When we discussed the Kinetoscope in class last Thursday, I was intrigued by the design of this invention, but could not fully make sense of how it functions just by looking at pictures of it. An interior view of the Kinetoscope shows film wrapped around a number of wheels below an eyepiece, leading through another series of wheels that create vertical parallel rows of film, and running back towards the eyepiece. Although the film appears to pass beneath the eyepiece located at the crown of the contraption, I wanted to research this object for my response paper because the mechanics were difficult to make sense of at first glance. Described as “the birth of the movie industry,” the Kinetoscope was originally designed by Thomas Edison in the
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Although the Kinetoscope did not project the films onto walls, the concept behind its design would be utilized to develop the following inventions in the evolution of film projectors. Historical evidence shows that Edison and employees of the Edison company used some of the design and research that was introduced by Eadweard James Maybridge in one of his earlier inventions: the Zoopraxiscope. In fact, it was during Maybridge’s demonstration of the Zoopraxiscope in West Orange, New Jersey that inspired Edison to plan on creating a system that would play moving images In addition to expanding on the ideas of Eadweard James Maybridge, Edison and his employees—who most likely did more for the development of the Kinetoscope than Edison himself—were also aided by the work of a French chronophotographer named Étienne Jules Marey. Marey’s innovative creation, the chronophotographic gun, allowed one to capture moving images at a rate of twelve frames per second. Unfortunately, at the time of the chronophotographic gun’s invention, there was an absence of film rolls …show more content…
Upon the creation of emulsion-coated celluloid film sheets, Edison’s staff was able to continue with their creative development of what would be know as the Kinetoscope. A prototype of the Kinetoscope was soon after introduced; a machine housed within a rectangular wooden cabinet that reached a length of about four feet. Atop this wooden cabinet was a peep hole for the viewer to look into, designed with a number of magnifying lenses at the crown of the machine. The film, which reached a length of about 50 feet, was wound around a series of spools inside of the box. In order to increase the smoothness and steadiness of the film’s movement, Edison depended on sprocket holes that punctured the edges of one side of the film. These sprocket holes corresponded with a metal sprocket wheel located in the top of the cabinet’s interior; the alignment of sprocket holes to the sprocket wheel allowed for the film to run continuously through the Kinetoscope as fluidly as possible. The film was fed through a series of rollers within the cabinet; the top row, located just below the sprocket wheel, corresponded with a row of rollers at the bottom of the cabinet. The ribbons of film were wound vertically, alternating back and forth between the top rollers and the bottom. When operating, the film would pass under the lens, drawn by the mechanical wheels. Underneath the film was an incandescent light, and a shutter with a
Although the Kinetoscope did not project the films onto walls, the concept behind its design would be utilized to develop the following inventions in the evolution of film projectors. Historical evidence shows that Edison and employees of the Edison company used some of the design and research that was introduced by Eadweard James Maybridge in one of his earlier inventions: the Zoopraxiscope. In fact, it was during Maybridge’s demonstration of the Zoopraxiscope in West Orange, New Jersey that inspired Edison to plan on creating a system that would play moving images In addition to expanding on the ideas of Eadweard James Maybridge, Edison and his employees—who most likely did more for the development of the Kinetoscope than Edison himself—were also aided by the work of a French chronophotographer named Étienne Jules Marey. Marey’s innovative creation, the chronophotographic gun, allowed one to capture moving images at a rate of twelve frames per second. Unfortunately, at the time of the chronophotographic gun’s invention, there was an absence of film rolls …show more content…
Upon the creation of emulsion-coated celluloid film sheets, Edison’s staff was able to continue with their creative development of what would be know as the Kinetoscope. A prototype of the Kinetoscope was soon after introduced; a machine housed within a rectangular wooden cabinet that reached a length of about four feet. Atop this wooden cabinet was a peep hole for the viewer to look into, designed with a number of magnifying lenses at the crown of the machine. The film, which reached a length of about 50 feet, was wound around a series of spools inside of the box. In order to increase the smoothness and steadiness of the film’s movement, Edison depended on sprocket holes that punctured the edges of one side of the film. These sprocket holes corresponded with a metal sprocket wheel located in the top of the cabinet’s interior; the alignment of sprocket holes to the sprocket wheel allowed for the film to run continuously through the Kinetoscope as fluidly as possible. The film was fed through a series of rollers within the cabinet; the top row, located just below the sprocket wheel, corresponded with a row of rollers at the bottom of the cabinet. The ribbons of film were wound vertically, alternating back and forth between the top rollers and the bottom. When operating, the film would pass under the lens, drawn by the mechanical wheels. Underneath the film was an incandescent light, and a shutter with a