F. Martin Duncan

Francis Duncan Smith (1873–1961) was a British naturalist and nature documentary pioneer who worked for producer Charles Urban. He specialised in micro-cinematography and pioneered many of the techniques of future natural history filmmaking.

Biography

He was the son of noted palaeontologist Peter Martin Duncan. While a student he assisted his father by taking up photography, and acquired a particular interest in microphotography. In the early 1890s he experimented with chronophotography (sequence photography), showing the results in motion on a Zoetrope.

He was recruited by Charles Urban for the newly formed Charles Urban Trading Company in 1903. Together they launched a film series, The Unseen World, showcased at the Alhambra Theatre in London from 17 August 1903, which showed scenes of animal life, with particular emphasis on micro-cinematographic views. The shows were advertised as being shown by the 'Urban-Duncan Micro-Bioscope'. Among the films shown were Circulation of Blood in a Frog's Foot, Red Sludge Worms and the notorious The Cheese Mites, the views of which were preceded by a scene of a man (played by Duncan himself) horrified by what he sees when he views a piece of Stilton through a magnifying glass. Duncan continued to work for Urban until 1908, when he was succeeded by F. Percy Smith.

He continued his career as a zoologist at London Zoo and as a populariser of nature subjects, writing many books. He also worked as an editor on some of the Secrets of Nature film series in the 1920s.

Filmography

• The Unseen World (1903) (series, including The Cheese Mites)
• Studies of Natural History (1903) (series)
• The Busy Bee (1903) (series)
• Marine Studies (1903) (series)
• The Empire of the Ants (1906)