
The kinematofor, made by Ernst Plank of Germany, is a variation of the praxinoscope invented in 1876 by Paris school teacher Charles-Émile Reynaud. This kinematofer dates from 1898. An intricate pre-cinema toy, it was also a successor to the zoetrope.
The kinematofer is powered by a miniature hot air engine, which activates a circular platform with stationary mirrors and a paper strip of images. When in operation, the circular platform rotates, and the mirrors reflect the pictures onto the outer drum to achieve the optical illusion of images in motion.
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia acknowledges Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work and live and gives respect to their Elders both past and present.