Technology in Early Cinema

Zoetrope
'Thaumatrope' - a small disc held by pieces of string. One either side of the disc was drawn and image which seemed to superimpose onto each other when the disc was spun. The invention of this device is often credited to astronomer Sir John Herschel but it was well known London Physicist Dr. Paris who made it popular.

In 1834, William George Horner proposed a more convenient device based on Plateau’s Phenakistoscope which eliminated the need fod for a mirror allowed several people to view the device at one time.

Horner’s idea was to take shape in the form of drum with an open top into which was placed a hand drawn sequence of pictures on a strip of paper. The pictures were placed around the inside of the edge of the drum and could be viewed through the outside of the drum.
The images gave the illusion of movement as the drum was spun. Horner referred to his device as his Daedalum.

"zoopraxiscope". Patented in 1867 by William Lincoln, moving drawings or photographs were watched through a slit in the zoopraxiscope. Modern motion picture making began with the invention of the motion picture camera.


Praxinoscope

The Praxinoscope was the result of work carried out by Frenchman Emile Reynaud. Using a drum design which revolved, as with the Zoetrope, the images were viewed reflected in a prism of mirrors which rose from the centre of the drum. Each mirror as it passed flashed a clear image opposed to it. The result was perfect animation without the loss of luminosity in movement which was experienced with the Zoetrope.

The replacement of the opaque drawings with transparent drawings meant that light could be shone through them. The light which shone through the pictures was reflected by the mirror prism and focused onto a screen through a lens.

Reynaud devised a method of painting a series of pictures on small glass plates which were joined together in a single flexible strip. The animated characters were projected onto a screen from behind.He exhibited his projecting Praxinoscope giving public performances using long broad strips of hand painted frames.
The effect he achieved was successful but was jerky and slow. In addition the labour required to draw the strips meant that Reynaud’s films could not easily be reproduced. His invention would have benefited greatly from the use of photography.