One of the most interesting aspects of the Museum of the Moving Image to me was the section with the optical illusion toys such as the zoetrope and the thaumatrope. During the lecture in class, I wasn’t really able to understand or visualize the short range apparent motion (or persistence of vision) phenomenon that these toys are examples of. It was hard to imagine how exactly they’d work and why they’d be so fascinating and entertaining to people. However, when I actually saw them in person, I was impressed by how realistic the motion and imagery actually seemed. In particular, while watching the tour guide spin the thaumatrope, a simple round white disc with an empty black cage and one side and a red bird on another, I thought to myself that I could make one on my own with a piece of paper and a pen. However, he helped me to understand why I wouldn’t be able to recreate it and exactly how the simple toy succeeds in essentially tricking your brain into believing that the two separate images are actually one: he said that a break is necessary between the two images, and the pause serves more or less as a mental rest for your brain so the images don’t overlap too much, only just enough to seem like one cohesive picture.
In the same section of the museum, there was a piece that spun rapidly under strobe lights and relied on similar phenomena for the brain to process as coherent motion taking place straight in front of your eye instead of spinning so quickly in a circle. For example, there was a drop that fell onto a hand, through the fingers, turned into a paper airplane and crashed into a bowl of dishes. If that description sounds like that doesn’t make any sense, then I’m describing it correctly. However, we were all pretty amazed to realize that it was a spinning wheel of unique sculptures that weren’t actually moving at all when the the bright lights came on and the strobe lights went off.
My other favorite part of the museum, coming from a background in fashion, was the wardrobe section. Not only were many of the costumes impressive in their own right, but it was interesting to hear the tour guide give a visual analysis of these costumes in relation to the context of the film, the personalities of the characters and the messages that were trying to be conveyed.
