August Musger
The inventor of slow-motion filming
| As a priest, August Musger may not be widely known, but an invention of his revolutionised the art of filming. However, as he lost the patent for his invention, others became famous for his idea.
1868 August Musger is born in Eisenerz in Styria.
1890 Having graduated from the faculty of theology, he is ordained a priest.
1892 After two years of work as a priest, Musger studies mathematics, physics and drawing in Graz and later becomes a teacher at the Prince-Bishop’s Seminar in Graz.
1898-1904 The schoolteacher is fascinated by the novelty of cinema. However, the technology behind it strikes him as rather crude, so he begins his own experiments in film transport.
1904 Musger applies for a patent on his construction plans.
1914 After he fails to pay the patent fees, the patent expires and the Ernemann company markets the idea under its own name.
1929 August Musger dies on 30 October 1929.
August Musger (*10.02.1868 +30.10.1929)
| August Musger was born on 10 February 1868 in Eisenerz. The future inventor of slow-motion filming showed an interest in physics at an early age. However, he wanted to become a priest, and so he studied at the faculty of theology in Graz, where he was ordained in 1890. But the prince-bishop of Graz soon recognised his scientific talent and allowed him to study mathematics, physics and drawing in Graz. And so, some years later, Musger also taught drawing at the Prince-Bishop’s Seminar.
August Musger, Source: Styrian Government Server
A cinema buff
Around the turn of the century, the first cinemas opened in Austria. Musger was intrigued by the new technology. However, the projectors of the time were only capable of showing 16 frames per second with a jerky motion, so that the film would darken between one frame and the next.
A dedicated researcher
The Styrian priest therefore tried to find a way to transport the film at a uniform speed, so that the individual frames would blend into one another. From then on, he worked hard to develop a film camera with a uniform film transport. With this camera he wanted to become the first person to solve the problem of slow-motion filming. Four years later, his research had advanced to the point where he was granted an Austrian patent on his construction plans. However, the patent expired when he failed to pay the fees, and in 1914 the Ernemann company launched a slow-motion system which corresponded exactly to Musger’s invention. August Musger died in 1929 at the age of 61.