F. Percy Smith facts for kids

Quick facts for kids F. Percy Smith
Percy Smith
Born	12 January 1880 London, England, UK
Died	24 March 1945 (aged 65) Southgate, Middlesex, England, UK
Other names	Frank P. Smith
Occupation	naturalist, photographer, microscopist, film maker, animator

Frank Percy Smith (born January 12, 1880 – died March 24, 1945) was a British naturalist and a very early pioneer in making films about nature. He was one of the first to use special camera tricks like time-lapse photography (showing slow changes quickly), microphotography (taking pictures through a microscope), and animation (making drawings or objects seem to move).

The Life of a Film Pioneer

Percy Smith was the only child of Francis David Smith and Ada Blaker. When he was just 14, he started working as a clerk for the British Board of Education. This job wasn't very exciting, but it allowed him to keep up his hobbies: photography and using microscopes.

Joining the Microscope Club

In 1899, at age 19, Percy joined the Quekett Microscopical Club. This was a group for people who loved looking at tiny things through microscopes. Within five years, he became the editor of their magazine. He also did a lot of his own research, especially on spiders, which were his favorite. To earn extra money, he sold microscope slides and gave talks about nature. These talks often included pictures he had drawn, shown with a "magic lantern" projector.

Starting His Film Career

Percy's amazing close-up photos of a bluebottle fly caught the eye of a film producer named Charles Urban. Urban started a company called Kineto in 1907 to make scientific and non-fiction films. He gave Percy his first film camera.

The first film Percy made was a short one called The Balancing Bluebottle (1908). His first public showing was in London in late 1908. He then made other films like To Demonstrate How Spiders Fly (1909) and The Acrobatic Fly (1910).

Working Full-Time in Film

In 1910, Percy Smith joined Charles Urban Trading Company full-time. He and his wife, Kate Louise Ustonson, turned the sunroom of their house into a film studio. This studio was perfect for making films using stop-motion (a technique where you move an object a tiny bit, take a picture, and repeat, making it look like it moves on its own).

Before First World War started, Percy had directed over fifty nature films for a series called Urban Sciences. One of his most famous early films was the pioneering stop-motion film The Birth of a Flower (1910). This film showed a flower blooming in just a few minutes, which was incredible for its time!

Films During Wartime

When World War I began, Percy realized he could use his stop-motion skills to help people understand battles. He created a series of fifteen films called Kineto War Maps. These films used animation to show how troops moved and fought in battles from a bird's-eye view. The first one came out in October 1914. An example is Fight for the Dardanelles (1915).

After the War

From 1916 to 1918, Percy served in the Royal Navy as a photographer. After the war, he started making animated films for children called Bedtime Stories of Archie the Ant. These films used flat cut-out shapes to tell fun stories.

In 1922, another film producer, Harry Bruce Woolfe, asked Percy to join his company, British Instructional Films. Percy worked as a photographer for their popular series called Secrets of Nature. He worked with directors like Mary Field.

Later, in 1933, the team moved to a new company called Gaumont-British Instructional. The Secrets of Nature series then became Secrets of Life. It still focused on natural history films for education.

Percy Smith passed away at his home on March 24, 1945. His work helped shape how we see nature films today. In 2013, the BBC even made a documentary about his work, trying to recreate his famous The Acrobatic Fly film.

Where to Watch His Films

Many of Percy Smith's amazing films are still available today!

Collections on DVD and Blu-ray

• In 2010, the British Film Institute (BFI) put together 19 short films on DVD and Blu-ray. This collection is called Secrets of Nature: Pioneering Natural History Films. It includes ten of Percy's films, such as The Plants of the Pantry (1927) and The World in a Wine-glass (1931). It also has a short documentary about him called Percy Smith with Herons (1921).
• In 2016, the BFI released another collection called Minute Bodies: The Intimate World of F. Percy Smith. This set includes a special film directed by Stuart A. Staples that combines parts of several of Percy's films with new music. It also has eight of Percy's original films, including The Birth of a Flower (1910) and The Life Cycle of the Newt (1942).

A Look at His Films

Percy Smith directed or photographed over one hundred films! He wasn't always given credit for his work, but here are some of the films he made, grouped by the type of film or the company he worked for.

Kineto Trick Films

These films used special effects and camera tricks.

• Chemical Portraiture (1909)
• Dissolving the Government (1909)
• Bewildering Transformations (1912)

Unfinished Cut-Out Animation

Percy started these animated films for children.

• The Bedtime Stories of Archie the Ant: Bertie's Cave (1925)
• The Bedtime Stories of Archie the Ant: The Pit and the Plum (1925)

Films for Charles Urban Trading Company

Many of these were part of the Kineto series.

• The Balancing Bluebottle (1908)
• To Demonstrate How Spiders Fly (1909)
• The Acrobatic Fly (1910)
• The Birth of a Flower (1910)
• The Fly Danger (1911)
• The Strength and Agility of Insects (1911)
• The Wonders of Harmonic Designing (1913)

Kineto War Maps

These films used animation to show battle movements during World War I.

• Kineto War Map No. 1 (1914)
• Kineto War Map No. 3 How the Canadians Saved the Day at Ypres (1915)
• Kineto War Map No. 5 The Fight for the Dardanelles (1915)
• Kineto War Map No. 15 The Russia-Rumanian Advance (1916)

British Instructional Films: Secrets of Nature

This popular series focused on natural history.

• Spiders and Their Victims (1922)
• Insect Artisans (1923)
• The Battle of the Plants (1926)
• The Gnat (1926)
• Floral Co-operative Societies (1927)
• The Story of a Leaf (1927)
• The Frog (1929)
• The Strangler (1930)
• Magic Myxies (1931)
• The World in a Wine-Glass (1931)
• Romance in a Pond (1932)
• Gathering Moss (1933)

Gaumont-British Instructional: Secrets of Life

This was the continuation of the Secrets of Nature series.

• The Amoeba (1934)
• The Life Cycle of a Plant (1934)
• How Plants Feed (1934)
• Lupins (1936)
• The Frog Life History (1936)
• He Would A-Wooing Go (1936)
• The Development of the Tadpole (1937)
• Pollination (1937)
• Seed Dispersal by Exploding Fruits (1938)
• U-boat in the Pond (1942)
• Memories (1944)

Gaumont-British Instructional / British Council

These films were often made for educational purposes.

• The Life Cycle of the Newt (1942)
• The Life Cycle of the Maize (1942)
• The Life Cycle of the Pin Mould (1943)
• The Life History of the Onion (1943)

Shell Film Unit

• Malaria (1941)