Claude Friese-Greene: A Pioneering Figure in Early Cinematography
Born in Fulham, London, Claude Friese-Greene was the son of William Friese-Greene, a renowned pioneer in early cinematography. William Friese-Greene's innovative work laid the foundation for Claude's own contributions to the field. The elder Friese-Greene was instrumental in developing the Biocolour process, an additive colour film technique that produced a tolerable illusion of true colour by exposing each alternate frame of ordinary black-and-white film stock through two different coloured filters.
The Biocolour process, although pioneering in its time, was not without its limitations. The projection of Biocolour prints suffered from noticeable colour flicker and red-and-green fringing around moving objects. In an effort to overcome these issues, a faster-than-usual frame rate was employed. After William's untimely death in 1921, Claude Friese-Greene continued to refine the Biocolour process, rebranding it as the Friese-Greene Natural Colour and later the Spectrum Colour Film process.
Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Claude Friese-Greene established himself as a highly respected cinematographer, working on over 60 films between 1923 and 1943. He was also one of the first cinematographers to shoot in Technicolor in Britain. Tragically, Claude's life was cut short in January 1943, when he died as a result of an accident while filming at the Denham Film Studios.
