kinora (11. 019)

Courtesy of Nag on the Lake’s superb Sunday Links (lots more to explore there), we are directed towards a special exhibit on a nearly forgotten, early twentieth century home entertainment package in the form of an individual viewer based on the mechanism of a flipbook, with a Rolodex-type reel hand-cranked to produce the illusion of motion. Developed in parallel by the Lumière Brothers (see previously here and here) they were working on their Cinematograph—both a projector for audiences in a theatre-setting and a camera for capturing filmed footage, up to six-hundred paper-printed photographs to a roll, the action could be watched through a pair of stereoscopic lenses, and the display includes a demonstration, variant models (including a camera version so one could make their own home movies) and a 3D replica to test the antique technology, exploring both its limits and potential. Public interest eventually focused on the big screen, but several examples and catalogues of shorts remain.