A D V E N T U R E S in C Y B E R S O U N DMagic Machines : A History of the Moving Image from Antiqity to 1900
Camera devised by Wordsworth Donisthorpe - develops Jules Janssen's device using Du Mont's idea of changing plates - British Patent 4,344 November 9. In 1878 he suggests intermittent illumination of band by electric spark - Nature, xvii. 242. Hopwood, 'Living Pictures', 1899. Ottomar Anschutz of Prussia also reported to have used this method. Hopwood, 'Living Pictures', 1899.
Praxinoscope - 1877 later the Praxinoscope Theatre then Projection Praxinoscope The Praxinoscope was an optical toy devised by Charles-Émile Reynaud (1844 - 1918) - was based on the Zoetrope - the images similarly placed inside the drum were viewed not via a moving series of slits in the side but via a prism of mirrors placed around the centre of the drum. The Praxinoscope Theatre was development of the Praxinoscope where the moving images were optically combined with a reflected 'background'. also.. British Patent 4244, November 13, 1877. Hopwood, 'Living Pictures', 1899.
Zoogyroscope - 1878/79, renamed Zoopraxiscope - 1881 Devised by Eadweard Muybridge - an evolving adaptation of the Praxinoscope - utilised a glass circular plate with hand drawn copies of his famous photographic sequences. They were stretched lengthwise to compensate for the optical distortion introduced by the shutter mechanism. In the early 1890s American and European audiences marvelled at the Zoopraxiscope and in fact, when the early and initially, jerky monochrome 'motion picture' systems arrived in and around 1896, many regarded the 'new' invention as a backward step. also.. Projector devised by Eadweard Muybridge in 1878 - (system for) instantaneous photography - British Patent 2,746, July 9. Also article - 'The attitudes of animals in motion' [ Account of apparatus and methods ] Jl. Franklin Inst. (3), lxxxv. 260. Hopwood, 'Living Pictures', 1899. 'Improvement in the Method and Apparatus for Photographing Objects in Motion'. US Patent 212,865. Filed on June 27, 1878. Rossell, 'Living Pictures', 1998.
Projector - 1881 Lommel suggests using a light source passing through a slotted disk - onto a mirror - then onto the disk images. The images would be seen intermittently and potentially by more than one person - Carl's Rept. xvii. Pt. 7, 463. Hopwood, 'Living Pictures', 1899.
Heliocinegraphe - 1881 Charles Wheatstone eliminated the [Lommel's] mirror allowing more light to fall on the disk surface and moved the disk intermittently via a cog and snail gear. The Heliocinegraphe - twin disk Phenakistoscope introduced - viewer sees illuminated images through slots instead of viewing a slotted disk in a mirror with the side facing the mirror carrying the images. Hopwood, 'Living Pictures', 1899.
La Toupie Fantoche - 1881 (trans. Marionette Top)
 Toupie Fantoche
Children's optical toy devised by Charles-Émile Reynaud - article - La Nature, 1882, pt. i. 73. Hopwood, 'Living Pictures', 1899.
Fusil Photographique - 1882 (trans. Photographic Gun) also called Photographic Rifle, Photographic Pistol Camera devised by Étienne-Jules Marey (1830 - 1904) - sequentially exposed small photographic plates fitted around the edge of a circular replaceable 'magazine' . Article - La Nature, 1882, pt. i. 326. Hopwood, 'Living Pictures', 1899. also.. Striving to capture the minute details of motion, Étienne-Jules Marey, a French physiologist, develops the fusil photographique, or photographic pistol. It can take 12 consecutive pictures per second. also.. The following is a description of three texts for sale (Feb 1988) regarding... Marey's Photographic Gun and other future work. Marey, Étienne-Jules Emploi de la photographie instantanée pour l'analyse des mouvements chez les animaux... Paris. 1882. Sfr. 740. Extract from Comptes Rendus des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences, 1882, Vol. XCIV, No. 15., pp. 1013-1020. Illustrated with 3 woodcuts, including one of the famous circular plate of a gull flying. 4to. Neatly bound in a brochure. Hecht 310H; Eder p.507; Gernsheim, p. 335. In order that he could obtain pictures of the flight of birds more easily, Marey adopted Janssen's idea of a revolver. As such, he devised a photographic gun which was aimed at the flying bird like an ordinary rifle, the pictures being taken round the edge of a circular revolving plate.
 Marey's 'Fusil Photographique' or Photographic Gun
The gun permitted twelve exposures in a second, with each exposure occupying 1/720 of a second of time of exposure on Monckhoven's gelatine silver bromide plate. By mounting the serial pictures and modelling larger images in wax, Marey was able to create a stroboscopic disk which proved to give a very realistic effect of animation when exhibited in a zoetrope. The long road to full animated film had began. Marey's gun was a remarkable achievement in that it:
"resolved the problems of inaccuracy inherent in Muybridge's system; it was measurably precise; it worked with unprecedented speed and produced the number of images needed for synthesis - the twelve images it made each second were enough to synthesise the motion on a phenakistiskope."[ Marta Braun, Picturing Time, p. 61 ]. The gun was all the more remarkable as it was also Marey's first photographic instrument. Read on for further Milestones in Marey's researches. A Landmark in Cinematography as Marey announces his first Chronophotographic Apparatus. Marey, Étienne-Jules Emploi de la photographie pour déterminer a trajectoire des corps en movement, avec leurs vitesses à chaque instant et leurs positions relatives. Applications à la Mécanique animale... Paris. 1882. Sfr. 840. Extract from Comptes Rendus des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences, 1882, Vol. XCV, pp. 267-270. 4to. Neatly bound in a brochure. Gernsheim, p. 332:
"Just as Muybridge's work had originally been instigated by Marey's researches, so Muybridge was the direct cause which led Marey to abandon, in 1882, his chronographic methods in favour of chronophotography which afforded a more striking demonstration... In contrast to Muybridge's battery of cameras, which represented movement as seen from twenty-four slightly different viewpoints, Marey preferred to record the impression which one observer following the movement would obtain, and he photographed the consecutive phases of movement on one (gelatine) plate. The essential feature of his otherwise ordinary bellows camera was a disk shutter with radial slots which was placed in front of the plate, and uniformly rotated by clock-work (or by a crank and regulator), giving series of consecutive exposures of 1/5000 second at intervals of 1/10 second."In keeping with his name for the graphic method - chronography, or 'time writing' - Marey called his new method of decomposing movement 'chronophotography' or time photography. The First Cinematic Presentation 50 Marey, Étienne-Jules Modifications de la Photo-chronographie pour l'analyse des mouvements exécités sur place par un animal... Paris. 1888. Sfr. 1400. Extract from 'Comptes Rendus des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences', 1888, Vol. CVII, pp. 607-609. 4to. With: Marey, Etienne-Jules De la Claudication par douleur... Paris. 1888. Extract from 'Comptes Rendus des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences', 1888, Vol. CVII, No. 17., pp. 642-643. 4to. With: Marey, Etienne-Jules Des mouvements de la natation de l'anguille, étudiés par la Photo-chronographie... Paris. 1888. Extract from 'Comptes Rendus des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences', 1888, Vol. CVII, No. 17., pp. 643-645. Illustrated with a woodcut. 4to. With: Marey, Etienne-Jules Décomposition des phases d'un mouvement au moyen d'images photographiques successives, recueillies sur une bande de papier sensible qui se déroule... Paris. 1888. Extract from 'Comptes Rendus des Scéances de l'Académie des Sciences', 1888, Vol. CVII, pp. 677-678. 4to. All papers rebound in a paper brochure. - Small corner of last paper torn (not affecting text). Hecht 330G; Eder 510; Gernsheim, p. 334;Braun Picturing Time p. 151:
"Marey's contribution to the history of motion pictures began on 15 October 1888 with an announcement to the Académie des Sciences, the forum for all his presentations. Before he described his photographic experiments with the revolving mirror, he declared his intention to make series of images on a long band of sensitized paper, "animated by a rapid translation with stoppages at the moment of pose." [Taken from first paper offered above]. Two weeks later he presented the members of the Academy with the first series he had made... THEY WERE THE EARLIEST FILMED IMAGES EVER SEEN IN PUBLIC."To make the images on these strips Marey had used his fixed-plate chronophotographe, but he had replaced the sensitized glass plate behind the lens with a roll of light sensitive paper. This strip remained stationary during the time of the opening of the disk shutter. As Eder notes:
"Here the basic principle is for the first time expressed and materialised which forms the real foundation of cinematography."The First Cinematograph for Motion Pictures Marey, Étienne-Jules Appareil photochronographique applicable à l'analyse de toutes sortes de mouvements... Paris. 1890. Sfr. 620. Extract from Comptes Rendus des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences, 1890, Vol. CXI, pp. 626-629. Illustrated with a fine woodcut series by Petit of a man on his horse. 4to. Neatly rebound in brochure. Braun Picturing Time p. 156; Eder, p. 510. Marey's important announcement of his film-feeding system to the Academy. Indeed he had completely reconstructed his camera, with the one slotted-disk shutter becoming two and, more importantly, the bobbins and the film-feeding and clamping mechanism now integrated into the camera and joined to the workings of the shutters. His new apparatus was also equipped with a transparent light-sensitive film. Marey's willing to publish details of his camera at this early stage was later to exclude the possibility for a patent on the device.
Chronophotographic Fixed Plate Camera - 1883 to 1888 Devised by Étienne-Jules Marey - huge 1.3m disk shutter perforated with very narrow slots - single, fixed plate exposed 10 times a second at 1 /1000th of a second. The subject was brilliantly lit against a dark background. You may also wish to read more about Étienne-Jules Marey
Nine Lens 'Battery Camera' - 1883 (date uncertain - see 1890) Devised by Albert Londe (1858 - 1917) - nine lenses arranged in a circle - used at the Hospital de la Salpetrière. You may also wish to read more about Albert Londe
Phantoscope - 1884 (and later ? Biophantascope) Projector devised by John A. Roebuck (aka. JAR) Rudge - based on Beale's Choreutoscope used an intermittent mechanism and showed a sequence of seven images revolving round the lamphouse. This entry is inserted twice as two most reputable sources seemingly place it's appearance at widely differing dates Ceram has it at 1875 and Coe has it here some nine years later at 1884 !.
Projection enhancement - 1884 Devised by B. J. Edwards - lantern slide changer worked by one toothed cam and having shutter - British Patent 10226, July 16. Hopwood, 'Living Pictures', 1899.
Choreutoscope - 1884 Devised by W. C. Hughes - Choreutoscope (originally by Beale) - British Patent 13372, October 9. Hopwood, 'Living Pictures', 1899.
Miroscope - c.1885 Viewer devised by Étienne-Jules Marey - a drum containing ten models of the motion of a flying bird in respective phases. A perfect illusion of the bird's flight is obtained by rotating the drum and observing these models through narrow slots located along the drum circumference.
Theatre d'Ombres - 1885 "But the true center of the new Chat Noir was the Theatre d'Ombres, the shadow theatre, a brain child of Henri Riviere which put all the Paris beau monde into a state of wonder by the brilliance of its technique and artistic innovation. The Theatre d'Ombres was a discovery in the true cabaret spirit. It was a genre which could be used for a variety of effects and incorporated all genres into a small scale replica of Wagner's 'total art work' (Gesamtkunstwerk). "Using an ingenious combination of shadow and light play, decor painted or superimposed on glass and paper, cut-outs and Japanese-style puppets, Riviere created unparalleled pre-cinematographic effects on the screen-stage. These were underlined by musical accompaniment, with a choir of sometimes up to twenty people backstage, piano or organ; by narration, either of the story-telling or satirical commentary kind; and by acting. The diversity of the shadow plays does credit to the eclectic black cat. One could pass without transition from the mysticism of Georges Fragerolle's L'Enfant prodigue, to Maurice Donnay's Athenian drama, Phryne, to the parodied naturalism of Louis Morin's, Pierrot pornographe, to the heroic epic, Epopee, which put Paris once again into a Napoleonic mood of patriotic jubilation. Epopee, a military play in two acts and fifty tableaux, was created by Caran d'Ache, one of the epoch's leading poster artists. Witnesses say that some of the shadow plays equalled in beauty Turner's impressionistic effects. "One kind of shadow play consisted of a satirical montage of current events, piece bonemontee, a newsreel with a difference. Salis (((Rodolphe Salis, impresario of the "Chat Noir" cabaret))) (...) would improvise a commentary, drawing in references to any notables in the audience. He had respect for nothing and no one, and with an insolent loquacity, Salis would allow his sharp sense of the actual to demolish bankers and the treasury, politicians and parliamentarianism, 'the grand monde, the demi-monde, tout le monde...' In this room, with its profligacy of cats in diverse positions and styles, Salis cast the mould for what was to become the cabaret tradition of the conferencier." (((The Chat Noir cabaret was founded in 1881 and the shadow-play seems to have faded circa 1900. -- bruces))) Appignanesi, Lisa, 'Cabaret'. Grove Press, Inc. New York. pp 21-24. Originally published in Great Britain in 1975 by Studio Vista. First published in the United States in 1976 by Universe Books. First Evergreen Edition 1984 ISBN 0-394-62177-8, LC 84-47500 (((edited by Bruce Stirling)))
Bio-Phantoscope - January 1886 Projector 'devised' by William Friese-Greene (1855 - 1921) - claimed to be his own device it seems that the machine was in fact a Phantoscopes bought from (J.A.R.) Rudge. Coe, B., 'A History of Movie Photography'
Sixteen Lens 'Battery Camera/Projector' - 1886/88 Camera and projector devised by Louis A. A. Le Prince - 'Method of and Apparatus for Producing Animated Pictures of Natural Scenery and Life'. US Patent 376,247. Filed November 2, 1886. Issued January 10, 1888. - two bands - 8 images exposed - film one moved while other 8 exposed on film two overlapping exposures - on projection no blackout [ single lens form with sprocket actuated perforated film is suggested ]. Hopwood, 'Living Pictures', 1899. Rossell, 'Living Pictures', 1998. NB: (also called , Louis Aime Edmee Augustin Le Prince). You may also wish to read more about Louis A. A. Le Prince also... In 1886, Augustus Le Prince of New York State, filed an application [Serial No. 217809 Patent No. 376,247] for a U.S. Patent which disclosed transparent picture ribbons having a row of perforations along each edge of each film. Four such strips were used in the machine, four pictures being made on each in succession behind sixteen lenses. A single lens modification is suggested with perforated film driven by a sprocketed drum. C. Francis Jenkins, 1920, 'History of the Motion Picture' cited in: Fielding, Raymond, 1967, 'A Technological History of Motion Pictures and Television'
Tachyscope - 1887 Devised by Ottomar Anschutz - images on bands - vertical Zoetrope. also seen with very conflicting date? Tachyscope, 1895, Viewer devised for home use by Ottomar Anschutz (1846 - 1907) - development of the Zoetrope with the drum on a horizontal axis.
Celluloid - 1888 Devised by John Carbutt - article - A perfect substitute for glass - for use in photography - Jl. Franklin Inst. (3), xcvi. 478. Hopwood, 'Living Pictures', 1899.
Photo-chronographie - 1888 Devised by Étienne-Jules Marey - article contains slight description of first band form apparatus, Comptes rendus, cvii 607, 643, 677. Hopwood, 'Living Pictures', 1899.
Projection enhancement - 1888 Devised by E. T. Potter - "continuous lantern slides drawn from upper to lower spool by clockwork intermittent gear" - British Patent 14171. Filed October 2, 1888. Abandoned - Not issued. Hopwood, 'Living Pictures', 1899. Rossell, 'Living Pictures', 1998.
Projection enhancement - 1888 Devised by W. P. Adams - British Patent 16785, November 19, following on work of Potter - devises moving transparencies though magic lantern - film drawn onward by spring roller - stationary when gripped by second roller with brake - intermittent action releases brake - film transports - excessive strain on film. Hopwood, 'Living Pictures', 1899.
Single Lens Camera/Projector - 1888 Camera and projector devised by Louis Aimé Le Prince - 'Method of and Apparatus for Producing Animated Pictures'. British Patent 423. Filed January 10, 1888. Issued November 16, 1888 - initially used paper roll film then in 1888/89, Eastman's celluloid film. Le Prince disappeared without a trace in September 1890. Hopwood, 'Living Pictures', 1899. Rossell, 'Living Pictures', 1998.
Projection Praxinoscope - 1889 to 1900 Devised by Charles-Émile Reynaud - "band form Praxinoscope" - British Patent 2295, February 8, 1889 - also called Praxinoscope Projecting Theatre or Optical Theatre or Theatriaxinoscope. Hopwood, 'Living Pictures', 1899. also... Projection system developed by Charles-Émile Reynaud, - based on his earlier Praxinoscope and Praxinoscope Theatre. It utilised a combination of lamps and mirrors to project images on a screen. The images were hand painted on a strip of individual celluloid plates. A subsidiary 'magic lantern', projected a stationary background on the same screen. The Projection Praxinoscope had however one defect, the spools of film had to be manually rotated by a skilled operator and often Reynaud had to be his own projectionist. In 1892 he signed a contract with a well known wax museum, Musée Grévin which provided many different attractions and Reynaud ran his The´ater Optique daily to enthusiastic audiences. He exhibited his first 'films', his Pantomimes Lumineuses, on October 28, 1892. Throughout the years he improved his machine and in 1900, when his 'films' had stopped being shown, it is estimated that over half a million people had viewed them. Soon, a new style of film began, 'lumiere style', where photographs were used instead of drawings. Not far from Grevin Museum, the public no longer wanted to see the 'old' style of 'films'. Reynaud tried desperately to compete, but failed miserably. With his stubbornness not to change to the 'lumiere style' he soon went out of business. In 1900, Reynaud now poverty stricken destroyed the three Projection Praxinoscopes he owned and threw all but two of his seven 'films' into the Seine river. also... In 1888, Frenchman Charles-Émile Reynaud patented his apparatus called the Projecting Praxinoscope. From 1892, he used this apparatus in his The´ater Optique in the Paris Wax Museum. He used it for screening 'films' made by himself. Hand-painted, coloured pictures on celluloid plates were stuck in between two paper bands reinforced by steel sheet strips and bordered with a textile edging. In the middle of the band there were perforation holes ensuring its precise transport through the apparatus. The length of one band was about 50 metres. A performance comprising three such bands lasted about 40 minutes and until 1895 there were 4000 such performances. With the introduction of the cinematograph by the Lumiere Brothers, the public interest decreased and in 1900 Reynaud was forced to close his theatre. He did not manage to cope with this fact and he destroyed his three Projection Praxinoscopes and threw the 'films' into Seine. A fragment of one accidentally saved film 17 frames long was presented by the inventor's son Paul Reynaud to the National Museum of Prague where it is kept as a document of man's ingenuity and perseverance.
Electrotachyscope - 1889 or 'Electrical Tachyscope' Viewing system devised by Ottomar Anschutz - article - Sci. Am. lxi. 303. Hopwood, 'Living Pictures', 1899. Stoboskopischer Apparat (Schnellseher), German Patent 60,285. Filed November 15, 1890. Issued December 19, 1891 Rossell, 'Living Pictures', 1998. also... Viewer devised by Ottomar Anschutz (1846 - 1907) - using flashes of light from a Geissler Tube to provide short-time illumination of sequential photographs placed along the circumference of a uniformly rotating disk. The audience viewed the images via a small window. also... 1892 - Electric Wonder - devised by Ottomar Anschutz - British Patent 23042, December 14 - disk images developed to strips - 'penny in the slot'. Hopwood, 'Living Pictures', 1899. You may also wish to read more about Ottomar Anschutz's Electrical Tachyscope
Chronophotographe - 1888 to 1890 Camera/Projector devised by Étienne-Jules Marey and using Eastman's celluloid film instead of glass photographic plates.
Zoopraxiscope - 1889 Projector devised by Eadweard Muybridge - shown at Royal Institution - silhouettes on rim of 15 ins glass disk - second disk of zinc with one slot disk in front of image disk and running in the opposite direction - B. Jl. Phot. xxxvi. 826. Hopwood, 'Living Pictures', 1899.
Kinesigraph (new model) - 1889 Camera devised by Wordsworth Donisthorpe and W.C. Crofts.
Camera/Projector - 1889 William Friese-Greene and Mortimer Evans - for taking series of instantaneous photographs - British Patent 10131, June 21 - shutter consists of two oscillating blades - 10 frames per second for 300 frames - shown on February 25, 1890 shown to Bath Photographic Society - (refuted by reports of the meeting - Ceram) - published in 1890 - Phot. News, xxxiv. 157. Hopwood, 'Living Pictures', 1899. 'Improved Apparatus for taking Photographs in Rapid Series', British Patent 10,131. Filed June 21, 1899, issued May 10, 1890 Rossell, 'Living Pictures', 1988. "...to whom it must go the honour of having first introduced a practical instrument capable of securing a record of any event and suitable for subsequent reproduction of a moving picture of the past occurrence". Hopwood, 'Living Pictures', 1899. [ also see Coe, Brian, Phot. Jl. March and April, 1962 "for a scholarly and penetrating revaluation of Friese-Greene's work" ] also... The Kinematograph - 1889 Camera devised by William Friese-Greene and Mortimer Evans - stereoscopic sequence camera - to produce images for the Rudge Phantascope owned by Friese-Greene. also... The Kinematograph camera and projector are publicly demonstrated in London. Invented by William Friese-Greene, a Bristol born photographer and self-taught scientist, the camera is able to take pictures on modified celluloid film at 50 fps (frames per second) by means of parallel sprocket holes. Friese-Greene's invention is unreliable and does not meet with great success. also... 1890 - Mortimer Evans - British Patent 3730, March 8, modifications (to the above camera?) - a brake may be periodically applied to the driving roller or a frictional gear disconnected. Hopwood, 'Living Pictures', 1899.
Camera/Projector - 1890 Devised by Frederick H. Varley - 'Improvements in Cameras for Photographing Objects in Motion'. Stereoscopic sequence camera/projector - British Patent 4704. Filed March 26, 1890. Issued February 28, 1891. Spring driven spools and provided with ratchets to prevent back motion revolving disk shutter. Hopwood, 'Living Pictures', 1899. also... At a Meeting of the Royal Photographic Society on Tuesday September 30, 1890 with Council member, Friese Greene in the chair. "...Mr Varley then explained a stereoscopic camera he had designed for taking successive negatives at a rapid rate. The mechanism of the instrument was shown and explained; the tendency of flexible films to hang loose was prevented by the differential speed of the two spools. There was also introduced a small roller, which, on each movement of the film, was thrown against it, helping to keep it taught; it also prevented it from running to either end of the roller. Mr Friese Greene stated that he had made exposures with the instrument at the rate of four or five per second, and showed a long roll of negative film that has been exposed and developed, where moving pictures were taken, showing that very little movement had taken place between the exposures."
'The Photographic Journal', November 21, 1890, pp. 15.
NB: The Journal doesn't actually state that the film was projected or 'thrown' on the screen. * Had it been so, this would have clearly shown that an exposure rate of 4 or 5 frames per second was substantially below the rate needed to "reproduce the motion of life."
*..."The object of this was to throw a number of pictures upon the screen in such rapid succession as to reproduce the motion of life."
'The Photographic Journal', January 31, 1896, pp.124.
'Six Camera Battery'/Projector - 1890 (see also 1883) 1890 - Albert Londe and Colonel 'now' (1899), General Sebert - six cameras in a circle rotating shutter trigger - used to analyse projectile motion - La Nature, 1890, pt. i. 97, 151. Hopwood, 'Living Pictures', 1899.
Chronophotographe - 1890 (originally Photochronographie) Étienne-Jules Marey - published 1891 in Rev. Gen. Des Sciences, ii. 689. Also publishes 'movement in water' - [ illustration of first pellicular apparatus ] - La Nature, 1890, pt. ii. 375. Hopwood, 'Living Pictures', 1899.
The story continues in Part 4: Magic Machines - 1891 to 1895
References A comprehensive list of books dealing with this subject is available in the bibliography attached to this site Two most excellent online companions to this work are The Complete History of The Discovery of Cinematography by Paul T. Burns and... Animations the superb recreation of 19th century moving imagery by Charl Lucassen other online sites of particular note... George Eastman House 'Technology Archive' also... The Bill Douglas Centre for the History of Cinema and Popular Culture
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