BTEC Media James McConnell

The History & Development of Stop Motion Animation

Part 1: Pioneers & Technology

Persistence of Vision The persistence of vision refers to the visual illusion in which multiple images appear

to blend into fluid movement through a perception of the human mind. Some believe this is

how we are able to interpret animation and film. The term has been traced back to Greek

philosopher Aristotle, in around 300BC. Persistence of vision is said to work by the human

mind creating a mental bridge between similar images, or frames of animation. Our brains

retain some light from the previous image as it is seeing a new one, which creates an illusion

of constant movement between the two.

Thaumatrope Thaumatropes were created in the 19th century, usually

credited to either John Ayrton Paris or Peter Mark Roget. Paris is

known to have used one when demonstrating persistence of

vision at the Royal College of Physicians in 1824. Thaumatropes

were produced as toys, consisting of a disc with two parts of an

image on either side. The disc had string attached on both sides

which, when wound up and released, spun the disc to create an

illusion of both images appearing as one. The most famous

example is the bird and the cage.

Phenakistoscope The Phenakistoscope was first created in 1832 by Joseph

Plateau, after the theory of it was first thought of by both Euclid

of Alexandria and Isaac Newton. A phenakistoscope also consists

of a disc, but larger with multiple images drawn around the

edges. The disc is rotated which creates the illusion of continuous

movement in a repetitive motion, similar to modern day ‘gifs’.

Famous phenakistoscope designs include a couple dancing, and

two men in a boxing match.

Zoetrope A variation of the Zoetrope first appeared in 100BC, created by

Chinese inventor Ding Huan. The modern zoetrope was created

in 1833 by British mathematician William George Horner. It

consists of a drum with a series of pictures inside that, when

viewed from the slits on the drum, gives the illusion of

continuous movement. It too must be spun to create the illusion,

also creating an early type of gif. A famous design includes that

of a man riding upon a horse.

BTEC Media James McConnell

Praxinoscope The Praxinoscope was invented in 1877 by Charles-Emile

Reynaud as a method of theatrical entertainment. It consists of

multiple drawings in a drum with a prism of mirrors above it. The

drum is spun around, and the mirrors give clear reflections of the

images. Raynaud used his device to project the images in front of

an audience, using long reels of hand-painted images around the

edge of the drum.

Kinetoscope Thomas Edison and William Dickson designed and created

the first Kinetoscope in 1891. An individual was able to look

through a ‘peephole’ window and view images on film reels

which were illuminated by a single bulb. The reels of images were

moved about inside the huge machine on cogs and wheels until

presented to the viewer by moving beneath the peephole. The

reel was capable of moving at a rate of 46 frames per second, but

often only went as fast at 30 as Edison quickly realised this was

all that was required to give the illusion of continuous movement

for most viewers.