kinetográf

The kinetograph was an early motion picture camera developed by William Kennedy Laurie Dickson and his team at Thomas Edison's laboratories in the late 1880s and early 1890s. Its primary function was to capture a series of still photographs on a strip of celluloid film. This film was then advanced incrementally by a mechanism that allowed for individual frames to be exposed in rapid succession. The kinetograph used a standardized 35mm film format, a width that would become the industry standard for decades. The camera itself was a large, box-like apparatus that required a stable setup and was not designed for handheld operation. The resulting recorded images, when projected using a companion device called the kinetoscope, created the illusion of movement. These early films were typically short, often featuring single performers or simple actions. The development of the kinetograph was a crucial step in the evolution of cinema, paving the way for more sophisticated cameras and projection systems.