In the struggle towards the perfection of animated photography the use of glass plates was a great hindrance. Investigators were hampered very seriously; they were thwarted at every turn. True, the appearance of the dry plate somewhat facilitated their efforts, but nevertheless the inevitable glass was bulky, heavy, fragile, and awkward to handle. Finally, the number of pictures obtainable upon a single surface was limited.

Realising the restrictions incidental to this sensitised medium, the energies of many investigators were devoted to the discovery of a less bulky, lighter, and more convenient substitute. Gelatine appeared promising at first sight, but failed to give the anticipated results because it lacked stability, and when immersed in the developing solution precipitated a variety of unexpected disasters which placed it out of court completely. The next expedient was the use of transparent paper, similar to what we call grease-proof paper, covered with the gelatine emulsion, invented by Morgan and Kidd, of Richmond. When the exposures were made, the paper was opaque and resembled ordinary bromide paper, the essential transparent effect being secured by an operation after development and fixing. This failed to give a clear, distinct positive, and the grain of the paper so broke up the resultant picture that this alternative was abandoned. A suggestion advocated by the Rev. W. Palmer also was attempted. The picture, after development and fixing, was stripped from its opaque support, and attached to a stiff sheet of insoluble gelatine. This gave a somewhat better effect, but it was a round-about method, and the stripping operation was one of great delicacy, involving extreme care, and uncertain in its results.

These substitutes failing one after another, the hopes of the experimenters became centred upon celluloid, which from every point of view appeared the most suitable medium. The application of celluloid to photographic purposes had been advocated many years previously, but there were many obstacles of a technical character which prevented its use at the time. The investigator, however, continued the struggle towards bringing the celluloid film into the realm of practicability.

He was baffled in one particular direction. Celluloid could not be employed with the collodion process, for the collodion which constituted the sensitive surface in the old wet process with glass plates, and which in itself is a solution of pyroxyline, a kind of gun-cotton—one of the basic constituents of celluloid—dissolved the celluloid which was coated with it. The perfection of the gelatino-bromide process removed this defect.

Then another difficulty loomed up. Celluloid at that time was not made in sheets sufficiently thin to render it applicable to photography, and the manufacturers of the commodity could not be prevailed upon to prepare the substance in this form. They argued that there was no promise of a sufficiently remunerative market to warrant the design of special machinery for the manufacture of such a product. Consequently, the experimenters were forced to prepare their own film bases.

The experiences of those who grappled with this question and faced trials and tribulations innumerable in this particular phase of operations make interesting reading. One reduced the celluloid to a liquid consistency and poured the plastic mass over large glass plates, rolling it out to form a thin skin. The surface of the glass previously was cleaned carefully to prevent the mixture adhering thereto. The pouring had to be carefully done so as to secure an even thickness, and to avoid the formation of air bubbles. In this way a thin sheet was secured—a decided forward step. In the dark room this “base,” as it is called, had next to be covered with a thin layer of sensitised emulsion, and the whole left to dry. Afterwards the sheet was cut into strips of the width required for the camera and apparatus. Unfortunately, in drying, the celluloid was found to play many sorry tricks. It buckled, twisted, and shrank into strange contortions, and the films thus produced were still somewhat too substantial, being, in fact, very similar to those used in the pack-film camera of to-day.

Another worker was more fortunate. By dint of importunity he succeeded in inducing one manufacturing firm to produce sheets of celluloid no thicker than drawing paper for his experiments. But when the sheets were delivered they were far from being satisfactory, being deficient in uniformity of thickness. Before the surface could be coated with sensitised emulsion a tedious task had to be performed. The inequalities had to be scraped and pared off, and finally the whole sheet had to be made thinner by being rubbed down with emery cloth and sandpaper. Hours were occupied in this process, and often a maddening accident happened in the final stages which irreparably injured the sheet and wasted not only time, but costly material. Even when sensitising was carried out successfully, it was found extremely difficult to keep the material flat. It is not surprising that after a prolonged experience of these disadvantages, this particular investigator abandoned his experiments for a time.

In the majority of these efforts the pictures obtained were about four inches in width by three inches deep, while the modern cinematograph film is only 1⅜ of an inch in width by three-quarters of an inch deep, and almost as thin as a shaving. The celluloid made at that time was not very transparent, and as the pictures were somewhat dense, the results were far from being satisfactory.

It began to look as though celluloid were doomed to follow in the wake of the other expedients that had been tested and found wanting. Such would have been the case but for the indefatigable efforts of one man who persevered with his experiments in the face of heartrending failures and disappointing results. This was Mr. Eastman, of Rochester, in the State of New York, who worked in conjunction with Mr. Walker. These two gentlemen had established a dry photographic plate manufacturing process, which had developed into a conspicuous success, and become known as the Eastman Dry Plate Company, now familiar as the Eastman Kodak Company.

The story of their innumerable experiments and ultimate success constitutes a fascinating chapter in the story of animated photography. As early as 1884 Mr. Eastman realised that a substitute for glass was in demand to facilitate ordinary photography. Accordingly he set out to discover a system of photographing on films. As he admits himself, it was by no means a new idea. From time to time spasmodic attempts in the same direction had been made by enterprising inventors, the earliest known dating back as far as 1854, a year or two before the invention of Parkesine, now known as celluloid, by Mr. A. Parkes, of Birmingham. All of these experimenters, however, had been baffled by the technical difficulties confronting their quest, and Mr. Eastman had no tangible assistance to aid him in his work of research. He was compelled to create the foundation upon which to carry out his developments, and to reap success from mortifying failures.

In 1884, when Messrs. Eastman and Walker commenced operations, the problem to be solved in the production of a suitable film, and the evolution of the means to handle it in the camera, were formidable obstacles. The mechanical part of the work proved the easier, and in 1885 roller photography, which has revolutionised the art of photography, at any rate from the amateur point of view, was invented and put on the market. This principle is now well known. A length of film, wound upon one roller, is passed behind the lens in sections for exposure, and then rolled up on a second roller, until the whole has been exposed. The device simplified the process very appreciably, and it may fairly be accused of being the parent of the modern “Kodak fiend.”

Though the mechanical part of the problem had thus been solved successfully, the film question was perfected only partially at this time. The film itself was far from satisfactory, but it sufficed to meet the requirements of the day, and to enable roller photography to come into vogue.

To meet the peculiar demands of roller photography, Mr. Eastman had set himself the task of producing a transparent base or support for the sensitised emulsion. That is to say, he sought and produced a stable substitute for the glass plate upon which the sensitised emulsion to record the image could be mounted. It was no easy search, as he speedily found to his cost, for it involved scores of experiments, one after the other, all of which resulted in heartrending failure. He sought to build up such a base as he had in mind by means of successive layers of collodion and rubber, but the result did not possess sufficient substance and strength.

Then he had recourse to paper, which he used merely as a temporary support. The roll of paper was first coated with soluble gelatine, and afterwards with the sensitised emulsion, which was rendered insoluble in itself by the addition of chrome alum. This produced a substantial film which was exposed by means of the roll holder attached to the ordinary camera. The image was developed and fixed. Then, still attached to the paper, the film was placed while wet, immediately after washing, upon a piece of glass coated with a thin solution of rubber.

As soon as the surface had dried, hot water was applied to the paper, which as the gelatine dissolved became detached, leaving the film adhering to the surface of the rubber-coated glass. In place of the paper a moistened thin sheet of gelatine was substituted. When the whole had dried thoroughly it was detached from the glass, and the result was a perfectly transparent negative.

The process was necessarily somewhat intricate and occupied some time, but the results obtained were sufficiently practicable to render it commercially exploitable. Mr. Eastman, however, soon recognised the fact that the trouble of transferring the image from the temporary paper base to the gelatine support decreased the practical value of the process. He decided to dispense with the paper support entirely, and in his search for a suitable substitute his thoughts turned toward celluloid. He communicated with the various manufacturers of that material, but not one was prepared to supply him with the substance in sheets of sufficient size and thinness. Consequently he was compelled to devise ways and means to supply the deficiency; and this was achieved partially by accident.

In the early part of 1889 some experiments were being made to discover a varnish to take the place of the gelatine sheets. One of his chemists drew Mr. Eastman’s attention to a thick solution of gun-cotton in wood alcohol. It was tested to prove its suitability to take the place of the gelatine, but was found wanting in practical efficiency. However, Mr. Eastman recognised the solution as one which might prove to be the film base for which he had been searching. He had had such a medium in mind when engaged in his first experiments in 1884, which resulted in the production of the stripping film. He decided to utilise this solution of gun-cotton in wood alcohol and to fashion it into the foundation for the sensitised emulsion, so that stripping and other troublesome operations of a like nature might be avoided. He was moved to this experiment because this solution could be made almost as transparent practically as glass. Accordingly he set to work to devise a machine to prepare thin sheets such as he required from this mixture. Success crowned his efforts, and in 1889 the first long strip of celluloid film suited to cinematograph work appeared in the United States.

Messrs. Eastman and Walker had not been alone in their quest. In England experiments were being carried out in the same field. Curiously enough, the main idea in this instance was to evolve a form of roller photography, the British experimenter being Mr. Blair. He likewise met with success; and the film was manufactured at St. Mary Cray in Kent. Though this film was far from being perfect, showing considerable variation in thickness, it served to assist the experiments in animated photography to a marked degree. The celluloid strip thus produced was about twice the width of that now used in cinematography, and as in the early attempts towards moving pictures, no effort was being made towards projection—the illusion was received by looking into an instrument through which the film travelled, and behind which a light was placed—it was made with a matt surface, so that it closely resembled ground glass, upon which the images stood out distinctly and brilliantly. The width of the film was gradually decreased; but this film-manufacturing industry never got a firm foothold in England. The Blair company was merged in that of the Eastman company in America, and it was not until many years had passed that another bid for participation in the manufacture of celluloid film for moving picture purposes was made by a British firm.

So soon as it leaked out in America in 1889 that Mr. Eastman had succeeded in his difficult search, and that a film with a transparent rigid support which was no more difficult to handle than a glass plate, and yet which was flexible and free from fragility, was commercially available, another experimenter appeared on the scene. He had been labouring in the field for some years, but, realising the futility of glass plates, had postponed his investigations until such time that a substitute could be obtained. His apparatus was ready, but the film was the missing link. Immediately it was available he secured some of the material and completed his apparatus. That man was Thomas Alva Edison, and his “Kinetoscope,” was the first commercial appliance to show pictures in natural movement. Animated photography was lifted from the realm of experiment into that of commercial practicability.