Media Magica (2): Belebte Bilder

About the Magic Lantern, animation on paper, object animation, illuminated panoramas and much more. Together with the research of perspective came the wish to awaken pictures to life. The magic lantern had already achieved the illusion of moving pictures and this was also used to project shadow pictures. The magic lantern is the predecessor of the film projector. This had already been described in the fifteenth century. Simple ways to create movement are also be found on paper, in the pull, push and lift mechanisms of comic picture post cards or movable picture books. Peep show pictures are perforated, pasted over and coloured from behind in order to make city views come alive through backlighting. Another simple way to create the illusion of movement are panorama pictures: picture worlds that pass before the eye of the motionless observer or where the observer himself passes along the picture, as in a carriage ride.