W.K.L. Dickson was Thomas Edison's assistant: for Edison he was in charge of experimentation that led to the Kinetoscope and Kinetograph, the first commercially successful moving image machines. Dickson established what we know today as the 35mm format (in 1891-1892); designed the Black Maria film studio and facilities to develop and print film; and he supervised production of more than 100 films for Edison (he acted as producer-director using an assistant to operate camera). After leaving Edison he was a founding member of the American Mutoscope Co. (later American Mutoscope & Biograph, then Biograph). He also set-up production; designed a studio; trained staff and supervised film production. In 1897 he went to England to set-up the European branch of the company and repeated all that again. During his career he made between 500 and 700 films and many of his films are images used by scholars of the period - Fred Ott Sneezing, Sandow Annabelle's Butterfly Dances, etc.
His career touched many of the pioneers of the industry so by looking at his work, this well-illustrated book covers much of the early history of the industry, but from the perspective of his career. It is also a window on Thomas Edison, but from a quite different perspective.
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