Page 4 - 2022-06

Kev Franzi's
Motion Picture
Scrapbook

Part 2: August 1899: Fred Wills Revisited

In the last episode we stepped back just over where possible, Fred converted all the dark-
100 years to join Queensland's first Govern- room equipment to "electric illumination".
ment Cinematographer, Frederick Charles (I felt slightly disappointed as I was expecting
Wills, as he set up his brand new Lumiere to see prints being made by gas light-some of
Cinematographe and filmed the arrival of Lord the magic had gone. And there was something
Lamington to open Parliament in March 1899 else quite familiar the smell! That potent blend
(preceded by the now famous of hypo, acid and photo
mongrel dog). chemicals has not changed in
100 years. Nor has the dark-
Since then Fred and his new room layout changed either:
Assistant, Henry Mobsby, there's a sturdy "wet bench"
have been very busy down the left side of the room
filming Queensland, from the with metal porcelain-coated de-
Torres Strait to the Darling veloping dishes sitting on a
Downs. Now Fred has "duckboard", and at the far end
invited me to his new dark- there's a porcelain sink (not a
room located in the basement morsel of plastic in sight).
of the new Department of
Agriculture building in Wil- At the far end of the room a
liam Street, Brisbane. I'm small table stands beside a
there to see his latest film blacked out window: below the
processed and printed and I'm window is a large wicker bas-
hoping to see some of his ket, rather like a laundry basket
Early etching of the Cinematographe in
films projected on to the without a lid. A small shelf
projection mode using a primitive elec-
big screen too. tric scissor arc. spans the window frame above
the basket.
The darkroom curtain is pulled aside and I'm
ushered through the door into the rather dimly On the right side of the room a "dry
lit room. A bare electric light globe with a bench" runs the length of the wall and at the far
white porcelain shade hangs from the ceiling- end of the bench sits a big horizontal enlarger
electric light! I expected gas lighting, but Fred with a very long bellows extension. A sliding
explains that the Government buildings in this vertical easel board in front of the enlarger
area were the first to be connected to the new holds a small frame about 80 mm square at its
electricity supply. Nothings changed. So, optical centre. In the frame is a square piece
of white opal glass.

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