Gottfried Wilhelm Billy Bitzer April 21 1872 April 29 1944 was a pioneering American cinematographer notable for his close association with D W Griffith In 2003 a survey conducted by the International Cinematographers Guild named him one of the ten most influential cinematographers in history Bitzer it is said developed camera techniques that set the standard for all future motion pictures Description above from the Wikipedia article Billy Bitzer licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia