MYPB Phenakistascope

MYPB Art 5 weeks

Due Date: 7 Feb. 2013

istarts-romans.blogspot.no

Guiding question:

How and why do we make moving images?

What work am I going to cover in this unit?

• Design and Create two motion picture discs.
• Write a DW write-up
• Reflect upon my work

What skills and concepts do I need to use?

• Drawing
• Material handling (paper, card, scissors, glue, etc.)
• Organizational (keeping track of your sketches, notes, and products.)

Areas of interaction: Human Ingenuity

• How have motion pictures developed over history?
• How have they changed history and where are they going?
• How do I fit into this?

About the Phenakistoscope

Dating back to 1832, the Phenakistoscope (Fen-a-KIST-o-scope) is probably the oldest device to produce motion pictures. Oddly enough, the inventor, Joseph Plateau,was partially blind. Earlier in life he had stared at the sun for 20 minutes to test out his persistence of vision. Thesun’s glaring image stayed in his eyes for several weeks after that, not because of persistence of vision, but because the bright rays had burned holes in the backs of his eyes! In the months that followed, his eyesight grew progressively worse, and it was during this period that he dreamed up his ingenious way of producing motion pictures.

Making Your Own Phenakistoscope

Materials Needed:

scissors

construction paper or cardstock

glue

a pencil with an eraser

a thumbtack or pushpin

a mirror

Task

You are living in a world without electricity or photography. Nonetheless, you are called upon to develop information to be stored on the disc of the newest animated entertainment craze, the Phenakistoscope. Make two discs; see how successful your first disc is, and apply what you learned to making the second disc. You should experiment with the disc format (size, number of shutter windows), as well as the content (subject and design of the sequence cells.)

You will be assessed in all Arts criteria, A (knowledge and understanding), B (application-creation), C (reflection), and D (personal engagement.)

Write-up Table—The Creative Cycle

• Dates for everything
• Label the work with the appropriate stage of the Creative Cycle

Chapter		Criterion
1	Investigate	A	Describe your task. Why you chose your designs. Brainstorming sketches—possible ideas.
2	Plan	A and B	Time plan—shows what you did on different days Steps to get your product ready. Awareness of the due date.
3	Create	B	What you actually did to get your product ready. Any problems you came across, how you solved them. Changes you made to your plan and why.
4	Evaluate	C	Your feelings about the product What you thought about the quality of your product and others. How effective your work process was. How you would improve next time.

Tips:

1.Your brain sees only a little of what your eyes see.

2.It is easier to see a moving object when it contrasts with its background a lot, or when it is very different from its background.

The fewer cells you have, the bolder your image will be, as each cell will be larger proportionally. The more cells you have, the more “flowing” and complex the movement can be. You can use color or black and white. Try to keep the movement fluid.

Make at least two discs, two different designs. Your first disc may or may not be successful. After you test it, you should apply what you learned to make your second disc more successful.