Phenakistoscope
Phenakistoscopes are simple optical toys, slightly more advanced than the Thaumotrope They get their name from the ancient Greek word phenakisein, which means “to cheat“. They are instruments (scopes) that cheat the eye into thinking the pictures are moving.
Some different designs you can try
You will need one or more of these templates. If you can, print them off on thin card. If you can’t print direct onto card, run them off on paper and then stick them onto cardboard – you won’t need a whole A4 piece of card, only a piece that is big enough for the design. If you are sticking onto something like a cereal box, stick the design over the colourful side of the box (this stops your eye being distracted by a colourful pattern when you use your phenakistoscope).
The blank design is so that you can try and make your own animation.
Once you have cut out design, push a barbecue skewer through the centre. (The centre is marked with a black dot).
Once you have made a hole, take the skewer out and push it through a milk-bottle top wheel, as shown. Push the wheel and skewer in from the back of the phenakistoscope. Secure the wheel to the phenakistoscope using sellotape or masking tape.
Finish your phemakistoscope by sliding a short piece of straw over the axle (skewer). This lets you hold the straw with one hand and spin the axle with the other.
If you spin the phenakistoscope and look at it from the front, all you will see is a blur. However, if you look at the phenakistoscope from behind while it is spinning, and then look through the gaps into a mirror, the animals will appear animated. This is because the shape of the phenakistoscope presents the pictures to your eye as a series of individual pictures, all slightly changed – and we perceive this as movement.
If you enjoyed making these, why not try Moving Pictures 2