Who? Where? What?

Weird twist?

Why? When?

The praxinoscope was invented in 1877 in France by Charles-Émile Reynaud . It was one of the first devices that was capable of
creating fluent moving images. It consists of a cylinder with a mirror ring placed in the center.

How does it work?

The praxinoscope is an animation device. It brings pictures to life through creating an illusion of motion. A strip with a sequence of drawings were located on the inner wall of the cylinder. To create movement, you turn the cylinder by hand and the drawings begin to come to life. Someone looking in the mirrors would see a rapid succession of images producing the illusion of motion. So far, the animations of the praxinoscope could only be watched
by one person.

Later, the praxinoscope was also used in the optical theater. Years after having invented the praxinoscope, Charles-Émile Reynaud made several improvements to his invention, and in 1888 he baptised it with the name of “Théâtre Optique” (Optical Theatre). For the optical theatre the images of the praxinoscope were projected in public on a large screen and could be watched by a larger audience.
The Theatre optique is a clear predecessor of the film as we know it. With this new system different cartoons could be placed in a flexible band, drawn on gelatine film with perforations. This made it possible to present up to 15 images per second.

From 1892, Charles-Emile Reynaud used this system for his Pantomimes lumineuses: a show with hand-drawn animated stories for larger audiences. It was very successful for several years, until it lost importance due to the photographic film projector of the Lumière brothers.

During the 1830's, different types of optical toys were developed.
Their function was to create the illusion of movement through image sequences that passed by different types of shutters. At that time, Reynaud was responsible for making praxinoscopes that were then traded and sold as toys.

Before the praxinoscope there were some inventions that led the way.

One of them was the Thaumatrope. It was invented in 1820 and counts as one of the first devices that creates such an illusion of motion by moving two images so fast after each other that they appear to melt together.

Then came the phenakistiscope in 1830. The phenakistiscope was the first widespread animation device that created a fluent illusion of motion it was already more fluent than thaumatrope.

Also in 1830, the zoetrope was invented. It was basically a cylindrical variation of the phenakistiscope and the closest to the praxinoscope.
On the inner surface of the cylinder is a band with images. As the cylinder spins, the user looks through the cuts at the pictures across. The looking through the slits keeps the pictures from simply blurring together, and the user sees a rapid succession of images, producing the illusion of motion.

The praxinoscope improved on the zoetrope by replacing its narrow viewing slits with an inner circle of mirrors. Someone looking in the mirrors would therefore see a rapid succession of images producing the illusion of motion. It produced a lighter and less distorted image than the zoetrope.

img. 1 Charles- Emile Reynaud (1844-1918), French inventor

img 2. Theatre optique, 1888

img. 2 Thaumatrope, 1820

img 3. phenakistiskope, 1830

img. 4 zoetrope, 1830

img. 5 praxinoscope, representation of how it looked in the year 1877

In the close past, as well as in the present, you can find a lot of adaptations of these ancient animation devices. Their properties are reused in different ways.

The first example uses the Zoetrope as a reference. The frame on the right shows a YouTube video made by "Art Insider". The project is made by Kevin Holmes(Inventor). For this project, he uses the cylinder and the spinning mechanism of the zoetrope and combines it with strobe light in order to make a series of 3D printed models spin and create an illusion of motion.

The video "REAL Human Animation Machine" applies the spinning mechanism to real humans on a playground carousel. The rapid spinning motion gives the video an effect of a stop motion animation. When the dancers are moving, With no computer effects! The video next to it shows the makers "Corridor Digital", explaining their process and how they came to the idea. This particular project inspired me for my future scenario proposal nr.1. Read more about that here!

The video "Human Zoetrope (Tattoo Animation) is about the making of a tattoo. The artists Arnold, Bob & Charlie Roberts are tattooing a sequence of cartoons (in different stages of a movement) around the torso of a human. By using the rotoscoping technique, they were able to create an illusion of motion. Eadweard Muybridge's famous early experiments in motion photography served as reference.

All these creative ways of using certain properties of older animation devices like the zoetrope, inspired us to deconstruct the properties of the praxinoscope ourselves and apply certain elements to our prototype.
You can find more about that under "Process of the prototype" or by clicking here.

All the sources I used for this research are listed here and I'm reflecting more on the research methods here.

Pantomimes lumineuses by Emile Reynaud in 1892, posted on date unknown by "NickelOdeonsChannel"

3D Zoetrope, posted on 26.07.2019

REAL Human Zoetrope, posted on 03.08.2018

Human Zoetrope (tattoo), posted on 10.01.2017

The trick that made animation realistic (rotoscoping technique) explained, posted on 03.12.2019

Making of "REAL Human Zoetrope, posted on 25.07.2018

Theatre optique explained, posted on 30.10.2009 by "blissfullimagination"

First films screenings in history by the Lumière Brothers - December 28, 1895, posted on 03.05.2016 by "Exoplanet"

Thie Lumiere Brothers' - First films (1895), posted on 22.12.2006 by "Siyanure"