The phenakistoscope (also spelled phenakistiscope) was an early animation device, the predecessor to the zoetrope. Eadweard J Muybridge ( April 9, 1830 &ndash May 8, 1904) was an English photographer, known primarily for his early use The bouncing ball animation (below consists of these 6 frames A zoetrope is a device that produces an illusion of action from a rapid succession of static pictures It was invented in 1831 simultaneously by the Belgian Joseph Plateau and the Austrian Simon von Stampfer. Year 1831 ( MDCCCXXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those Joseph Antoine Ferdinand Plateau ( October 14, 1801 &ndash September 15, 1883) was a Belgian Physicist. Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich
One variant of the phenakistoscope was a spinning disc mounted vertically on a handle. Around the center of the disc a series of pictures was drawn corresponding to frames of the animation; around its circumference was a series of radial slits. A film frame, or just frame, is one of the many single photographic images in a motion picture. The user would spin the disc and look through the moving slits at the disc's reflection in a mirror. The scanning of the slits across the reflected images kept them from simply blurring together, so that the user would see a rapid succession of images with the appearance of a motion picture (see also persistence of vision). Persistence of vision is the phenomenon of the eye by which even nanoseconds of exposure to an image result in milliseconds of reaction (sight from the retina to the optic nerves Another variant had two discs, one with slits and one with pictures; this was slightly more unwieldy but needed no mirror. Unlike the zoetrope and its successors, the phenakistoscope could only practically be used by one person at a time.
The word "phenakistoscope" comes from Greek roots meaning "to cheat", as it deceives the eye by making the pictures look like an animation. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly
The Special Honorary Joseph Plateau Award, a replica of Plateau's original phenakisticope, is presented every year to a special guest of the Flanders International Film Festival whose achievements have earned a special and distinct place in the history of international film making.
See also
External links
- Collection of simulated phenakistiscopes in action - Museum For The History Of Sciences
- A picture and further information - North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM)
- An exhibit of similar optical toys, including the zoetrope (Laura Hayes and John Howard Wileman Exhibit of Optical Toys in the NCSSM)
Dictionary
phenakistoscope
-noun
- An early animation device consisting of a disc or drum which rotated, showing successive images through slits, often via a mirror, thus producing the illusion of motion.
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