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Bert Ive, (1875-1939) was first long-term cinematographer and still photographer in Australia.[1] A cinematographer refers to a photographer operates the camera on films, they make the film by using the camera, and they can make decisions on art and technology of filming. During his career as a film photographer for the federal government from 1913 to 1939, Bert Ive frequently travelled across Australia to photograph the country's landscapes, industries, people and famous events. His motion pictures and still photos were used to promote Australia to the rest of the world.[2]
Bert Ive | |
|---|---|
 Bert Ive had used a 35mm Debrie Parvo movie camera, Model L, made in 1927. Mounted on a Debrie Tripod. Seen at the Museum of the Moving Image, Astoria, New York. | |
| Born | |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Occupation | Cinematographer |
| Years active | 1875-1939 |
Early life[edit]
Bert Ive was born in Reading, Berkshire, England in 1875 and has been interested in cameras and photography since childhood. When he was 11, his family took him moved to Brisbane, the city of Australia, they settled in this city, start his cinematographer career. After dropping out of school at the age of 13, Bert Ive was looking for jobs like glass embosser, logo writer, decorator and painter, etc. Before working, Bert Ive trained as an artist, usually he takes an artistic view of life and work[3].
Career[edit]
In 1896, he was one of live artists invited on the stage, and in the second year he watched the film for the first time and was fascinated by it. Hence, he converted a cinematographer traveling in northern New South Wales and southern Queensland, and in Brisbane he projected film and song transparencies for Ted Holland’s Vaudeville Entertainersin 1906. His first actuality film was shot in 1909. In May 1913, he was nominated as a cinematographer and still photographer for the Commonwealth Government. Actually, this position was held by James Pinkerton Campbell from December 1911 to May 1913, but the appointment was not successful due to personal conflicts, quality disputes and insufficient funding of Campbell’s work. In contrast, from the moment Bert Ive started working as this role, he was encouraged to establish the Cinema and Photographic Branch for developing the film industry. In the first month of his work, he was involved in setting up a workspace in Melbourne and purchasing equipment. The Brisbane’s newspaper Star described that it took him six months traveling around the states to take any photos of interest in 1914. Other newspapers reported that Bert is ‘an enthusiast’, ‘a man of infinite resource’ and ‘of a happy nature’. However, the qualities that he expressed, as well as the propaganda of his works, usually ensure that he was welcomed wherever he went.Eight federal departments continuously managed Ive's activities from 1913 to 1939, containingHome and Territories, the departments of Markets and Commerce, External Affairs, and the Commonwealth Immigration Office. The meaning of those information was that the significant intention of Ive's work has changed many times, from promoting tourism, Australian goods, national awareness and national development to encouraging immigrants, particularly people from the UK[4]. During Bert’s entire career of government as a cinematographer, he was also anticipated to record by filming key events for the younger generation, such as Gallipoli's first AIF team, the Royal Tour of 1920 and 1927, and the Australian East and West, Canberra Construction Railway and Sydney Harbour Bridge. Not only does Bert Ive travel by train, car, camel, plane, truck, boat, and hiking in Melbourne where he worked, he also crossed Australia to film territories, communities, towns, tourist destinations and industries. Since technology was not as developed as it is now, many Australians have yet to explore their own country. By filming such documentaries, Bert promotes Australia to the people of the country and attract overseas tourists. In 25 years, the newly Cinema and Photographic Branchhas grown from Ive who is the only staff member to a Melbourne organization with its own studio, laboratorie, stock wares and producers, editors and photographers. In the silent era of 1930, the cinema completed a movie each week, and various of Ive's films were released in the name of "Australia day after day." And "know your own country". In 1929, Lyn Maplestone and Ive emerged in Telling the World, which is a documentary about recording the Cinema Branch, and in 1930 produced the first sound film "This is Australia." Film studio films from the 1930s released in Australia and overseas.[3]
Filmography as cinematographer[edit]
| Year | Film | Cinematographer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1936 | Among the Hardwoods | Bert Ive | Documentary shorts |
| 1928 | The Conquest of the Pacific | Bert Ive | Documentary shorts |
| 1911 | Driving a Girl to Destruction | Bert Ive | Short drama |
| 1913 | The Bondage of Bush | Bert Ive | Short drama |
| December 1918;1919 | German concentration camps: Holsworthy, Trial Bay, Berrimah, Molonglo | Bert Ive | Silent film |
| 1916 | The Life of Adam Lindsay Gordon | Bert Ive | Silent film |
The lyrical documentary Among the Hardwoods was filmed in southwestern Western Australia. In 1926, Ive and Lacey Percival re-shot a silent documentary for the federal government's Know Your Own Country series, they improved the sound version on the original in different methods.
German concentration camps: Holsworthy, Trial Bay, Berrima, Molonglowas black and white, silent actuality footage[5]. In the summer of 1918-1919, the film scenes of Molonglo and Holsworthy internment camps was took by Bert Ive, also included earlier footage from Berrima and Trial Bay. The effect of the film was to express the distinction between the conditions of returning to British prisoners of war in Germany and the conditions enjoyed by German detainees in Australian refugee camps.
Filmography as editor[edit]
| Year | Film | Editor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1912 | Angel of his Dream | Bert Ive | Drama |
Death[edit]
Bert Ive died on July 25, 1939, and he still remained at the kernel of the Cinema Branch’s photography work. Two months later, after the United Kingdom and Australia announced their war against Germany, the Cinema Branch became part of new information department of the federal government's, which established the Film Division in 1940 to mobilise the film for national purposes. The Townsville Daily Bulletin reported that his film heritage for Australia has been a monument to his "energy and vision" for more than a quarter of a century. This tradition was passed on to the cinema's post-war successors, the Film Department, the Commonwealth Film Department and the Australian Film Department, which are now part of the NFSA film Australia collection. Bert Ive’s film encouraged the sale of Australian goods and tourism and attracted immigrants in the 1920s.[2]
References[edit]
- ^ "Telling the World – Bert Ive: Pioneer of Australia's Documentary Heritage - Australian Cinematographers Society". www.cinematographer.org.au. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
- ^ a b TmqmNuMCdj (2013-03-08). "Bert Ive: Telling the World". www.nfsa.gov.au. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
- ^ a b TmqmNuMCdj (2013-03-18). "Bert Ive". www.nfsa.gov.au. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
- ^ TmqmNuMCdj (2013-04-15). "100 years of Film Australia". www.nfsa.gov.au. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
- ^ "German concentration camps: Holsworthy, Trial Bay, Berrima, Molonglo". www.awm.gov.au. Retrieved 2019-05-17.