Museum of the Moving Image

Some of the first things we looked at in the Museum of the Moving Image were precursors to moving image technologies, including the zoetrope, which I found to be a particularly interesting toy. We had learned a little about the zoetrope in class, but I had never actually seen one in action and I couldn’t really understand how it worked or how it looked just by reading about it in text. Seeing the toy in action and the illusion it produces was surprisingly eye-popping and fascinating, albeit a rudimentary moving image device. For me, the zoetrope actualized the concept that each frame of a moving image must be punctuated by a brief and imperceptible moment of darkness (flicker) in order to give the illusion of motion.

The museum also had a collection of antique movie cameras and television sets. Early televisions were designed and manufactured to look like just another piece of furniture in somebody’s home and were encased in wood. This is in contrast to the televisions of today, which are now a larger and more imposing focal point in a home than ever. Generally, no effort is made to disguise the electronic equipment and the bigger the screen the better. I think the most peculiar of the old televisions at the museum was not a wooden piece, but one with a rounded screen that made it resemble a washing machine, of all things. Supposedly it was designed this way to appeal to the housewives of the 1950’s since it blended in with their other household appliances and because they were the stay-at-home audience. Today, the tables have turned to a sort of reversed sexism; the electronics market is now primarily based on appealing to the masculine consumer.