Georg Schimanski

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Georg Schimanski (born October 13, 1919 in Allenstein , East Prussia , † March 23, 1992 ) was a German cameraman who mainly worked for the Institute for Film and Image in science and teaching . His films have been awarded by US companies and the Encyclopædia Britannica , among others .

Life

Georg Schimanski was born as the second child of Maria and August Schimanski on October 13, 1919 in Allenstein in East Prussia . He grew up with an older sister and three younger brothers. In 1924 the family moved to Königsberg . There he went to school and in 1936, against the wishes of his parents, who preferred to see him as a Catholic priest , began a commercial apprenticeship at “Schilling”, a specialty shop for photography. During his apprenticeship, luck would have it that he met Heinz Sielmann again, both of whom had known each other since school. Sielmann was just shooting his first film "Birds over Lagoon and Meadows" , which appeared in 1938, and Schimanski had assisted him with it. From this time on, Schimanski and Sielmann should work together for “ten long years, abundant in work, experiences and great successes” .

In 1939 he was called up for military service and wounded in 1944, he was taken prisoner by the Red Army . He was released again in the summer of 1945. On April 27, 1946, he married Rosemarie Schwede. A short time later he met Heinz Sielmann again and worked until 1960 as head cameraman on many nature films for the FWU, the Institute for Film and Image in Science and Education .

In 1960 he became self-employed and worked as a producer, cameraman and author. In 1965 he had his own studio. Over the years he specialized more and more in micro, macro and slow motion photography. In his small studio he did almost everything himself, the film script, the camera, the sound recording, the editing, text and dubbing. He often set out to new areas to make a film, e.g. B. in micro-cinematography . All of his films were made on 35 mm ARRI cameras , including his micro-cinematographic recordings. Schimanski also worked with a very old Askania . Askania, who also built film cameras, had actually specialized more in the production of microscopes ; So they built a combination of both for Schimanski: A converted film camera that could film through a microscope. Schimanski's path to micro-cinematography was thus open. Since the war he has produced numerous film documents of cell division or microorganisms that have never been seen before . At first he filmed in black and white , but soon turned to color film in the 1950s .

In September 1987, his wife died unexpectedly. He couldn't quite get over the shock of death because it had made his work possible for him over the years. With the help of his daughter Swetlana, he made three more films by 1991 and died on March 23, 1992.

Filmography

D = script; K = camera; KA = camera assistant; P = producer; R = director; S = cut

  • 1991: yeasts and molds ( R )
  • 1990: Konzert am Tümpel (new version) ( P , K , R )
  • 1985–1987: Amoebas with social ambitions ( R )
  • 1983: From flower to fruit ( D , K , R , S )
  • 1983: Seed dispersal ( P , K , R )
  • 1980/1981: Dancer in a water drop ( D , P , R )
  • 1976: A tree ( K , R )
  • 1967/1968: The blackbird ( R )
  • 1965: Birds in Winter ( P , R )
  • 195 ?: On American roads ( S )
  • 1956: Meadow summer ( KA )
  • 1952: Am Froschtümpel ( S )
  • 1950/1951: Am Fuchsbau ( S )
  • 1950/1951: Birds of prey of the homeland ( KA )
  • 1949–1951: Water game on the spring migration ( KA )

Awards

literature

  • Heinz Sielmann: My way to the animals , Munich 1975 (Wilhelm Heyne Verlag) ISBN 3-453-00530-9

Web links

swell

  1. ^ Heinz Sielmann: My way to the animals , Munich 1975 (Wilhelm Heyne Verlag), p. 45
personal data
SURNAME Schimanski, Georg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German cameraman
DATE OF BIRTH October 13, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Allenstein
DATE OF DEATH March 23, 1992