The magic lantern, also known by its Latin name lanterna magica, was an early type of image projector that used pictures—paintings, prints, or photographs—on transparent plates, one or more lenses, and a light source. Because a single lens inverts an image projected through it, slides were inserted upside down in the magic lantern, rendering the projected image correctly oriented.
Morphing is a special effect in motion pictures and animations that changes one image or shape into another through a seamless transition. Traditionally such a depiction would be achieved through dissolving techniques on film. Since the early 1990s, this has been replaced by computer software to create more realistic transitions. A similar method is applied to audio recordings, for example, by changing voices or vocal lines.
A slide projector is an optical device for projecting enlarged images of photographic slides onto a screen. Many projectors have mechanical arrangements to show a series of slides loaded into a special tray sequentially.
A stereopticon is a slide projector or relatively powerful "magic lantern", which has two lenses, usually one above the other, and has mainly been used to project photographic images. These devices date back to the mid 19th century, and were a popular form of entertainment and education before the advent of moving pictures.
Pepper's ghost is an illusion technique, used in the theatre, cinema, amusement parks, museums, television, and concerts, in which an image of an object off-stage is projected so that it appears to be in front of the audience.
Phantasmagoria, alternatively fantasmagorie and/or fantasmagoria, was a form of horror theatre that used one or more magic lanterns to project frightening images – such as skeletons, demons, and ghosts – onto walls, smoke, or semi-transparent screens, typically using rear projection to keep the lantern out of sight. Mobile or portable projectors were used, allowing the projected image to move and change size on the screen, and multiple projecting devices allowed for quick switching of different images. In many shows, the use of spooky decoration, total darkness, (auto-)suggestive verbal presentation, and sound effects were also key elements. Some shows added a variety of sensory stimulation, including smells and electric shocks. Such elements as required fasting, fatigue, and drugs have been mentioned as methods of making sure spectators would be more convinced of what they saw. The shows started under the guise of actual séances in Germany in the late 18th century and gained popularity through most of Europe throughout the 19th century.
Precursors of film are concepts and devices that have much in common with the later art and techniques of cinema.
The Museum of the Moving Image (MOMI) was a museum of the history of cinema technology and media sited below Waterloo Bridge in London. It was opened on 15 September 1988 by Prince Charles and at the time, was the world's largest museum devoted entirely to cinema and television. The museum formed part of the cultural complex on the South Bank of the River Thames. MOMI was mainly funded by private subscription and operated by the British Film Institute. MOMI was closed in 1999, initially on a supposedly temporary basis, and with the intention of its being relocated to Jubilee Gardens nearby. Its permanent closure was announced in 2002.
Étienne-Gaspard Robert, often known by the stage name of "Robertson", was a prominent physicist, stage magician and influential developer of phantasmagoria from the Prince-Bishopric of Liège. He was described by Charles Dickens as "an honourable and well-educated showman". Alongside his pioneering work on projection techniques for his shows Robert was also a physics lecturer and a keen balloonist at a time of great development in aviation.
The Museum of Precinema is a museum in the Palazzo Angeli, Prato della Valle, Padua, Italy, related to the history of precinema, or precursors of film. It was created in 1998 to display the Minici Zotti Collection, in collaboration with the Comune di Padova. It also produces interactive touring exhibitions and makes valuable loans to other prestigious exhibitions such as 'Lanterne magique et film peint' at the Cinémathèque Française in Paris and the Museum of Cinema in Turin.
Phylidor, also spelled "Phylidoor" or "Philidor", also known as "Paul Filidort" and probably the same as Paul de Philipsthal, was a magician and a pioneer of phantasmagoria shows.
Carpenter and Westley were a British optical, mathematical and scientific instrument makers between 1808 and 1914. The company was founded by Philip Carpenter and, after his death, was continued by his sister Mary Carpenter alongside former apprentice William Westley. The company's contribution to the development of magic lanterns was significant and Philip Carpenter pioneered the use of copperplate slides.
Edmé-Gilles Guyot (1706–1786) was a French mail clerk, physician, postmaster, cartographer, inventor and author on the subject of mathematics, physics and magic. He experimented with optical illusions and with the theory behind performance magic. His developments into the apparent appearance of ghosts, using the projection of a figure into smoke, helped to create the technology and techniques used in phantasmagoria.
Elias Childe (1778–1849) was a British landscape painter. He was a prolific artist, working both in oils and watercolours.
Henry Langdon Childe (1781–1874) was an English showman, known as a developer of the magic lantern and dissolving views, a precursor of the dissolve in cinematic technique. While the priority question on the technical innovations Childe used is still debated, he established the use of double and triple lanterns for special theatrical effects, to the extent that the equipment involved became generally available through suppliers to other professionals. By the 1840s the "dissolving view", rooted in Gothic horror, had become a staple of illustrated talks with restrained animations.
The etymological meaning of the word audiovisualogy is linked, on the one hand, with the term audiovisual, referring to the means jointly related to the view and the hearing and, on the other hand, to the suffix logy, that refers to logos, and that in Greek means treaty, knowledge. Therefore, audiovisualogy must be understood as a study of the audiovisual media that, due to its broad meaning, could be related to either the cinema, the television or any other art.
A chromatrope is a type of magic lantern slide that produces dazzling, colorful geometrical patterns set in motion by rotating two painted glass discs in opposite directions, originally with a double pulley mechanism but later usually with a rackwork mechanism.
For the history of animation after the development of celluloid film, see history of animation.
Events in 1874 in animation.
Events in 1863 in animation.
