FATHER OF THE CINEMA.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 1247, 19 May 1914, Page 4

FATHER OF THE CINEMA.

Considerable discussion has been going on for some time past as to who originated the cinema. Many claimants to the distinction have come forward, but after careful investigation it would appear that the honour really belongs to an Englishman, Edward MuyoriJge, who emigrated from Kingston-on-Thames in the forties, and settled in California, where later on he obtained an appointment as photographic surveyor of the Pacific Coast.

The first moving picture which he produced was really the outcome of a wager made between the Governor of California (Eelaud Stanford) and a friend as to whether a horse ever has four legs off the ground at the same moment while running. Muybridge was asked to settle the point. He placed twenty-lour cameras in a line to cover each movement of the horse and rider, and the camera shutters being moved by connecting pieces of string which the animal broke as he passed. The result was a series of pictures showing each movement of the horse. It settled the argument, for Muybridge was able to show that, except when jumping, the horse never had all his feet off the ground at one time. This experiment caused Muybridge to think what an interesting thing it would be to present the photos in motion. To do this he copied the method made familiar to many in the zoetrope. This toy was a paste board cylinder, with slits in the upper section, and when it revolved rapidly it repro duced drawings apparently in motion.

To reproduce the effect upon a screen, using photographs, was a mechanical feat which was finally conquered, the movements of the horse being shown, but no background.

This was before the introduction of the flexible film for the camera, and before rapid photography had been developed. Muybridge lived to see the wonderful moving picture of to-day, and died in 1904 at his home in England. He left with the officials of the community and his friends the photographs and much of the apparatus used in his experiments.