Image animation machines

Throughout the 19th century, people invented all manner of enchanting devices for animating the image, each with its peculiar characteristics, whose workings were based on the phenomenon of retinal persistence.

The phenakistoscope (from the Greek phenax: a cheat, and skopein: to examine), invented by Belgian physician Joseph Plateau in 1832: was a disc perforated by a specific number of blades spinning vertically in front of a mirror. By looking through the blades at the mirror, the subject printed on the interchangeable disc appeared as a moving image.

The zootrope (from the Greek zoe: life, and tropion: to turn), devised in 1833 by British mathematician William George Horner, only went on sale in 1867. When this cylinder perforated by vertical blades was rotated, and watched through these blades, the image reel sprang into life. With his praxinoscope, Emile Reynaud improved the principle of the zootrope, with mirrors reducing the shuttering. Our perception of the moving image got significantly better.

The interchangeable reels were often printed on both sides. The subjects displayed were very diverse, often playful, the main idea being to create the most lifelike sequence possible.

We urge you to try out today’s version of one or more of these marvellous machines!

Illustration:
Zootrope, Les images vivantes – Petits tableaux animés, Meire et Deberthand, Paris, circa 1900.