This is an experiment carried out prior to the birth of cinematography, as Emile Reynaud put his invention, the Praxinoscope, into practice. "La Rosace Magique" is one of the examples that he used in his second presentation series.
Reynaud became an assistant to Abbé Moigno in 1864, who gave lecture-screenings with the magic lantern. After Reynaud read a series of articles on optical toys, he created a prototype praxinoscope out of a discarded cookie box. The praxinoscope is an animation device with a rotating cylinder that has mirrors along its surface. Those mirrors reflect an image to the viewer. Due to the optical illusion called 'the persistence of vision', we see a rapid succession of images as one fluid motion. This is why a succession of movie frames, which are typically played at 24 frames per second,, are perceived as one fluid motion.
So, although not a true film, "La Rosace Magique" is another one of those animations that pointed in the direction of the invention f cinema. The cinematograph made Reynaud's work obsolete and, unable to adapt to the quickly changing technology, he became impoverished.
Reynaud became an assistant to Abbé Moigno in 1864, who gave lecture-screenings with the magic lantern. After Reynaud read a series of articles on optical toys, he created a prototype praxinoscope out of a discarded cookie box. The praxinoscope is an animation device with a rotating cylinder that has mirrors along its surface. Those mirrors reflect an image to the viewer. Due to the optical illusion called 'the persistence of vision', we see a rapid succession of images as one fluid motion. This is why a succession of movie frames, which are typically played at 24 frames per second,, are perceived as one fluid motion.
So, although not a true film, "La Rosace Magique" is another one of those animations that pointed in the direction of the invention f cinema. The cinematograph made Reynaud's work obsolete and, unable to adapt to the quickly changing technology, he became impoverished.
