Billy Bitzer facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Billy Bitzer
Bitzer, c. 1935
Born	Johann Gottfried Wilhelm Bitzer (1872-04-21)April 21, 1872 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	April 29, 1944(1944-04-29) (aged 72) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Cinematographer

Gottfried Wilhelm Bitzer (April 21, 1872 – April 29, 1944) was an American cinematographer. This means he was the person in charge of the camera and lighting when making movies. He is famous for working closely with director D. W. Griffith and for his amazing new ideas in early filmmaking.

Early Life and Career Beginnings

Before he became a cameraman, Billy Bitzer worked with movie projectors. He helped create early movie technology for a company called the American Mutoscope Company. This company later became known as the Biograph Company.

Bitzer learned a lot about movie photography from William Kennedy Dickson. Dickson was the inventor of the Kinetoscope, an early movie viewing device. Bitzer worked on many early Biograph short films, learning the ropes of filmmaking.

First Successes

In 1896, Bitzer had his first big success. He filmed William McKinley being told he was nominated for president. This film was shown as part of the Biograph Company's very first public program.

Until 1903, Bitzer mostly worked as a photographer for documentaries. These films showed real-life events. After 1903, he started focusing more on narrative films. These were movies that told a story, and they were becoming very popular.

Working with D. W. Griffith

In 1908, Bitzer began working with D. W. Griffith. This partnership would last for the rest of Bitzer's career. They left Biograph in 1913 to work for the Mutual Film Corporation. Here, Bitzer continued to invent and improve movie technologies.

Pioneering Camera Techniques

During this time, Bitzer developed many new ways to film. He was a pioneer in:

• Matte photography: This technique allowed filmmakers to combine two different images into one. For example, they could make it look like actors were in a dangerous place when they were actually filmed in a safe studio.
• Innovative lighting: He found new ways to use lights to make scenes look more dramatic or realistic.
• Close-ups: He used close-up shots to show an actor's face or a small detail up close. This helped audiences connect more with the characters.
• Iris shots: This is a special effect where a circle slowly closes in on a part of the screen, or opens up from a small circle to fill the screen.

Bitzer also helped Griffith with his very first film as a director, The Adventures of Dollie (1908). He later became Griffith's main cinematographer. He worked on some of Griffith's most important films and helped create many of the movie innovations that Griffith is famous for.

In 1910, Bitzer filmed Griffith's silent short movie In Old California. This film was shot in a small village in Los Angeles called "Hollywoodland." This makes Bitzer arguably the first Director of Photography in Hollywood!

Major Film Projects

The most famous films Bitzer and Griffith worked on together were The Birth of a Nation (1915) and the epic Intolerance (1916). Bitzer even used some of his own savings to help fund The Birth of a Nation.

Bitzer's Innovations

Billy Bitzer was a true inventor when it came to movie cameras and lighting.

• His film The Jeffries-Sharkey Fight of 1899 was the first known movie to use artificial light. This means they used electric lights instead of just sunlight.
• Rip Van Winkle (1903) featured one of the first known close-up shots in movie history.
• Bitzer also improved camera lenses and filters. This made it possible to create "soft focus," where parts of the image are slightly blurred to create a dream-like effect.
• He was the first to use split-screen photography. This technique shows two or more different scenes on the screen at the same time.
• He also pioneered backlighting, where light comes from behind the subject. This helped develop what is now called three-point lighting, a standard way to light scenes in movies.
• Bitzer made "fade" and "dissolve" effects better. A fade is when the screen slowly goes to black or white, and a dissolve is when one scene slowly blends into another. He also invented other "transition tools" to move smoothly between scenes.
• Even when newer cameras became popular, Bitzer preferred to use his trusted Pathé camera.

Bitzer (behind his Pathé camera) with Griffith on location for Way Down East (1920)

Later Life and Legacy

Sadly, Bitzer's career faced challenges when movies started to have sound. The film industry changed a lot, and his skills were mostly in silent film techniques.

In 1944, he had a heart attack and passed away in Hollywood.

His autobiography, Billy Bitzer: His Story, was published after his death in 1973.

In 2003, a group called the International Cinematographers Guild named him one of the ten most important cinematographers ever. People say that Bitzer "developed camera techniques that set the standard for all future motion pictures." His work truly shaped how movies are made even today!

Selected Filmography

• The Moonshiner (1904)
• Interior New York Subway, 14th Street to 42nd Street (1905)
• 2 A. M. in the Subway (1905)
• The Kentuckian (1908)
• The Invisible Fluid (1908)
• The Lonely Villa (1909)
• A Sound Sleeper (1909)
• The Sealed Room (1909)
• Edgar Allan Poe (1909)
• A Corner in Wheat (1909)
• In the Border States (1910)
• The Modern Prodigal (1910)
• A Mohawk's Way (1910)
• The Lonedale Operator (1911)
• Enoch Arden (1911)
• The Girl and Her Trust (1912)
• The Female of the Species (1912)
• A Beast at Bay (1912)
• The Root of Evil (1912)
• An Unseen Enemy (1912)
• The Painted Lady (1912)
• The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912)
• The House of Darkness (1913)
• Death's Marathon (1913)
• The Mothering Heart (1913)
• The Yaqui Cur (1913)
• The Battle at Elderbush Gulch (1914)
• Judith of Bethulia (1914)
• The Avenging Conscience (1914)
• The Birth of a Nation (1915)
• Intolerance (1916)
• Hearts of the World (1918)
• The Great Love (1918)
• The Greatest Thing in Life (1918)
• A Romance of Happy Valley (1919)
• The Girl Who Stayed at Home (1919)
• True Heart Susie (1919)
• Scarlet Days (1919)
• Broken Blossoms (1919)
• The Greatest Question (1919)
• The Idol Dancer (1920)
• The Love Flower (1920)
• Way Down East (1920)
• The White Rose (1923)
• America (1924)
• Drums of Love (1927)
• The Battle of the Sexes (1928)
• Lady of the Pavements (1929)