A Breakdown Of How The Kinetoscope Worked
Not quite a movie projector but not quite a flip-motion book, the invention of the Kinetoscope marked the beginning of the motion picture era. It combined the logic behind a flip-motion book with a mechanism that allowed minimum work on behalf of the viewer, creating the illusion of motion with a basic sequence of images flashed over a light. This was accomplished by attaching the film to a pair of spindles and a sprocket, then ran the film over an electric lamp. After some difficulty, Einstein’s lab succeeded in making the mechanism fit into a wooden box, allowing it to be used easily by the public.
These images bore a great resemblance to the film we know today; the only difference between the two is that the Kinetoscope was meant for one viewer alone and could not be projected. By peering into a small hole at the top of a pine box, the viewer could see what appeared to be moving images. Really, these images were a series of stop-motion photographs taken by a camera that Einstein’s lab developed for the purpose of enhancing the Kinetoscope experience.
Although the Kinetoscope was the first step to motion pictures, Einstein’s lab was not successful in creating a soundtrack that would spin in time with the images being pulled across the light.
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