Page 120 - Expanded Photography

Expanded Photography Bob Cotton 120/146
The early Movie studios had at least one thing in common: the glass sky-light or glass roof - essen- tial for lighting, even when electric lights became readily available - with the electricity to power them. Daylight - with sufficient modulators - provided good ambient lighting, but early cinematogra- phers experimented to find what design of studio could provide the optimum lighting conditions for making films. As early as 1897, he pioneer George Melies built his own ‘glass-house’ studio at Mon- treuil-sous-Bois on the eastern outskirts of Paris. With glass walls and a glass roof, Melies could modulate sunlight with elaborate arrangements of drapes, blinds, screens, scrims and theatrical gauze. This kind of steel/iron and glass construction was famously pioneered by the horticultural ar- chitect Joseph Paxton for the Crystal Palace, housing the 1851 London Great Exhibition, in Kensing- ton Gardens.
George Melies: Glass-House Studio at Montreuil-sous-Bois 1897.
Note the large mirror-reflectors, cut-out props, the early dolly, the ‘transparency’ of Melies’ studio construction. Edison’s Black Maria studio could be bodily rotated to orientate the angle of light inci- dence throughout the day - to ensure s steady light-source for continuity.
https://theculturetrip.com/europe/france/paris/articles/early-cinema-the-magical-world-of-georges-melies/