Early Film Invention

Today, during period one, please read about early film technology here. In your notes, please identify, describe (and/or draw a picture) and note the significance of the following technology. The side bar on the website's left hand side has the links for each device.

• Zoetrope
• Praxinoscope
• Kinetoscope
• Cinematographe
• Mutoscope
• Vitascope

Period 2: The following are important events, inventions, and their inventors that helped create the film industry. We played with many of these devices in class. You should be familiar with them.

Magic Lantern: Invented in the 17th century by Athanasius Kircher. The magic lantern projected pictures on a screen. It functioned like an overhead projector. Originally it used a candle as the light source.

Thaumatrope: Invented by Dr. John Ayrton Paris in 1824; utilized the theory of “persistence of vision”

Fantascope, Phenakistiscope (“spindle viewer”), Fanatoscope: invented by Belgian inventor Joseph Plateau. Daedalum (Horner 1834)/Zoetrope (Lincoln 1867)

Daguerreotype: Invented in 1839 by Louis-Jacques-Monde Daguerre. The process of capturing images on silvered, copper metal plates - the beginning of photography.

Celluloid: Invented in 1869 by John Wesley Hyatt. Strips of thin film which could be developed with pictures.

Praxinoscope: Invented in 1877 by Charles Emile Reynaud. A film projector. Here is one of his animated films: Emile Reynaud: pauvre pierre animation (1892)

Light Bulb: Invented by Thomas Edison in 1879. Actually the light bulb predates this date. Edison patented the incandescent light bulb filament.

One of the first pioneers of “film” was the artist/inventor Eadweard Muybridge: 1830 - 1904. He used several cameras to take a sequence of shots. Film was cut into strips and used in a praxinoscope. Muybridge invented his Zoopraxiscope, photos printed on a glass disc that rotated, to create the illusion of moving images. Here's what the first Zoopraxiscope clip looked like.

Edison Manufacturing Company (directed by Edwin S. Porter): Gordon Sisters Boxing (1900)
Uncle Josh in a Spooky Hotel
Uncle Josh at the Moving Picture Show (1903)
Faust (1900)
The Life of an American Fireman (1903)
Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906)

HOMEWORK: Please read: Melies & Edwin S. Porter in the handout given to you today. Take notes in your journal/notebook about relevant or interesting points in the article. Also, any questions you may have, please record and ask in class.