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March 1899: Wills Makes the World's First Govt. Films
In 1899, the Queensland Chief Secretary's Department green-lighted production of the world's first government-funded films. The movies were shot by Frederick Charles Wills, official photographer for the Department of Agriculture since 1897, and his assistant, Harry Mobsby, following Wills' suggestion in October 1898 that immigration lecturer George Randall's talks would be enhanced by slides 'prepared on the Lumière Cinematographe principle.'
Once he received the go-ahead - which was largely prompted by the approaching Greater British Exhibition - Wills ordered the Lumière equipment to be imported from Baker & Rouse, and in early 1899 he made five trial films in Sydney. Satisfied with the results of their trials, Wills and Mobsby returned to Queensland, and made thirty one-minute films between March and October. Most of the films were of domestic farm scenes such as sugar cane cutting, wheat harvesting and sheep dipping, but Wills also filmed public events such as the opening of parliament by the then Governor of Queensland, Lord Lamington, and the Queensland Cavalry leaving for the Boer War.
Wills displayed a sound compositional and technical knowledge in his films, often filming an establishing shot before 'cutting-in' on a more detailed depiction of the action. These were innovative techniques at a time when most cameras were static, recording only what happened in front of them until they ran out of film. The films were also intended to be shown in a particular sequence to provide the viewer with a narrative picture of the activities.
Unfortunately, Wills and Mobsby's films were completed too late for the Greater British Exhibition. Their only complete showing took place on the 17th November 1899 in the boardroom of the Department of Agriculture. The films were shipped to Britain, but by the time they arrived in 1900 the Lumière projectors required to screen the films had become technologically obsolete. Even when a projector was located, Randall failed to use it. Perhaps disgruntled by the fact that his colleagues in Australia had failed to consult him with regard to the films, he was of the opinion that the films would attract the wrong type of immigrant: 'the flotsam and jetsam of the cities' rather than the 'good men of the village.'
Source: a century of australian cinema by the Australian Film Institute
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