Essential Films

Before film existed, Émile Reynaud’s The Steeple-Chase proved animation could capture history itself. By depicting “actual sporting events in motion,” it showed how moving images became “a source of entertainment.” 👉 Read the full analysis here essential-films.co.uk/post/capturing…

Eadweard Muybridge stripped to his bare skin in "Athlete Swinging a Pick" (1881) in order to show the full force achievable through human movement. This pose echoes the art of classical Greece, where the naked human body is celebrated for it... Continue at essential-films.co.uk/film/athlete-s…

"The Slide" (1878) can be identified as the first example of applying linear perspective in the history of moving images. Émile Reynaud depicted three boys taking turns on an ice slide before finally jumping over a vault. The setting provide... Continue at essential-films.co.uk/film/the-slide…

Contemporary reviewers credited many of Émile Reynaud’s works as suitable for use as educational material in teaching younger audiences about many aspects of everyday life. "The Water-mill" (1878) fits these criteria particularly well by dep... Continue at essential-films.co.uk/film/the-water…

In the 1870s, European proto-cinema was dominated by French pioneers. Janssen’s scientific studies and Reynaud’s moving drawings were the defining outputs of the decade. Discover the best of their works in the Essential Films canon. 👉 View the list here essential-films.co.uk/film?continent…

To conclude his exhibition of the Praxinoscope at the Paris Universal Exposition of 1878, Émile Reynaud selected a particularly engaging subject. "The Clowns" (1878) presents three circus performers executing somersaults around a horse. The ... Continue at essential-films.co.uk/film/the-clown…

A young lady throws corn to chickens that eagerly feast upon it. This simple premise gives rise to one of the more complex scenes animated by Émile Reynaud. "Feeding the Chickens" (1878) combines the regular motion of the human figure with t... Continue at essential-films.co.uk/film/feeding-t…

The Herculean figure at the centre of "The Strong Man" (1878) is shown holding a heavy weight in his left hand while juggling another with his right. The animation forms part of Émile Reynaud’s third series of strips for the Praxinoscope, co... Continue at essential-films.co.uk/film/the-stron…

Émile Reynaud’s “The Lady Rider” (1878) is a precursor to his more polished work, “The Steeple-Chase” (1878). A lady in a riding habit gallops on horseback in and out of the frame within a brief loop. The specificity of the solitary rider dr... Continue at essential-films.co.uk/film/the-lady-…

“The Little Waltzers” (1878) is the most crowded of the animation strips in Émile Reynaud’s early oeuvre. It features two young couples performing the waltz, moving in a circle at a three-step pace. The routine requires a specific rhythm, wh... Continue at essential-films.co.uk/film/the-littl…

French scientists and artists were at the forefront of the race to reproduce motion. Discover the best proto-cinematic works of the 1870s from France in the Essential Films canon. 👉 View the full list here essential-films.co.uk/film?country=F…

Using only two protagonists, one dressed in red and the other in blue, in “The Steeple-Chase” (1878), Émile Reynaud exploited optical illusion to create a veritable horse race. The rapid alternation of the jockeys evades the capacity of visu... Continue at essential-films.co.uk/film/the-steep…

Performance-wise, “The Equilibrist” (1878) leaves a desire for more impressive tricks. Émile Reynaud’s animated drawing for the Praxinoscope is predominantly an exercise in depicting movement, focusing attention primarily on the centre of th... Continue at essential-films.co.uk/film/the-equil…

In “The Pit-sawyers” (1878), Émile Reynaud set the scene to demonstrate the act of sawing within a saw pit. The motion is continuous; however, it fails to generate a convincing effect. The wooden planks do not change shape, rendering the saw... Continue at essential-films.co.uk/film/the-pit-s…

Of all circus acts, juggling seems best suited to loop animation. In “The Juggler” (1878), Émile Reynaud enhanced the routine by adding to the juggled knives a multicoloured rotating plate, supported on a pole balanced on the performer’s fac... Continue at essential-films.co.uk/film/the-juggl…

Among Émile Reynaud’s first series of animated strips, "The Roaster" (1878) appears as one of the most accomplished works of the cycle. The human movements are mainly limited to the cook bending and pouring the roasting mixture over the rota... Continue at essential-films.co.uk/film/the-roast…

“The rosette is magic… a flower and a star folding onto itself.” Émile Reynaud’s "The Magic Rosette" (1878) wasn’t just an optical toy — it was animation’s first leap into abstraction, colour, and meaning. 👉 Read the full analysis here: essential-films.co.uk/post/the-divin…

1878 was a landmark year in the history of cinema. Muybridge in the USA and Reynaud in France both laid the foundations of the art of moving pictures. Discover the best works from this pivotal year in the Essential Films canon! 👉 View the full list here essential-films.co.uk/film?year=1878

Water ripples calmly around a figure partly submerged in water, performing the breaststroke. In “The Lady Swimmer” (1878), Émile Reynaud continued his experiments with colour layering to fascinate the viewer with the beauty of animation. The... Continue at essential-films.co.uk/film/the-lady-…

Sports have long provided a visual spectacle, so it is unsurprising that early motion picture experiments found them an intriguing subject matter. Given the constraints of his invention, Émile Reynaud tended to opt for minimalist reproductio... Continue at essential-films.co.uk/film/battledor…