User:Haveagooddavis/Jean Comandon

= Jean Comandon = Jean Comandon (August 3, 1877 - October 30, 1970) was a French microbiologist and filmmaker. He was one of the leading figures in the use of microcinematography in Paris.

Biography
Comandon studied microbiology in Paris from 1902 to 1906 and, afterwards, attended the University of Paris until 1909. Inspired by early films capturing Brownian motion, he learned how to use the ultramicroscope. For his doctoral thesis he used the ultramicroscope to study spirochaete obtained from syphilis patients at the Hôpital Saint-Louis. His mentor, Paul Gastou, got him in touch with Charles Pathé who allowed Comandon to perform his research at Pathé's film studio in Vincennes. The two of them developed a new camera system that allowed Comandon to better isolate syphilis spirochates based on their characteristic movements. He published his thesis, along with his film Spirochaeta Pallida (Agent de la Syphilis), in October 1909.

Before and after serving as a physician for the French military during World War I, Comandon worked with Pathé to produce hundreds of educational scientific films. After Pathé discontinued development of scientific films, Comandon earned a position at the Pasteur Institute with Pierre de Fonbrune, with whom he would go on to found a microcinematography center in Garches.

Legacy
Comandon's doctoral thesis attracted much attention from the scientific community in France and around the world. Microcinematography became an effective method for early diagnoses of syphilis and similar bacterial infections. His work was one of the major catalysts for the popularization of cinematography in scientific research, allowing for temporal manipulation of scientific perception in addition to spacial.

The popularity of Comandon's films helped bring scientific film at large into the public eye. The ability to see microbes in motion and, later, the speeding up of naturally slow processes through time-lapse photography proved a compelling novelty and made Comandon's films a source of entertainment as well as education. These films demonstrated that cinema depicting more abstract figures could appeal to mass audiences.

Selected Filmography

 * Spirochaeta Pallida (Agent de la Syphilis) (1909)
 * Microbes contenus dans l'intestin d'une souris (1910)
 * Lavez-vous les mains avant chaque repas (1918)
 * La Croissance des végétaux (1929)