The History of The Discovery of Cinematography - 1880

1880
CHARLES-EMILE REYNAUD (1844 - 1918)

Reynaud demonstrated his Praxinoscope which was electrically driven. The Praxinoscope was a device quite similar to that of the Zoetrope in that it recreated an animated effect. Posed still photographs were used and viewed through a window as a mirror reflection. Photographs were shown in sequence.

1880
JOSEPH BOGGS BEALE (1841 - 1926)
The most famous of American Lanternists, Beale saw his first lantern show as a child. In his professional career he delivered a complete repertoire of shows including themes such as Christmas, historical, political, great literature and religion. Beale witnessed the decline of the magic lantern as a premiere entertainment spectacle as the twentieth century approached, and the cinema with it. Today, with the resurgence of the magic lantern, lanternist enthusiasts and professionals around the world can be found performing in all types of venues. Terry Borton is one professional lanternist who honours the work of Beale by centering his entire show on the themes and work of Beale. The American Magic Lantern Theatre is the country's only authentic 1890's show. Visit The American Magic Lantern Theatre Here.

Joseph Boggs Beale

1881
EADWEARD JAMES MUYBRIDGE (1830 - 1904) and ETIENNE-JULES MAREY (1830 - 1904)

These men unite in Paris to begin collaborating in the study of motion. Muybridge had by now, constructed a series of pictures depicting motion by the use of a single camera. He then alongside Marey, shows these photos using a Uchatius lantern and could possibly have acquired picture-motion this way. The Zoopraxiscope has been, albeit rarely, called the Zoogyroscope as well. One such instance was a write-up from in Cassiers’s Magazine of 1881 in which we read ;

"Readers may remember that a good deal of interest was excited here and elsewhere not very long ago, by the publication of photographs and engravings illustrating the various motions of a trotting horse. Since these instantaneous photographs were taken, an instrument called the ZOOGYROSCOPE has been invented for the purpose of imparting something of a lifelike character to the pictorial representation in question. Mr. Muybridge, the inventor, describes it as a circular glass bearing a series of photographs of the animal to be represented in motion. As the glass is turned, the photographs, which ar successively illuminated by an oxy-hydrogen lantern, throw upon the screen a single, continuous, yet ever-changing picture, which is considered to be so admirable an imitation of the “real-live” horse, that nothing but the clatter of the hoofs and the breath of the nostrils is wanted to render the delusion complete. The Zoogyroscope can, it is scarcely necessary to add, be applied to photographs of other animals beside the horse.”

1882
ALBERT LONDE (1858 - 1917)

A photographer by profession, Londe worked at a Paris hospital (La Saltpetriere) in the neurological department using photography to study epileptic seizures. Londe designed and built a camera which had nine lenses which were tripped by electro-magnetic energy (a battery) and the use of a metronome to time the release of the shutters. This camera took in rapid succession, photographs on a glass plate. Not known as a photographer who added to the further study of stop-action series photography, Albert Londe must be acknowledged for his overall work within medicine using photography. He would use his talents in the study of animal movement and the action of waves. [SEE ALSO LONDE 1891]

1882
ANTOINE LUMIERE (1840 - 1911)

The Lumiere family was astute and prolific scientists. They introduced landmark inventions in the field of photography and Antoine, father of the more famous Lumiere brothers, founded Lumiere and Sons and manufactured photographic gelatin dry plates in Lyons. In 1883 the company made it's first filmstrip, a collodion stripping film invented by Georges Balagny. In 1887 the Lumiere's expanded to begin making roll films and printing papers. They also pioneered the investigations into colour photography and colour films. The Lumiere's second major invention was the first commercially successful Celluloid-film motion picture camera-projector. It was known as the Cinematographe, and made its first public showing in December 1895 in Paris.

1882
ÉTIENNE-JULES MAREY (1830 - 1904)
Marey designs and builds what was to become the world's first portable motion picture camera. He designs and builds a camera in the shape of a 'rifle' which is used to take 12 frames of birds in flight. The 'Chronophotographs' as they were called, were taken at a speed of 1/720th of a second. Marey called his "rifle" a Fusil Photographique.

Glass Plate Disk From The Fusil Photographique

Chronophotography consisted of exposures made using plates of glass (left), or on thick strips of primitive film. In the case of the film, Marey was able to use his 'rifle' camera (right) to make multiple exposures. His camera also circumvented the cumbersome method of Muybridge's large stationary cameras. A physiologist, Marey became fascinated with the problem of analyzing how insects, birds, animals and humans move.

The Fusil Photographique Rifle Camera Of Etienne-Jules Marey 1882

Disk Used In Marey's Fusil Photographique

Marey's Fusil Photographique 'Rifle'

(Marey Rifle image thanks to Russell Naughton)

He created several methods of obtaining time and motion recordings by means of mechanical or pneumatic devices attached directly to the subject, which activated a pen resting on a band of moving paper. Marey's meeting with Muybridge in 1881 convinced him of the value of photography for his work. He went on to invent a number of repeating-shutter cameras most of which recorded a series of images on a single plate, allowing a flow of the movements to be analyzed. His various devices and inventions were the foundation of a number of motion pictures, slow motion and high-speed cameras and projectors developed, and commercially exploited by others. His sequence pictures were at least as valuable and influential, as those of Muybridge in establishing the modern techniques of physiological movement analysis.

Illustration Showing Marey's Fusil Photographique

In 1882 Marey gave up on his Chronographic work, moving to Chronophotography. His preference to follow the movement of birds from one perspective (as opposed to the Muybridge method of twenty-four [albeit slightly] perspectives), led to the Fusil Photographique or photographic 'rifle'. Through this method Marey was now capable of moving with the bird in air, as in panning. Each phase of movement was exposed on one gelatine plate in the camera. Marey actually found the smaller the creature, the better the response. Larger subjects like people and horses tended to be over-lapped on the plate due to the shorter intervals between exposures. However this difficulty was overcome in human forms by the black suit/striped appendages.

The Illustration to the left is entitled "Flight of the birds according to the instantaneous photographs of Mr. Marey", From 1882

Illustration Showing The Fusil Photographique

How Marey's Bird Would Have Looked Using His Fusil Photographique (right)

Animation Of The Twelve Frames

	FUSIL PHOTOGRAPHIQUE IN ACTION Marey's mobile camera allowed for the birds to be followed more easily than a stationary camera. He therefore shared the idea of the Janssen 'revolver'. Simply by aiming his gun at the flying birds, Marey was able to place twelve exposures along the outer edge of the plate (above & below). The very end of the barrel could be moved in or out thereby providing focus. At the bottom of the end of the barrel [centre of the gun], housed the magazine containing the gelatine plate. In front of the plate was another disk, opaque, with twelve shutters, and in front of that disk, one more opaque disk with only one opening.
Footage (above) of Marey's Fusil Photographique being used to create chronophotographs of birds. The art of cinematography illustrating one of the important steps in it's own discovery.	This gentleman (left) is using the rifle with disk option as opposed to the film magazine option. Notice that he removes the magazine and places it over his shoulder. An image of the Fusil Photographique (above) shows the camera with the film magazine loaded.


The film (above) of the Fusil Photographique in use was not taken in 1882, but at a later date. By firing the trigger, all three disks moved with the help of a clocked mechanism (see below). These photographs of birds were to this point in his experiments, the most exciting to date. The rifle's portability allowed a new form of perspective to be captured while keeping the subject within the frame. This was soon to be known as 'panning', which quickly caught on and in the early twentieth century became a staple of filmmaking.
Although Le Prince, the Lumieres, Edison and Melies shot their original experimental films with stationary cameras, Marey's rifle allowed motion from both camera and subject, thereby enhancing this sense of 'movement'. Panning would be incorporated into cinematography very soon.		What the bird on the disk (above) looked like when projected.

		Marey's sequential photography was as important as the work of Muybridge, in establishing the modern techniques of physiological movement analysis. Marey preferred to work with smaller animals in studying their movements. Marey and Muybridge had met a year earlier in1881.
Eleven of twelve birds (above left) on the disk. Clocked shutter mechanism (above right) showing disk.

1882
OTTOMAR ANSCHUTZ (1846 - 1907)
Working at a Zoo in Poland to photograph animals in motion, Anschutz uses a hand sized camera he fitted with a focal-plane shutter. It’s ability to take extremely rapid exposures ( 1/1000th of a second) enables Anschutz to do educational work in motion. He takes photographs of marching troops, gymnasts and jumping horses. In 1882 Anschutz began taking instantaneous photographs. It wasn't until two years later that he became better known for his photographs of birds in flight. They reached fame because of their brilliant clarity and sharpness of detail. The redesigned camera became known as the Goerz/Anschutz camera.

Ottomar Anschutz

1882
EADWEARD JAMES MUYBRIDGE (1830 - 1904)

Muybridge states with all enthusiasm regarding horse races, that "no race of any importance will be undertaken without the assistance of photography to determine the winner . . . . . In an important race the decision of the camera would be preferred to that of the judges." Six years later it came true. Ernest Marks, official photographer for the Plainfield Racing Association in New Jersey, provided positive photographs within minutes of the finish.

1882
CHARLES-EMILE REYNAUD (1844 - 1918)

Reynaud presents another projector called the Lamposcope containing a disk with posed images on the outer rim.

1882-1883 ÉTIENNE-JULES MAREY (1830 - 1904) Marey set up shop at the Physiological Station at Bois de Boulogne near Paris. He had a 36-foot long studio-type building constructed for him that was completely open in the front. It was 13 feet high with the interior completely blackened with cloth to allow a human actor also in black to be photographed. The actor had white stripes lined down each appendage facing the camera. Marey’s Chronophotogaphy technique took consecutive photographs on one singular gelatin plate.



Co-father of Motion Study Analysis, Étienne-Jules Marey, was a physician, physiologist, inventor and photographer. He gave us the Chronophotograph, Sphygmograph and Odograph to name only a few of his many contributions to science. Here (above) is an example of Marey's stop-action series photography, which he took with his Fusil Photographique, or photographic "rifle". Marey also designed a "pistol", which he used to photograph the movement of animals, as Muybridge did. This Chronophotograph was taken in 1882.

1883
B. J. KILBURN ( - )

Another ‘gun’ camera is designed, built and patented, this time by Kilburn.

1883
THOMAS ALVA EDISON (1847 - 1931) and EADWEARD JAMES MUYBRIDGE (1830 - 1904)

The first of two known meetings between these two men (the second is in 1888) to consider the combining of Muybridge’s Zoopraxiscope for vision, and Edison’s Phonograph for audio, thereby providing the initial steps needed to produce a complete episode of natural motion with sound.

1883 ALBERT ROBIDA (1848 - 1926) In 1883 Albert Robida published the first of a series of three books in futuristic literature. It was called 'Le Vingtième Siècle' (The Twentieth Century). Set in the year 1952, it tells the story of young Hélène, her struggles through life, and the marvels of the future. In this novel Robida describes his Telephonoscope, which may likely have been taken from a combination of contemporary and near-inventions of the day. He conveys the possibility of transmitting both sight and sound in real-time, anywhere. Although not an entry that portrays any contribution to cinematography directly, we thought it important to mention Robida if only for the simple fact that he saw the potential of motion pictures combined with sound, and told us about it before we saw it ourselves.
	Illustration 'Le Journal Telephonoscopique' (above) By Albert Robida, 1883.

Robida was a visionary, artist and writer. In 'Le Vingtième Siècle' he depicts the future of fluid motion combined with sound, through electric transmission, simultaneously and all in one instance twenty-fours hours a day, 365 days a year. In his description of his Telephonoscope, Robida gives us television, video, video-conferencing, and email all rolled into one including the cable news channels. Robida's other entries in his series were 'La Guerre au Vingtième Siècle' (1887) and 'Le Vingtième Siècle. La Vie Electrique ' (1890). Robida may have seen a copy of Punch's Almanack of 1879 while drafting his novel. SEE ELECTRIC CAMERA OBSCURA

1884
FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY

The first ‘flash’ bulb photograph is taken this year using magnesium light.

1884
GEORGE EASTMAN (1854 - 1932)
Eastman begins manufacture of rolled paper film in Rochester, New York, the permanent home of the future Eastman Kodak Company. He applies for a patent on a film-stripping process, which requires a tougher outer coating to be peeled off before use. The paper base of film was coated with a layer of soluble gelatin and on top of this was again a thin layer of collodion with a light-sensitive gelatin emulsion. The film is known as Eastman American.

George Eastman 1854-1932

1884 EADWEARD JAMES MUYBRIDGE (1830 - 1904) One of Muybridge's busiest years came in 1884 as he produced more than 100,000 plates of humans and animals in a countless variety of motions. His work was conducted now at the University of Pennsylvania with a number of different set-ups; three batteries totaling twelve cameras; forty cameras equipped with a Dallmeyer lens and electro-magnetic shutter. By now, Muybridge was using the newer gelatino-bromide plates. By the end of 1885, Muybridge had spent over $30,000 in research. The work was published as Animal Locomotion; An Electro-Photographic Investigation Of Consecutive Phases Of Animal Movement. It had a chrono-text by a physiologist of the University.



Muybridge’s photo-plates ranged in size from 12 x 9 inches to 6 x 18 inches. The eleven folio volumes contained over 20,000 images of men and women (some nudes), children and animals and sold for $600. A considerable amount at the time which therefore constricted its market to libraries, universities and scientists for the most part. Muybridge reduced the cost and content of the original work in 1898 to $100 with only the most important plates and photographs included. Two volumes, Animals In Motion and The Human Figure In Motion were sold.

1884
OTTOMAR ANSCHUTZ (1846 - 1907)

Anschutz continues to take Chronophotographs at the rate of 24 per second using his own camera design. He used for the most part, animals in motion. Anschutz photographed sequence, as did Muybridge, and within two years would be using banks of between twelve and twenty-four cameras to gain his series. His Tachyscope projected the finished work. SEE ANSCHUTZ 1887

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