Not everything in this world are the DVD and its extras. Some films, especially those already long ago have been freed of their rights and common heritage can be seen quietly clicking on web pages that let you see small video online. The case is emblematic of two parts sealed by the competent, contained in any reference book on the subject: Je vous aime (1891) by Georges Demeny and Pauvre Pierrot! (1892) Émile Reynaud.
With Je vous aime , Demeny sought to provide a tool for the study of speech and articulation of phonemes, to capture about 20 images of himself at different stages in uttering (very slowly) the phrase "Je vous aime." The result is something like what we now know as a gif, something like a small animated sequence of photographs. The film would not be useful for what it was created (an aid to deaf), but in guiding Demeny in the world of cinema and a future partnership with Gaumont, the producer most worried in the beginning of the film by the timing between image and sound.
Flip Book: Je vous aime
Uploaded by Heezen .
Pauvre Pierrot! (1892) is one of the best-known of many that appeared in his plays Reynaud optical perfecting his praxinoscope to allow the projection of images. What we see in the Youtube video is a modern reconstruction of this show. We flirt with Colombina Harlequin and Pierrot the troubles of the poor before the first disregard this young lady and to the teasing and abuse they are subjected by Harlequin. All very naive and colorful, but with the charm of some drawings long before the official invention of the cartoons with McCay, Cohl and company, and in the early twentieth century.
