{"id":97,"date":"2024-12-12T00:03:24","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T00:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/history-of-animation-mes160\/?page_id=97"},"modified":"2025-07-23T15:48:37","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T15:48:37","slug":"week-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/mes160-f25\/week-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Week 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sequential Art, Optical Toys and Early Animation<\/h1>\n

This week, we will trace the origins of animation all the way back to prehistoric paintings, and see how artists and inventors created the illusion of movement, paving the way for the advent of modern cinema.<\/p>\n

Jump to the different sections with the links below:<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Animated Cave Paintings<\/a> | Shadow Puppets<\/a> | Magic Lanterns<\/a> | Optical Toys<\/a> | \u00c9mile Reynaud\u2019s Th\u00e9\u00e2tre Optique<\/a> | Eadweard Muybridge’s Locomotion Studies<\/a> | Arthur Melbourne-Cooper: Pioneer of stop-motion<\/a> | John Stuart Blackton\u2019s Lighting Sketches<\/a> |\u00a0George M\u00e9li\u00e8s: Pioneer of VFX<\/a> | The End of an Era<\/a> |\u00a0<\/em>Assignment<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Animated Cave Paintings<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Cave paintings, such as the ones found in the Chauvet and Lascaux Caves in France (15,000 BCE), already display humans’ interest in capturing movement: several drawings are superimposed to create the impression that the buffaloes, horses, etc. are moving.<\/p>\n

\"Chauvet\"<\/a>
“Panel of the Lions”, Chauvet Cave in southern France, 30,000 to 33,000 years old.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“[Paleolithic] artists at Lascaux used fire to see inside caves, but the glow and flicker of flames may also have been integral to the stories the paintings told. (…) Whatever tales may have been told inside Lascaux have been lost to history, but it is easy to imagine a person moving their fire-lit lamp along the walls as they unraveled a story step-by-step, using the darkness as a frame for the images inside a small circle of firelight.(…)\u00a0What\u2019s more, a flickering flame in the cave may have conjured impressions of motion like a strobe light in a dark club. In low light, human vision degrades, and that can lead to the perception of movement even when all is still, says Susana Martinez-Conde, the director of the Laboratory of Visual Neuroscience at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Ariz. The trick may occur at two levels; one when the eye processes a dimly lit scene, and the second when the brain makes sense of that limited, flickering information. (…) The end result for early humans who viewed cave paintings by firelight might have been that a deer with multiple heads, for example, resembled a single, animated beast.”\u00a0(from “Early Humans Made Animated Art:\u00a0How Paleolithic artists used fire to set the world\u2019s oldest art in motion”<\/a> by Zach Zorich)\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Marc Azema, a Prehistorian specializing in cave art, demonstrated the effect of the flickering light by sequencing the superimposed cave drawings:<\/p>\n

\"Azema\"<\/a>
Sequencing of superimposed prehistoric cave paintings (from “Les Trois-Fr\u00e8res” Cave in Southern France) to show the animated effect (by Marc Azema. See more here<\/a><\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/a>Shadow Puppets<\/strong><\/h2>\n

We will see several examples of puppet animation in the coming weeks. The technique’s origins can be traced to the long and multi-cultural tradition of shadow puppetry.<\/p>\n

“Shadow puppetry is an ancient form of storytelling and entertainment which uses flat articulated cut-out figures which are held between a source of light and a translucent screen or scrim. The cut-out shapes of the puppets sometimes include translucent color or other types of detailing. Various effects can be achieved by moving both the puppets and the light source. A talented puppeteer can make the figures appear to walk, dance, fight, nod and laugh.\u00a0Shadow play is popular in various cultures, among both children and adults in many countries around the world. More than 20 countries are known to have shadow show troupes. Shadow play is an old tradition and it has a long history in Southeast Asia, especially in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia. It has been an ancient art and a living folk tradition in China, India, Iran and Nepal.(…) Shadow puppet theatre likely originated in Central Asia-China or in India in the 1st millennium BCE.” (from\u00a0Wikipedia)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Indonesia\"<\/a>
Wayang kulit (Indonesian shadow-puppetry) as seen by the audience<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/a>Magic Lanterns<\/h2>\n

Magic Lanterns appeared in the seventeenth century, and remained a popular entertainment and information tool through the 19th century. They worked similarly to modern slide projectors: glass plates with images (painted or printed) were inserted \u00a0behind a lens, backlit, and projected onto a wall or screen.<\/p>\n

Magicians and entertainers used magic lanterns to enhance their performances. While some machines were permanently housed in theaters, many of them were portable enough to be taken on the road by itinerant artists who adapted their show for different audiences.<\/p>\n

\"lanterna<\/a>
Projection from a Magic Lantern (1869), sourced from Breve Storia del Cinema<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Magic lanterns were used for all sorts of contents, including fairy tales, phantasmagoria (ghost stories), news, sing-alongs, travel documentaries, religious education, scientific demonstrations etc. You can think of these presentations as precursors to cinema or Power Point presentations – depending on the subject and audience.<\/p>\n

One of the most famous lanternists was the Belgian \u00c9tienne-Gaspard Robertson (1763 – 1837) who toured Europe with his\u00a0Fantasmagorie\u00a0<\/em>shows and scientific demonstrations. The advertisement for his first performance in 1798 read: “Fantasmagorie \u2026 by citizen E-G. Robertson: apparitions of Spectres, Phantoms and Ghosts, such as must appear or could appear in any time, in any place and among any people. Experiments with the new fluid known by the name of Galvanism, whose application gives temporary movement to bodies whose life has departed. An artist noted for his talents will play the Harmonica.” (you can read more about E.-G. Roberston in “Robertson\u2019s Fantastic Phantasmagoria, An 18th Century Spectacle of Horror”<\/a> by Allison Meier)<\/p>\n

\"Roberston\"<\/a>
Gaspard Robertson’s “Fantasmagorie” projected for an audience in 1797.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Magic Lantern performances could also be brought into the home: “According to research conducted by Exeter\u2019s John Plunkett, magic lanterns were a regular part of middle-class life, popping up during birthday parties, holidays and social gatherings.\u00a0As Katy Scott reports for CNN, this meant that nearly 200 years before streaming services made it possible to delve into fantastical tales of fictional worlds and panoramic tours of Earth\u2019s most stunning sights from the comfort of one\u2019s own living room, sophisticated visions were commonly enjoyed in the Victorian home.\u00a0Plunkett relied on Victorian newspaper advertisements to gauge the popularity and availability of the devices. As he tells Geggel, opticians, photographers and stationery suppliers started renting out magic lanterns during the mid-1800s, enabling Victorians to enjoy the visual spectacle at a reasonable price.\u00a0\u201cHiring a lantern and slides was [initially] very much an expensive treat for the middle classes, especially if they wanted a lanternist too,\u201d Plunkett says in a statement. \u201cAs the century went on it became much more affordable.” (from “Before There Was Streaming, the Victorians Had Magic Lanterns\u201d<\/a> by Meilan Solly)<\/em><\/p>\n

The machines evolved over time and the simple hand painted slides started to be printed and mass-produced. Certain models even incorporated simple animations by overlapping slides, and\/or using crank mechanisms. Chromatrope projections (see below) represent early forms of projected abstract animations.<\/p>\n

\"chroma<\/a>
Magic lantern chromatrope, 1870.\u00a0The handle on the side of the chromatrope is linked to internal gears, when it is turned the chromatrope creates a similar pattern to a kaleidoscope. When lit from behind the pattern can be projected onto a wall. From The Kodak Collection at the National Media Museum<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Magic Lanterns were also massed produced as toys and were popular until the first half of the 2oth century when 35mm slides took over the market for home projections.<\/p>\n

\"Toy<\/a>
Child’s magic lantern with twelve slides by Gebruder Bing of Nuremburg c. 1915. Lantern<\/em>\u00a0Science Museum Group Collection.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This video from the Ford Foundation (3 min) shows antique Magic Lanterns in action, and gives a good overview of the art form’s history:<\/p>\n