Eadweard Muybridge

Eeadweard Muybridge was known as the 'Father of the motion picture', he was an English photographer who worked in photographic studies in the 1800s. Muybridge invented the zoopraxiscope which showed a series of pictures in rapid succession, showing a short animation.  He was approached by an American racehorse owner and wanted to prove that a galloping horse cannot lift up all four feet off the ground whilst taking a stride.



His study was known as 'The horse in motion' where Muybridge went to the racetrack and set up a series of cameras around it. As the horse would pass it, the cameras would go off. When all the pictures were put together, it showed that all four of the horse's feet were off the ground. In 1893, Muybridge held a lecture where he used his zoopraxiscope to show moving picture which made it the first commercial movie theatre.

The zoopraxiscope projected images from rotating glass discs in rapid succession. The device has a disc which is mounted vertically on a handle and spun. A series of picture are drawn on the inside of the disc which show the different frames of the animation. As people spun the disc, the reflection of the images could be seen on a mirror attached to the device so people could view the animation.










Source(s): http://givegathergrow.com/Motion_Picture.html