The ZOETROPE

It was a very primitive animation device, originated in 180AS by Tin Huan under the name of 'chao hua chich kuan' (the pipe that makes fantasies appear), it was utilizes as a way of warding off spirits, rather than entertainment.

It wasn't reinvented until 1834 by William Horner (mathematician), who originally called it a Daedalum ("wheel of the Devil"). It is similar to Plateau's Phenakistoscope, but was more convenient since it did not need a viewing mirror and let more than one person to use it at the same time. His invention for some reason became forgotten for nearly 30 years until 1867, when it became patented in England by M. Bradley, and in America by William F. Lincoln. Lincoln renamed the Daedalum, giving it the name of "Zoetrope", or "Wheel of Life".



The Zoetrope is the 3rd major optical toy, after the Thaumatrope and Phenakistoscope, that utilizes the persistence of motion principle to create an illusion of motion. It is a simple drum with an open top, supported on a central axis. A sequence of hand-drawn pictures on strips of paper are placed around the inner bottom of the drum. Slots are cut at equal distances around the outer surface of the drum, just above where the picture strips were to be positioned.

In order to create an illusion of motion, the drum is spun; the faster the rate of spin, the smoother the progression of images. A viewer can look through the wall of the zoetrope from any point around it., and see a rapid progression of images. Since of its design, more than one individual could use it at the same time.

It wasn't a very fruitful animation device, partially due to the Phenakistoscope being released so closely. There has been various forms of Zoetrope and spin offs from the initial device all altering the method utilized to exhibit and make it easier to view. A good example of this was the use of a centre pole which had mirrors attached to it, this would reflect the images off the paper in the middle and eliminated the need for viewing windows.

Zoetrope is pretty much extinct now, it is an impractical way to animate because of its limited frames available, increasing the number of images results in either scaling the device up, consuming more space and money, or making the images smaller, which will end up making it harder to observe animations as the sizes are minimized.
Modern day Zoetropes' are created utilizing modern engineering and digitalisation to make a device with no limit to frames, this works by rather than using paper and TV screens. Each projected distinctive images that would swap when they were used, meaning longer production could be made, nevertheless, the creation of this modern spin was a gimmick more than any form of evolution.

In conclusion, the device itself is a very old and interesting attempt at an animation device, primarily used as a source of entertainment but its value is interfered by its frame limitation. Nevertheless, the size of this animation device does mean it was both affordable and usable in homes.

This is what a viewer would see before looking through the slots. The space between every two slots tend to darken the movie image.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Courses.ncssm.edu. (n.d.). Zoetrope, Top View. [online] Available at: http://courses.ncssm.edu/gallery/collections/toys/html/exhibit10.htm [Accessed 23 May 2017].