The phenakistoscope (also known by the spellings phénakisticope or phenakistiscope) was the first widespread animation device that created a fluid illusion of motion. Dubbed Fantascope and Stroboscopische Scheiben ('stroboscopic discs') by its inventors, it has been known under many other names until the French product name Phénakisticope became common (along with alternative spellings). The phenakistiscope is regarded as one of the first forms of moving media entertainment that paved the way for the future motion picture and film industry. Similar to a GIF animation, it displays a short continuous loop.
Etymology and spelling When the product name 'phénakisticope' was introduced in the French newspaper Le Figaro on 27 June 1833, it was explained to be from the Greek words phenakisticos for 'to deceive' and ops for 'eye' (φενακιστικός, or rather φενακίζειν phenakizein, and ὄψ or ὤψ ), so it was presumably intended to mean 'optical deception' or 'optical illusion'. The term phénakisticope was first used by the French company Alphonse Giroux et Compagnie in their application for an import license (29 May 1833) and this name was used on their box sets. Fellow Parisian publisher Junin also used the term 'phenakisticope' (both with and without the accent). Inventor Joseph Plateau did not give a name for the device when he first published about it in January 1833. Later in 1833, he used 'phénakisticope' in an article to refer to the published versions that he was not involved with. By then, he had an authorized set published as Phantasmascope (by Ackermann in London), some months later changed into Fantascope for a new edition and sets by other animators. In many writings and presentations Plateau used both the terms phénakisticope and fantascope, seemingly accepting phénakisticope as the better-known name and holding on to fantascope as the name he preferred. The spelling 'phenakistiscope' was possibly introduced by lithographers Forrester & Nichol in collaboration with optician John Dunn; they used the title "The Phenakistiscope, or, Magic Disc" for their box sets, as advertised in September 1833. The corrupted part 'scope' was understood to be derived from Greek 'skopos', meaning "aim", "target", "object of attention" or "watcher", "one who watches" (or rather from σκοπεῖν skopein) and was quite common in the naming of optical devices (e.g. Telescope, Microscope, Kaleidoscope, Fantascope, Bioscope). The misspelling 'phenakistoscope' appeared as early as 1835, in 'The American Journal of Science and Arts'. It became a standard spelling in encyclopedic publications, for instance found in A Dictionary of Science, Literature, & Art (London, 1842) and Iconographic Encyclopaedia of Science, Literature, and Art (New York, 1852).
Technology
The phenakistoscope is typically a cardboard disc with an array of sequential pictures around its center and evenly spaced rectangular apertures around the rim. To view the pictures in motion, the disc is placed on a handle and spun in front of a mirror while the user looks through the slits from the back of the disc. If the disc spins quickly enough, the visual system fuses the alternating views of the reflected image and the intervening cardboard (a phenomenon known as flicker fusion). During the unnoticed gaps, each image is replaced by the next in the sequence, perceived as the same figure going through the depicted phases of motion. The stroboscopic view through the slits prevents motion blur in the perception of the spinning pictures – the slimmer the slits, the sharper but darker the image. If there are as many slits as pictures, the figures appear to move in a fixed position and will not drift across the disc. Fewer images than slots and the images will drift in the opposite direction to that of the spinning disc. More images than slots and the images will drift in the same direction as the spinning disc. Unlike the zoetrope and other successors, common versions of the phénakisticope could only practically be viewed by one person at a time. The velocity of the disc causes a slight distortion in the perception of the pictures; they appear a bit slimmer and slightly curved. Animators can counter the effect to some extent by increasing the width and of the figures and bend them into the other way as the distorted curves, but the amount of distortion to be compensated varies because it depends on the speed. Most phenakisticope animations are not intended to give a realistic representation and the distortion isn't very obvious in cartoonish pictures. The distortion and the flicker caused by the rotating slits are not seen in most phénakisticope animations now found online (including the GIF animation on this page), as these are usually animations created with software and do not replicate the actual viewing experience of a phénakisticope. However, they can present the work of the animators in an optimized fashion. Some miscalculated modern re-animations also have the slits rotating (which would appear motionless when viewed through an actual phénakisticope) and the figures moving across the discs where they were supposed to stand still (or standing still when they were supposed to move around). Most commercially produced discs are lithographic prints that were colored by hand, but also multi-color lithography and other printing techniques have been used by some manufacturers.
Invention
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