In her autobiography, actress Mary Pickford claimed cinema's first close-up occurred when Biograph Studio director D. W. Griffith said to his cameraman Billy Bitzer while filming October 1912's "Friends," "Come on, Billy, let's have some fun. Move the camera up and get closer to Mary."
Close-ups were nothing new in movies. England's George Albert Smith, as early as 1900 in "Grandma's Reading Glass," showed an extreme close-up of a kid's eyeball looking through a magnifying glass. D. W. Griffith previously used close-ups to show objects, such as the wrench in "The Lonedale Operator," which played a crucial role in explaining how the tool could mask as a gun.
But Ms. Pickford's claim may be true in that her two close-ups in "Friends" conveyed an emotional tie-in to the movie's main plot: a woman torn between two lovers.
There are many reasons screenwriters and directors use the close-up in their films. But the primary one, and its most effective usage, is to capture the emotions churning inside an actor's mind/body during key situations. (Just think of TV soap operas when they shows CUs of actors right before commercial break.)
In Griffith's "Friends," the opening close-up reflects Pickford, playing a hooker in a mining town, facing a predicament in loving the town's cad. After he dumps her for the prospect of greater riches elsewhere, a friend of his, not knowing Pickford's relationship with the flamboyant ex-lover, falls for her. Pickford's ending close-up shows her emotional confusion, a perfect shot that pioneered new turf in cinema.
The Biograph Studio movie contained two other actors who would achieve future noteworthy roles. Lionell Barrymore, the performer everyone knows as Mr. Potter, the ruthless banker in "It's A Wonderful Life," had joined Biograph in 1909 and was one of the studio's leading actors by the time "Friends" was released.
"Friends" was one of the first Biograph appearances for actor Harry Carey, who became an Oscar winner for his role as President of the Senate in "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington." He was hired by Griffith after the director saw Carey in some minor roles in small Western films. Carey would eventually become a good friend and mentor for director John Ford a few years later.
Close-ups were nothing new in movies. England's George Albert Smith, as early as 1900 in "Grandma's Reading Glass," showed an extreme close-up of a kid's eyeball looking through a magnifying glass. D. W. Griffith previously used close-ups to show objects, such as the wrench in "The Lonedale Operator," which played a crucial role in explaining how the tool could mask as a gun.
But Ms. Pickford's claim may be true in that her two close-ups in "Friends" conveyed an emotional tie-in to the movie's main plot: a woman torn between two lovers.
There are many reasons screenwriters and directors use the close-up in their films. But the primary one, and its most effective usage, is to capture the emotions churning inside an actor's mind/body during key situations. (Just think of TV soap operas when they shows CUs of actors right before commercial break.)
In Griffith's "Friends," the opening close-up reflects Pickford, playing a hooker in a mining town, facing a predicament in loving the town's cad. After he dumps her for the prospect of greater riches elsewhere, a friend of his, not knowing Pickford's relationship with the flamboyant ex-lover, falls for her. Pickford's ending close-up shows her emotional confusion, a perfect shot that pioneered new turf in cinema.
The Biograph Studio movie contained two other actors who would achieve future noteworthy roles. Lionell Barrymore, the performer everyone knows as Mr. Potter, the ruthless banker in "It's A Wonderful Life," had joined Biograph in 1909 and was one of the studio's leading actors by the time "Friends" was released.
"Friends" was one of the first Biograph appearances for actor Harry Carey, who became an Oscar winner for his role as President of the Senate in "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington." He was hired by Griffith after the director saw Carey in some minor roles in small Western films. Carey would eventually become a good friend and mentor for director John Ford a few years later.