J.V. Durden facts for kids

J.V. Durden (born October 20, 1910, died February 13, 1998) was a British filmmaker and scientist. He is famous for creating the term 'Ciné-biology'. This means 'the study of life using movies'. He called himself a 'ciné-biologist', which is like a 'scientist-filmmaker'. He spent his life making very detailed films in a lab. These films used special cameras under a microscope to show tiny things. He brought this amazing way of filming, called cinemicrography, to Canada. He also helped start the Science Film Section at the National Film Board of Canada.

Early Life and Discovering Film

Joseph Valentine Durden was born in Barnes, Surrey, England, on October 20, 1910. He grew up in Kensington. His father, James Durden, was a well-known English painter. Joseph studied Biology and Entomology (the study of insects) at the Royal College of Science. He loved photography his whole life. Even while he was still in school, he worked as a photographer for a newspaper called Illustrated London News.

After finishing college, Durden traveled to Africa with his parents. In 1934, he was a photographer for a plant-collecting trip in Basutoland (now Lesotho). Later, in Cape Town, he saw some films from a series called Secrets of Nature. These films showed nature and were very popular across the British Empire. Durden was so amazed by them that he decided he wanted to make scientific films too.

A Career in Scientific Filmmaking

When Durden returned to England in 1935, he joined a film company called Gaumont-British Instructional (GBI). This company wanted to keep making science films. Durden was perfect for the job because he was both a photographer and a biologist. He worked with his old college teacher, H.R. Hewer, and with famous nature filmmakers Agnes Mary Field and Percy Smith. Field and Smith had worked on the original Secrets of Nature films. Now, they were making a new series called Secrets of Life.

Percy Smith was a master at special filming techniques. He used time-lapse photography (making slow things look fast) and microcinematography (filming tiny things through a microscope). Durden learned a lot from him. He became an expert in stop-motion photography and cinemicrography. He even added new methods, like using phase-contrast microscopy (a way to see clear details in tiny, living things) and colour film. His work at GBI mostly involved making educational films about animals. He also helped create the first Secrets of Life films in colour in 1939.

Durden, Smith, and Field wrote a book together called Ciné-biology, published in 1942. The book explained 'Ciné-biology' as "the study of life through the medium of the cinema." They believed that the camera and microscope could act like "revealing eyes" to show the world's aliveness. They said that capturing and changing movement was the most important part of Ciné-biology. They wrote, "Movement... is the essence of the cinema... And, in the cinema, we have the ideal medium for the study of life.” This new field made science more exciting and connected filmmakers, scientists, and the public.

In 1942, Durden joined the British Army. He made training films for the Army Kinematograph Service and left the army in 1945.

After the war, Durden joined the Shell Film Unit. In 1948, he wrote the script for a film called Atomic Physics, which won a BAFTA award. He also finished another book with Agnes Field called See How They Grow: Botany Through the Cinema (1952).

Durden also started his own company, Photomicrography Ltd. This company provided special science footage to other film producers. One of these producers was likely the Crown Film Unit. A filmmaker there, Stuart Legg, had worked with Durden before. Legg had just returned from working at the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). He probably told Durden that the NFB wanted to make more science films. So, in 1952, Durden moved to Ottawa, Canada, and joined the NFB.

At the NFB, Durden was a perfect fit for making science films. He made many important films, such as the award-winning Embryonic Development: The Chick (1953), which is still used around the world. He also made The Colour of Life (1955) about maple trees, and Man Against a Fungus about wheat rust. Over six years, he made 18 scientific films for the NFB.

In 1962, Durden was asked to join Educational Services Inc. (ESI) in Boston, USA. The National Science Foundation was investing a lot in science education at the time. One of their big projects was the Developmental Biology Film Series. This series included 75 very specialized films, and Durden made all of them. He always worked with expert biologists who wanted to show what they saw under the microscope on film. These films had a huge impact on the American biologist Lynn Margulis. She used them in her teaching and later worked to get them put online. She called this effort “the most important contribution I have made to science in my lifetime.” These films are now available on YouTube.

Durden retired in 1972 when the project was finished and moved back to England. He passed away in Cheshire in 1997.

Selected Filmography

J.V. Durden worked on many films throughout his career. Here are some of his most notable works:

Films for Gaumont-British Instructional

• The Life Story of a Fern (1935) - director
• The Life Story of a Tadpole (1936) - director
• The Life of a One-Celled Animal (Amoeba) (1937) - director
• The Development of the Chick (1937) - director
• The Dandelion (1938) - director
• Emperor Moth (1940) - editor, director
• Wisdom of the Wild (1940) - co-cinemicrographer

Films for Shell Film Unit

• Atomic Physics (1948) - writer
• The Codling Moth (1950) - cinemicrographer, director
• Brown Rot (1950) - cinemicrographer, director

Films for the National Film Board of Canada

• Embryonic Development: The Chick (1953) - writer, producer, director, cinemicrographer
• The Colour of Life (1955) - writer, producer, director, cinemicrographer
• Man Against a Fungus (1955) - editor, cinemicrographer
• The Maple Leaf (1955) - writer, producer, director
• Honey Bees and Pollination (1957) - editor, co-producer, co-director, cinemicrographer
• Wheat Rust (1958) – producer, cinemicrographer
• Emergence of a Dragonfly (1960) - co-cinemicrographer
• Microscopic Fungi (1960) - writer, editor, director, cinemicrographer
• Above the Timberline: The Alpine Tundra Zone (1960) - writer, editor, director, cinemicrographer
• The Embryonic Development of Fish (1961) - writer, editor, director, cinemicrographer

Developmental Biology Film Series (Education Development Center)

• 75 films produced between 1963 and 1972. These films were digitized in 2017 and can be watched online: YouTube playlist

Awards and Recognition

J.V. Durden's films won many awards for their scientific accuracy and amazing photography.

Embryonic Development: The Chick (1953)

• Golden Reel International Film Festival, New York: Recognition of Merit, 1954
• 6th Canadian Film Awards, Montreal: Honourable Mention, 1954
• Salerno Film Festival, Salerno: First Prize, 1956
• Rapallo International Film Festival, Rapallo: First Prize, Scientific Films, 1957

The Changing Forest (1958)

• International Review of Specialized Cinematography, Rome: Silver Medal, 1959

Above the Timberline: The Alpine Tundra Zone (1960)

• Film Survey, Trieste: Silver Medal for remarkable photography

Microscopic Fungi (1960)

• International Exhibition of Scientific Film, Buenos Aires: Diploma of Honour with Special Mention, 1964

The Embryonic Development of Fish (1961)

• International Survey of Scientific and Didactic Films, Padua: First Prize, Didactic Films, 1961
• Columbus International Film & Animation Festival, Columbus, Ohio: Chris Certificate, 1961
• International Agricultural Film Competition, Berlin: Third Prize, 1961

The Development of a Fish Embryo (1962)

• International Exhibition of Scientific Film, Buenos Aires: First Prize, Didactic, 1966
• La Plata International Children's Film Festival, La Plata, Argentina: Best Film - Silver Oak Leaf 1966