Frank D. Williams
Frank D. Williams (March 21, 1893 – October 15, 1961) was a pioneering cinematographer who was active in the early days of the motion picture industry. He developed and patented the traveling matte shot. Frank D. Williams was born March 21, 1893, as Frank Douglas Williams, to James and Lucinda Williams in the small community of Nashville, Missouri. In 1912, Williams became a cameraman at Keystone Studios. There, in 1914, he was the photographer for many of Charlie Chaplin's first-year pictures, including Kid Auto Races at Venice which was the first film released in which The Tramp appeared. Williams is credited as appearing in Kid Auto Races at Venice, playing a cameraman, but his appearance is in doubt. For a time he was chief cinematographer at Keystone, and a large number of the studio's 1914 films are credited to him as photographer. He defected to work for the short-lived Sterling Motion Pictures, but returned to Keystone when Sterling closed in 1915. He also worked a camera for Henry Lehrman's L-Ko Kompany, Reliance-Majestic Studios, and Bluebird Photoplays. When Roscoe Arbuckle formed a new motion picture company, Comique, in 1917, he hired Williams to be his cameraman. At Comique, Williams also shot Buster Keaton's first film appearance, The Butcher Boy (1917). His tenure there was also short; he shot three films for Arbuckle (Butcher Boy, A Reckless Romeo, and The Rough House) before departing to start his own lab. His business did not get off the ground quickly, and he supplemented his income by continuing to work as a cameraman. He was director of photography at Sessue Hayakawa's Haworth Pictures Corporation and is credited with 15 pictures that came out of that studio between 1919 and 1921. While he was working as a cameraman at various studios, Williams worked on his idea for a traveling matte in which the actions of actors would be combined with a filmed moving background. Available technology prevented him from achieving the effect he envisioned until he built a printer himself to his own specification. He filed for a patent in May 1916, and it was granted in July 1918. The process was first used in a motion picture in 1922's Wild Honey. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Known for
CameraBirthday
March 20, 1893Deathday
October 16, 1961Gender
MaleKnown Movie Credits
49Place of birth
Nashville, Missouri, USAAlso known as
Frank Douglas Williams, Frank Williams![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/k9j1GTcbvT7ssbRbq75Jlpn0ExD.jpg)
Cast credits
Crew credits
![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/oj8ZW8jKXBSs8F1e5iWsTUeXSJW.jpg)
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
Special Effects![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/hltbOtDk4SzwsavlEtH8Jsg71RM.jpg)
A Reckless Romeo
Director of Photography![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/iIx2Sv7fg6yR8QBt587zBiBpkkw.jpg)
Caught in a Cabaret
Director of Photography![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/etj3VOUtIHprHHWL7W7Fsrioegu.jpg)
Black Roses
Director of Photography![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/qHZQlABl3SnCthmoOcoyeX6KQOZ.jpg)
Where Lights Are Low
Director of Photography![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/2Y7Zx4O0kbXsmeu1i4zfDSL8I1I.jpg)
The Swamp
Director of Photography![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/3vFubnZ65COWmAAwuBYvDephLt5.jpg)
A Busy Day
Director of Photography![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/k2CuWmAMbOgQZCDTg1RfkZs976e.jpg)
Kid Auto Races at Venice
Director of Photography![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/htkmTcnLAin498pWF0un22pBf0F.jpg)
Making a Living
Director of Photography![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/mynq8Tv90uUUVIVDy91tlW5FyWd.jpg)
Mabel's Strange Predicament
Director of Photography![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/s8sb9XlE0U3Ox8KIX2iGbTMKk5S.jpg)
The Floorwalker
Director of Photography![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/5fSaxjRtz5NKouSfM1XEcnRfiwe.jpg)
Between Showers
Director of Photography![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/yBga6x4iw9U9MqOyk0ksp4IDIor.jpg)
A Film Johnnie
Director of Photography![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/61zg4xSXqepPIBwsiTItqpxuind.jpg)
The Dragon Painter
Director of Photography![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/uYwHkrRYEQombKBhK90I0c0Yd0w.jpg)
Hop - The Devil's Brew
Director of Photography![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/49FS3R5OltrxboiA4FEhTz4yyRz.jpg)
The Tong Man
Director of Photography![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/1uPizV40yiNJpu4ua6BsDCz9A9y.jpg)
The Man Beneath
Director of Photography![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/h28HFhGMz12stqNgprZDVt34Iek.jpg)
The Rough House
Director of Photography![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/neQ5gCDFSxQoCSpyWOj56BsEbQp.jpg)
The Butcher Boy
Director of Photography![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/nq0WhLVB1nPkTAJZwPhPqC9uUZV.jpg)
The Vagabond
Director of Photography![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/h632/cSHJ3i426ZdedU5tEAc7bVEf798.jpg)
Tillie's Punctured Romance
Director of Photography