Company started British & Colonial Films, Ltd. Each of these firms covered news a well as story pictures.
The Biograph cameramen covered the Boer War and the Russo-Japanese i War ; W. K. L. Dickson and J. Rosenthal took both these events. During the Boer War the two photographers carried their very heavy camera, which perforated the stock at the same time as the film was exposed, in a bullock cart.
News-Reel Equipment
Later came the newsreels as we know them today. Pathe Gazette was at first filmed here and processed in Paris. It has been stated that the Gaumont Graphic followed only a few days later. Shortly after came the Warwick Chronicle (founded in 1903 by Charles Urban), Topical Budget (founded by Jeapes and W. Wrench, the projector engineer), the Williamson News, and the Eclair Journal. All produced two issues weekly — at 2id. a foot.1
The cameras used were hand cranked — Pathe used their French model with outside boxes, Gaumont used the Prestwich, an English model, also with; outside boxes. Moys, Williamsons and Eclairs were also used ; later Topical Budget used Debries, and Warwick started using the first automatic, the Proszinski Aeroscope. This was run by compressed air and the first models were! fitted with a gyroscope to keep it steady when hand held.2
The Provincial Cinematograph Theatres, whose kinemas were among the first to be built as such in England, had dark-rooms in their chief theatres. Local films were taken, processed in the kinema, and shown the same night.
Speed of Production
About this time Charles Urban introduced Kinemacolor, and William