Digital Media Concepts/Stuart Blackton

James Stuart Blackton (1875-1941)


James Stuart Blackton was born on January 5, 1875 in England, and was died on August 13, 1941 in Hollywood. He was an British American director and producer in the silent era. Blackton was the first pioneer of animation who created the first slow motion animation called “Humorous Phases of Funny Faces” in 1906. Many people praised Blackton as father of Animation in America.

Early Life
Blackton was born in Sheffield, England on 1875. He then migrated to United States at age of 10 with his family. At the same age, Blackton worked as a journalist in New York City with a new friend’s support. In one of Blackton’s interviews, he impressed Thomas Edison, an American inventor, with his drawings. Then, Thomas Edison helped him combine all the drawings he have and made the first cartoon film called "Blackton the Evening World Cartoonist". After that, Blackton started the Vitagraph Company with his earliest friend with the Kinetoscope he got from Edison and they started to product films. One of the movies they made is called “Tearing Down the Spanish Flag” in 1898, the film was also very success because it presents to audience an important incident from Spanish-American War. Then, Blackton continued to make movies that concludes local events and main scene of novels. In 1906, Blackton and his partners created the first “animated” film called “Humorous Phases of a Funny Face”, which opens up other people’s point of view at film.

Middle Age
In 1917, Blackton went back to Great Britain and made three drama play The Glorious Adventure, The Virgin Queen, and Gypsy Cavalier. Blackton’s lost his interest in animated film and started to manage his business. Blackton then gave up his business and retired. Warner Bro picked up the company and started running business again in 1926. In 1929, the great depression began, Blackton lost most of his money in the stock market, which forces him to come back and to work again. In August 13, 1941,Blackton died in a car accident on his way back home after work.

Humorous Phases of a Funny Face
Humorous Phases of a Funny Face in 1906 was the most successful film Blackton ever made. It is a film used photos of a lot of chalk drawings that Blackton did and were put together into an animated film by using film techniques like slow-motion and cutout. This film was considered as the first animated film, and Blackton got many acclaim from other scholars. Furthermore, this work has created a great impact on digital movie.

Major Accomplishment
·Blackton the Evening World Cartoonist (1896)

·Tearing Down the Spanish Flag (1898)

·Humorous Phases of a Funny Face (1906)

·The Glorious Adventure (1922)

·The Virgin Queen (1923)

·Gypsy Cavalier (1922)

Reference
Trimble, Marian Blackton, J. Stuart Blackton: A Personal Biography by his Daughter (Metuchen, New Jersey: Scarecrow Press 1985)

"Pioneers of Animation: J. Stuart Blackton." True Classics. N.p., 19 June 2012. Web. 19 Sept. 2016

"J. Stuart Blackton." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2016.

Links
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/559607/

https://trueclassics.net/2011/09/03/pioneers-of-animation-j-stuart-blackton/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/J-Stuart-Blackton