Experiencing Pre-Cinema Magic: A Journey with the 140-Year-Old Magic Lantern

Media archaeology may not have organised itself as a discipline; it may be loitering at the periphery of institutions and drawing the attention of career academics previously devoted to established disciplines; occasionally it may forget to define its own identity, or even ignore it, being still in the process of self-discovery

Erkki Huhtamo and Jussi Parikka, 2011: p.13

After the summer break at Birkbeck College, University of London, we had a fascinating class with Professor Ian Christie, who gave a lecture about the early days of cinema through the magic lantern experience. To help us understand this better, he brought a real magic lantern to class, which was an impressive 140 years old! This device projected images and offered us a unique opportunity to see how people experienced storytelling before modern cinema. As we watched the images, a live pianist played beautiful music, which created a magical atmosphere. Professor Christie narrated the story, blending the visuals and music to bring the images to life. It felt like we were stepping back in time to witness the beginnings of cinema.

Pic 1: Presenter shows the slides to the students

The magic lantern, is one of the earliest types of image projectors. It uses pictures—like paintings, prints, or photographs—on transparent glass plates, combined with one or more lenses and a light source. The way the magic lantern works is quite interesting; since a single lens inverts the image, the slides are inserted upside down, allowing the projected images to appear correctly on the screen. Developed mainly in the 17th century, the magic lantern was often used for entertainment and storytelling. By the 19th century, it also became popular in education, helping to illustrate lessons. Smaller versions were even mass-produced as toys later on. The magic lantern was widely used from the 18th century until the mid-20th century when it was replaced by slide projectors that could hold many 35 mm photographic slides. 

Pic 2: Magic Lantern Slides

Overall, experiencing the magic lantern in class gave us a firsthand look at the rich history of visual storytelling and the roots of cinema itself!

(Original Post Date: 9 October 2024)