F. Percy Smith

Biography

A distinguished pioneer of scientific filmmaking, Percy Smith was born in London in 1880. Working as a clerk at the Board of Education, Percy began to photograph the natural world around him, nursing a lifelong fascination with all manner of plant and animal life.  His close-up photograph of a bluebottle's tongue caught the attention of film entrepreneur Charles Urban, who quickly began to exhibit Percy's work in London theatres. After the considerable success of sequences such as The Balancing Bluebottle, where he recorded flies juggling, Percy finally joined Urban as a full-time filmmaker in 1910.  Before the outbreak of the First World War, Percy completed over fifty nature films for the Urban Sciences series including, in 1910, the famous piece,  The Birth of a Flower. An early example of stop-motion photography, the film was hugely popular. Meticulously researching his subjects, Percy devised ingenious ways to film slow-growing plant life - modifying his equipment with gramophone needles, candle wicks and other assorted objects, allowing him to continue filming plant movement even as he slept.  In 1911 his study,  The Strength and Agility of Insects sparked a huge press debate - detailing a range of insects as they lift tiny dumbbells, twirl matchsticks and juggle objects much heavier than themselves he had to dispel rumours of trickery and cruelty by revealing his innovative filming techniques.  Percy went on to serve as a naval photographer during the War and, upon his return, began work for British Instructional Films (BIF). Contributing to the company's widely acclaimed  Secrets of Nature series he worked on numerous films, including An Aquarium in a Wineglass (1926), The Home Wrecker (1929) and Magic Myxies (1931). He continued to work on the project in the 1930s when it became known as Secrets of Life and in 1939 published Secrets of Nature, a review of the filming techniques used throughout the series.  (via wildfilmhistory.org)

Most Famous Work

Average

0

Play Trailer Watch movie

Magic Myxies

(1931) Director

suggest Watch List Rate

Average

0

Play Trailer Watch movie

The Phantom

(1926) Director

suggest Watch List Rate

Average

0

Play Trailer Watch movie

The Story of a Glass of Water

(1927) Director of Photography

suggest Watch List Rate

Average

0

Play Trailer Watch movie

Gathering Moss

(1933) Director

suggest Watch List Rate

Average

0

Play Trailer Watch movie

Lupins

(1936) Director of Photography

suggest Watch List Rate

Average

0

Play Trailer Watch movie

The Frog

(1929) Director

suggest Watch List Rate

Average

0

Play Trailer Watch movie

Down Under

(1930) Director

suggest Watch List Rate

Average

0

Play Trailer Watch movie

Seed Time

(1926) Director of Photography

suggest Watch List Rate

Acting

Crew

Year	Role	Movie/Tv
2016	Cinematography	Minute Bodies: The Intimate World of F. Percy Smith 2016-10-11 Movie
Year	Role	Movie/Tv

Camera

Year	Role	Movie/Tv
1945	Director of Photography	Fresh As a Daisy 1945-03-01 Movie
1944	Director of Photography	Memories 1944-01-01 Movie
1943	Director of Photography	The Life History of the Onion 1943-01-25 Movie
	Director of Photography	The Life Cycle of the Pin Mould 1943-01-23 Movie
1942	Director of Photography	The Life Cycle of the Newt 1942-06-10 Movie
	Director of Photography	Overlooked 1942-01-01 Movie
	Director of Photography	Singing While They Work 1942-01-01 Movie
	Director of Photography	The Life Cycle of the Maize 1942-01-01 Movie
1938	Director of Photography	The Tough 'un 1938-01-01 Movie
1936	Director of Photography	He Would a-Wooing Go 1936-06-10 Movie
	Director of Photography	Lupins 1936-06-10 Movie
	Director of Photography	Safety First 1936-01-01 Movie
1933	Director of Photography	Gathering Moss 1933-01-02 Movie
	Director of Photography	Brewster's Magic 1933-01-01 Movie
	Director of Photography	Amazing Maize 1933-01-01 Movie
1932	Director of Photography	Romance in a Pond 1932-07-01 Movie
	Director of Photography	Nature's Double Lifters 1932-06-10 Movie
1931	Director of Photography	The World in a Wine-Glass 1931-04-01 Movie
1930	Director of Photography	The Strangler 1930-12-31 Movie
	Director of Photography	Peas and Cues 1930-07-11 Movie
1929	Director of Photography	Scarlet Runner & Co 1929-04-17 Movie
1927	Director of Photography	Floral Co-operative Societies 1927-01-02 Movie
	Director of Photography	The Plants of the Pantry 1927-01-01 Movie
	Director of Photography	Plant Magic 1927-01-01 Movie
	Director of Photography	The Story of a Glass of Water 1927-01-01 Movie
1926	Director of Photography	The Battle of the Plants 1926-01-01 Movie
	Director of Photography	Seed Time 1926-01-01 Movie
1925	Director of Photography	Tale of a Tendril 1925-11-11 Movie
1913	Director of Photography	The Wonders of Harmonic Designing 1913-06-01 Movie
1910	Director of Photography	The Birth of a Flower 1910-11-11 Movie
1909	Director of Photography	To Demonstrate How Spiders Fly 1909-05-16 Movie
Year	Role	Movie/Tv

Directing

Year	Role	Movie/Tv
1933	Director	Gathering Moss 1933-01-02 Movie
	Director	Brewster's Magic 1933-01-01 Movie
1932	Director	Romance in a Pond 1932-07-01 Movie
1931	Director	The World in a Wine-Glass 1931-04-01 Movie
	Director	Magic Myxies 1931-02-01 Movie
1930	Director	The Strangler 1930-12-31 Movie
	Director	Peas and Cues 1930-07-11 Movie
	Director	Down Under 1930-01-01 Movie
1929	Director	Scarlet Runner & Co 1929-04-17 Movie
	Director	The Frog 1929-01-01 Movie
1927	Director	Floral Co-operative Societies 1927-01-02 Movie
	Director	The Plants of the Pantry 1927-01-01 Movie
1926	Director	The Battle of the Plants 1926-01-01 Movie
	Director	The Phantom 1926-01-01 Movie
1925	Director	Tale of a Tendril 1925-11-11 Movie
	Director	Bertie's Cave 1925-01-01 Movie
1921	Director	Nature's Handiwork 1921-02-20 Movie
1915	Director	Fight for the Dardanelles 1915-01-01 Movie
1911	Director	Varieties of Sweet Peas 1911-11-14 Movie
	Director	The Strength and Agility of Insects 1911-08-04 Movie
1910	Director	The Birth of a Flower 1910-11-11 Movie
	Director	The Acrobatic Fly 1910-02-16 Movie
1909	Director	To Demonstrate How Spiders Fly 1909-05-16 Movie
1908	Director	Story of the Silk Moth 1908-01-01 Movie
Year	Role	Movie/Tv

Visual Effects

Year	Role	Movie/Tv
1915	Animation	Fight for the Dardanelles 1915-01-01 Movie
Year	Role	Movie/Tv

Writing

Year	Role	Movie/Tv
1915	Story	Fight for the Dardanelles 1915-01-01 Movie
Year	Role	Movie/Tv