Kinoplastikon

Kinoplastikon was the name of an early process for creating a three-dimensional impression when projecting films.

history

When Oskar Messter's “Alabastra Theater” was shown in London in 1911 under the name Stereoplastics , Theodore Brown, who was already involved with stereoscopic photography, became interested in the “Pepper's Ghost” process. He made improvements and had the result patented under the name “Kinoplastikon”.

The “Kinoplastikon” performances took place in the Scala Theater in London, a 920-seat venue not far from Tottenham Court Road, where Charles Urban also showed his “ Kinemacolor ” color films. The text of a report in the London Times on April 28, 1913, which mentions natural colors , suggests that Urban’s films were also used in the “Kinoplastikon” screenings.

John Cher describes the effect in a report in Bioscope magazine on March 20, 1913:

“At the Kinoplastikon Theater I had the pleasure of inspecting the stereoscopic moving pictures of which so much has been heard and so little seen in England. The hall is underground. The sheet hangs far back, on a level with the stage. Amongst other reels, a "Pathé Gazette" was shown. Never before had I witnessed such a moving picture spectacle. It was practically the illusion of life, remarkable and astonishing, almost uncanny in its realness. "

The projection was acoustically supported by Cecil Hepworth's “Vivaphone”, a method for synchronous sound accompaniment that made use of a large funnel and a gramophone.

In the advertisement for the Kinoplastikon as in the program booklet it was said: “Living, singing, talking Cameo pictures in Plastic Relief without a screen”.

Despite the great initial success, the Kinoplastikon could not last long and disappeared again into oblivion.

Sound document

Alabastra, Foxtrot (uncredited composer) dance band Sándor Józsi (= Dajos Béla ). Odeon Record No. 41 508 [old “International Talking Machine Co. Berlin Weissensee” - label from the pre-war period]. approx. 1922/23.

literature

Brian Girling: Bloomsbury & Fitzrovia Through Time. Amberley Publishing, 2014, ISBN 978-1-4456-2703-8 , ill. "Kinoplastikon Scala Theater, Scala Street, approx. 1911"
Friedrich A. Kittler: gramophone, film, typewriter. Writing science. New edition. Stanford University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-8047-3233-7 .
Katharina Loew: Tangible Specters: 3-D Cinema in the 1910s. In: Film Criticism 3rd Volume 37, No. 1, January 2013, pp. 87-116.
Dominique Nasta, Didier Huvelle (Eds.): Le son en perspective: nouvelles recherches (= Repenser le cinéma. No. 1). Verlag Peter Lang, 2004, ISBN 90-5201-208-3 .
Michael Wedel: Film history as a crisis story: cuts and traces through German film. transcript Verlag, 2014, ISBN 978-3-8394-1546-7 .
Friedrich von Zglinicki: The way of the film. History of cinematography and its predecessors. Rembrandt Verlag, Berlin 1956.
Ray Zone: Stereoscopic Cinema and the Origins of 3-D Film, 1838-1952. University Press of Kentucky, 2014, ISBN 978-0-8131-4589-1 .

Individual evidence

↑ cf. Kittler p. 169–170, Wedel, Filmgesch, p. 83, Loew, Tangible Specters, p. 90–93, Nasta-Huvelle p. 124–125 and Fig. 3, Zglinicki p. 42–44, there also fig. , u. 272 and Werner Nekes
↑ cf. Zglinicki pp. 42-43.
↑ cf. Zone p. 68.
↑ the patent is entitled “Improvements in Cinematograph Apparatus for producing stereoscopic or plastic effects”
↑ cf. The Scala Theater as a Picture House by BF ; Image of an advertising poster for the theater at Girling
↑ 1867–1942, American-British cinema pioneer, cf. Luke McKernan, Charles Urban, motion picture pioneer
↑ thinks Stephen Herbert, cf. Zone p. 69 on note 56
↑ cf. Zone pp. 68-69.
↑ cf. Zone p. 69 “Cecil Hepworth's“ Vivaphone ”synchronized sound process provided aural accompaniment, using a large horn and a gramophone.” and Cecil Hepworth: Cinema's Forgotten Pioneer. ( elmbridgemuseum.org.uk ( Memento from September 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive )): “Cecil Hepworth worked on an invention called a 'vivaphone', an early (if somewhat unsuccessful) attempt to introduce sound into film”. and Stephen Herbert: The Vivaphone. ( john-goodwin.com ( Memento from August 21, 2014 in the Internet Archive )). An advertisement from Moving Picture World of May 4, 1913, p. 525. at wikimedia , an advertising poster Pictures which sing and talk at fgimello
↑ cf. Zone p. 69 note 57
↑ cf. Zglinicki p. 44.
↑ listen on youtube : the “Marionetten-Fox” by Eduardo Gareri (around 1919) is recorded. The "Alabastra" title is reminiscent of a cinematographic specialty of the 1910s, the "Alabastra Theater" by Oskar Messter, a combination of film projection and decoration that was supposed to simulate three-dimensionality.

[1] . Kittler p. 169–170, Wedel, Filmgesch, p. 83, Loew, Tangible Specters, p. 90–93, Nasta-Huvelle p. 124–125 and Fig. 3, Zglinicki p. 42–44, there also fig. , u. 272 and Werner Nekes

[2] . Zglinicki pp. 42-43.

[3] . Zone p. 68.

[4] the patent is entitled “Improvements in Cinematograph Apparatus for producing stereoscopic or plastic effects”

[5] . The Scala Theater as a Picture House by BF ; Image of an advertising poster for the theater at Girling

[6] 1867–1942, American-British cinema pioneer, cf. Luke McKernan, Charles Urban, motion picture pioneer

[7] thinks Stephen Herbert, cf. Zone p. 69 on note 56

[8] . Zone pp. 68-69.

[9] . Zone p. 69 “Cecil Hepworth's“ Vivaphone ”synchronized sound process provided aural accompaniment, using a large horn and a gramophone.” and Cecil Hepworth: Cinema's Forgotten Pioneer. ( elmbridgemuseum.org.uk ( Memento from September 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive )): “Cecil Hepworth worked on an invention called a 'vivaphone', an early (if somewhat unsuccessful) attempt to introduce sound into film”. and Stephen Herbert: The Vivaphone. ( john-goodwin.com ( Memento from August 21, 2014 in the Internet Archive )). An advertisement from Moving Picture World of May 4, 1913, p. 525. at wikimedia , an advertising poster Pictures which sing and talk at fgimello

[10] . Zone p. 69 note 57

[11] . Zglinicki p. 44.

[12] sten on youtube : the “Marionetten-Fox” by Eduardo Gareri (around 1919) is recorded. The "Alabastra" title is reminiscent of a cinematographic specialty of the 1910s, the "Alabastra Theater" by Oskar Messter, a combination of film projection and decoration that was supposed to simulate three-dimensionality.