Out of the Shadows: The Impact of the First World War on the Status of Studio Cameramen in France

Toward the end of the First World War, film magazines began to identify cameramen as artist-creators, and as the new right-hand men of film directors. Their gradual emergence from anonymity testifies to this new and improved status, which contrasts with the scant recognition accorded to cameramen prior to the conflict. In the course of four years of war, the way in which film-studio cameramen were perceived underwent a profound change. This article examines the details of this progressive transformation, culminating in 1918 when the name of a cameraman, Léonce-Henry Burel, first appeared in the credits of a French film (Abel Gance's La Dixième Symphonie).