A work in constant progress (and occasional regress).
Alias:
Frank Douglas Williams
Frank Williams
Birthplace:
Nashville, Missouri, USA
Born:
March 20, 1893
Died:
October 16, 1961
Frank D. Williams (March 21, 1893 – October 15, 1961) was a pioneering cinematographer who was active in the early days of the motion picture industry. He developed and patented the traveling matte shot. Frank D. Williams was born March 21, 1893, as Frank Douglas Williams, to James and Lucinda Williams in the small community of Nashville, Missouri. In 1912, Williams became a cameraman at Keystone Studios. There, in 1914, he was the photographer for many of Charlie Chaplin's first-year pictures, including Kid Auto Races at Venice which was the first film released in which The Tramp appeared. Williams is credited as appearing in Kid Auto Races at Venice, playing a cameraman, but his appearance is in doubt. For a time he was chief cinematographer at Keystone, and a large number of the studio's 1914 films are credited to him as photographer. He defected to work for the short-lived Sterling Motion Pictures, but returned to Keystone when Sterling closed in 1915. He also worked a camera for Henry Lehrman's L-Ko Kompany, Reliance-Majestic Studios, and Bluebird Photoplays. When Roscoe Arbuckle formed a new motion picture company, Comique, in 1917, he hired Williams to be his cameraman. At Comique, Williams also shot Buster Keaton's first film appearance, The Butcher Boy (1917). His tenure there was also short; he shot three films for Arbuckle (Butcher Boy, A Reckless Romeo, and The Rough House) before departing to start his own lab. His business did not get off the ground quickly, and he supplemented his income by continuing to work as a cameraman. He was director of photography at Sessue Hayakawa's Haworth Pictures Corporation and is credited with 15 pictures that came out of that studio between 1919 and 1921. While he was working as a cameraman at various studios, Williams worked on his idea for a traveling matte in which the actions of actors would be combined with a filmed moving background. Available technology prevented him from achieving the effect he envisioned until he built a printer himself to his own specification. He filed for a patent in May 1916, and it was granted in July 1918. The process was first used in a motion picture in 1922's Wild Honey. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cinematography:
1914 Caught in the Rain
1914 Dough and Dynamite
1914 Gentlemen of Nerve
1914 Her Friend the Bandit
1914 His Musical Career
1914 His Trysting Places
1914 Laughing Gas
1914 Mabel's Busy Day
1914 The Face on the Barroom Floor
1914 The Fatal Mallet
1914 The Masquerader
1914 The New Janitor
1914 Those Love Pangs
Director of Photography:
1914 A Busy Day
1914 A Film Johnnie
1914 Between Showers
1914 Caught in a Cabaret
1914 Caught in the Rain
1914 Dough and Dynamite
1914 Gentlemen of Nerve
1914 Getting Acquainted
1914 Her Friend the Bandit
1914 His Favorite Pastime
1914 His Musical Career
1914 His New Profession
1914 His Prehistoric Past
1914 His Trysting Places
1914 Kid Auto Races at Venice
1914 Laughing Gas
1914 Mabel's Busy Day
1914 Mabel's Married Life
1914 Mabel's Strange Predicament
1914 Making a Living
1914 Recreation
1914 Tango Tangle
1914 The Face on the Barroom Floor
1914 The Fatal Mallet
1914 The Knockout
1914 The Masquerader
1914 The New Janitor
1914 The Property Man
1914 The Rounders
1914 Those Love Pangs
1914 Tillie's Punctured Romance
1916 Hop - The Devil's Brew
1916 The Floorwalker
1916 The Vagabond
1917 A Reckless Romeo
1917 The Butcher Boy
1917 The Rough House
1919 The Dragon Painter
1919 The Man Beneath
1919 The Tong Man
1920 The Devil's Claim
1921 Black Roses
1921 The Swamp
1921 Where Lights Are Low
Special Effects:
1914 A Busy Day
1914 A Film Johnnie
1914 Between Showers
1914 Caught in a Cabaret
1914 Caught in the Rain
1914 Dough and Dynamite
1914 Gentlemen of Nerve
1914 Getting Acquainted
1914 Her Friend the Bandit
1914 His Favorite Pastime
1914 His Musical Career
1914 His New Profession
1914 His Prehistoric Past
1914 His Trysting Places
1914 Kid Auto Races at Venice
1914 Laughing Gas
1914 Mabel's Busy Day
1914 Mabel's Married Life
1914 Mabel's Strange Predicament
1914 Making a Living
1914 Recreation
1914 Tango Tangle
1914 The Face on the Barroom Floor
1914 The Fatal Mallet
1914 The Knockout
1914 The Masquerader
1914 The New Janitor
1914 The Property Man
1914 The Rounders
1914 Those Love Pangs
1914 Tillie's Punctured Romance
1916 Hop - The Devil's Brew
1916 The Floorwalker
1916 The Vagabond
1917 A Reckless Romeo
1917 The Butcher Boy
1917 The Rough House
1919 The Dragon Painter
1919 The Man Beneath
1919 The Tong Man
1920 The Devil's Claim
1921 Black Roses
1921 The Swamp
1921 Where Lights Are Low
1927 Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
Special Effects Technician:
1914 A Busy Day
1914 A Film Johnnie
1914 Between Showers
1914 Caught in a Cabaret
1914 Caught in the Rain
1914 Dough and Dynamite
1914 Gentlemen of Nerve
1914 Getting Acquainted
1914 Her Friend the Bandit
1914 His Favorite Pastime
1914 His Musical Career
1914 His New Profession
1914 His Prehistoric Past
1914 His Trysting Places
1914 Kid Auto Races at Venice
1914 Laughing Gas
1914 Mabel's Busy Day
1914 Mabel's Married Life
1914 Mabel's Strange Predicament
1914 Making a Living
1914 Recreation
1914 Tango Tangle
1914 The Face on the Barroom Floor
1914 The Fatal Mallet
1914 The Knockout
1914 The Masquerader
1914 The New Janitor
1914 The Property Man
1914 The Rounders
1914 Those Love Pangs
1914 Tillie's Punctured Romance
1916 Hop - The Devil's Brew
1916 The Floorwalker
1916 The Vagabond
1917 A Reckless Romeo
1917 The Butcher Boy
1917 The Rough House
1919 The Dragon Painter
1919 The Man Beneath
1919 The Tong Man
1920 The Devil's Claim
1921 Black Roses
1921 The Swamp
1921 Where Lights Are Low
1927 Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
1933 King Kong
Visual Effects Supervisor:
1914 A Busy Day
1914 A Film Johnnie
1914 Between Showers
1914 Caught in a Cabaret
1914 Caught in the Rain
1914 Dough and Dynamite
1914 Gentlemen of Nerve
1914 Getting Acquainted
1914 Her Friend the Bandit
1914 His Favorite Pastime
1914 His Musical Career
1914 His New Profession
1914 His Prehistoric Past
1914 His Trysting Places
1914 Kid Auto Races at Venice
1914 Laughing Gas
1914 Mabel's Busy Day
1914 Mabel's Married Life
1914 Mabel's Strange Predicament
1914 Making a Living
1914 Recreation
1914 Tango Tangle
1914 The Face on the Barroom Floor
1914 The Fatal Mallet
1914 The Knockout
1914 The Masquerader
1914 The New Janitor
1914 The Property Man
1914 The Rounders
1914 Those Love Pangs
1914 Tillie's Punctured Romance
1916 Hop - The Devil's Brew
1916 The Floorwalker
1916 The Vagabond
1917 A Reckless Romeo
1917 The Butcher Boy
1917 The Rough House
1919 The Dragon Painter
1919 The Man Beneath
1919 The Tong Man
1920 The Devil's Claim
1921 Black Roses
1921 The Swamp
1921 Where Lights Are Low
1927 Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
1933 King Kong
1933 The Invisible Man
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