Editing Billy Bitzer

{{Short description|American cinematographer (1872–1944)}}
{{Infobox person
| image = Billy Bitzer NYWTS.jpg
| imagesize = 240px
| caption = Bitzer, {{Circa|1935}}
| birth_name = Johann Gottfried Wilhelm Bitzer<ref>Bitzer, G. W.[https://archive.org/details/billybitzerhisst00bitz/page/n1/mode/2up ''Billy Bitzer: His Story'']. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1973, p. 183 (Bitzer's full birth name also printed on slipcover of hardback copies of book, which is included at external link of cited copy). [[Internet Archive]], San Francisco, CA. Retrieved 1 September 2021. {{ISBN|0-374-11294-0}}</ref>
| birth_date = {{birth date|mf=yes|1872|04|21}}
| birth_place = [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|mf=yes|1944|04|29|1872|04|21}}
| death_place = Los Angeles, [[California]], U.S.
| parents =
| spouse =
| occupation = [[Cinematographer]]
| years_active =
}}

'''Gottfried Wilhelm Bitzer''' (April 21, 1872 – April 29, 1944) was an American [[cinematographer]], notable for his close association and pioneering work with [[D. W. Griffith]].

==Biography==
Prior to his career as a cameraman, working as a motion picture projectionist,<ref>Musser, Charles, ''The Emergence of Cinema''. [[University of California Press]]; 1st paperback edition (May 4, 1994) {{ISBN|978-0520085336}}</ref> Bitzer developed early cinematic technologies for the [[American Mutoscope and Biograph Company|American Mutoscope Company]], eventually to become the [[Biograph Company]].<ref>{{citation |last=Hendricks |first=Gordon |title=Beginnings of the Biograph |publisher=Theodore Gaus' sons |location=New York City |year=1964}}</ref> He admired and learned the art of motion picture photography from [[Kinetoscope]] inventor [[William Kennedy Dickson|W. K. L. Dickson]], who directed the early Biograph shorts on which Bitzer cut his teeth. Bitzer achieved success in 1896 when his film of William McKinley being notified of the presidential nomination of his party was exhibited on the Biograph Company's first program. Until 1903, Bitzer was employed by Biograph primarily as a documentary photographer, and from 1903 onward primarily as the photographer of narrative films, as these gained popularity.<ref>{{Harvard citation|Hendricks|1964|pp=5}}</ref>

In 1908 Bitzer entered into his first collaboration with Griffith. The two would work together for the rest of Bitzer's career, leaving Biograph in 1913 for the [[Mutual Film Corporation]] where Bitzer continued to innovate, perfecting existing technologies and inventing new ones. During this time he pioneered the field of matte photography and made use of innovative lighting techniques, closeups, and iris shots.

Bitzer provided assistance during Griffith's directorial debut, 1908's ''[[The Adventures of Dollie]]'', which was shot by [[Arthur Marvin]]. He eventually succeeded Marvin as Griffith's regular cinematographer, working with him on some of his most important films and contributing significantly to cinematic innovations attributed to Griffith. In 1910, he photographed Griffith's silent short ''[[In Old California (1910 film)|In Old California]]'' in the Los Angeles village of "Hollywoodland", qualifying Bitzer as, arguably, Hollywood's first Director of Photography. The apex of Bitzer and Griffith's collaboration came with ''[[The Birth of a Nation]]'' (1915), a film funded in part by Bitzer's life savings, and the epic ''[[Intolerance (film)|Intolerance]]'' (1916).

His film ''The Jeffries-Sharkey Fight of 1899'' is the first known use of artificial light. ''Rip Van Winkle'' (1903) features the first known close-up. Advances in lenses and filters developed by Bitzer made soft focus possible. He was the first to use [[Split screen (video production)|split-screen photography]] and [[Backlighting (lighting design)|backlighting]], contributing to the development of [[three-point lighting]]. He improved in-camera fade and dissolve effects and invented what came to be known as [[Film transition|transition tools]]. Even after the [[Bell & Howell]] Model 2709 production camera became the industry standard, he continued to use a [[Pathé|Pathe]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Crudo |first=Richard P. |title=Understanding Digital Cinema: A Professional Handbook |publisher=[[Routledge]] |date=2005}}</ref>

For all his innovation, Bitzer's career did not survive the industry's transition to sound. In 1944, he suffered a [[Myocardial infarction|heart attack]] and died in Hollywood.

His [[autobiography]], ''Billy Bitzer: His Story'', was [[Posthumous work|published posthumously]] in 1973.<ref>G. W. Bitzer (as Billy Bitzer). ''Billy Bitzer: His Story''. New York: [[Farrar, Straus and Giroux]], 1973. {{ISBN|978-0-374-11294-3}}</ref>

In 2003, a survey conducted by the International Cinematographers Guild named him one of the ten most influential cinematographers in history.<ref>[http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Top+10+Most+Influential+Cinematographers+Voted+on+by+Camera+Guild.-a0108995062 "Top 10 Most Influential Cinematographers Voted on by Camera Guild," October 16, 2003.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109110930/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Top+10+Most+Influential+Cinematographers+Voted+on+by+Camera+Guild.-a0108995062 |date=January 9, 2014 }} Retrieved January 28, 2011.</ref> Bitzer, it is said, "developed camera techniques that set the standard for all future motion pictures".<ref>Encyclopædia Britannica, Micropædia, Vol. II, p51</ref>

==Selected filmography==
[[File:Edgar Allan Poe - D.W. Griffith - 1909, American Mutoscope and Biograph - FLM17879 - OB 685469.webm|thumb|350px|'''PLAY''' ''Edgar Allan Poe'' (1909), a silent film by [[D.W. Griffith]] (director), [[Frank E. Woods]] (screenwriter), and Billy Bitzer (camera), inspired by Poe's poem "[[The Raven]]"; runtime 00:08:18]]
[[File:Billy Bitzer D W Griffith 1920.jpg|thumb|right|350px|Bitzer (behind Pathé camera) with Griffith on location for ''[[Way Down East]]'' (1920)]]
*''[[The Moonshiner (1904 film)|The Moonshiner]]'' (1904)
*Interior New York Subway, 14th Street to 42nd Street (1905)
*''[[2 A. M. in the Subway]]'' (1905)
*''Fights of Nations'' (1907)
*''[[The Kentuckian (1908 film)|The Kentuckian]]'' (1908)
*''[[The Invisible Fluid]]'' (1908)
*''[[The Lonely Villa]]'' (1909)
*''[[A Sound Sleeper]]'' (1909)
*''[[The Sealed Room (1909 film)|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 film)|Enoch Arden]]'' (1911)
*''[[The Girl and Her Trust]]'' (1912)
*''[[The Female of the Species (film)|The Female of the Species]]'' (1912)
*''[[A Beast at Bay]]'' (1912)
*''[[The Root of Evil (film)|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 (film)|Intolerance]]'' (1916)
*''[[Hearts of the World]]'' (1918)
*''[[The Great Love (1918 film)|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 film)|The White Rose]]'' (1923)
*''[[America (1924 film)|America]]'' (1924)
*''[[Drums of Love]]'' (1927)
*''[[The Battle of the Sexes (1928 film)|The Battle of the Sexes]]'' (1928)
*''[[Lady of the Pavements]]'' (1929)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* G. W. Bitzer (as Billy Bitzer). ''Billy Bitzer: His Story''. New York: [[Farrar, Straus and Giroux]], 1973. {{ISBN|978-0-374-11294-3}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Billy Bitzer}}
* {{IMDb name|5658|G.W. Bitzer}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bitzer, Billy}}
[[Category:1872 births]]
[[Category:1944 deaths]]
[[Category:American cinematographers]]
[[Category:People from Roxbury, Boston]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:American people of German descent]]