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Film only came to the fore late in the 1800's, but for a large portion of that century there was already a form of entertainment that gripped imaginations. It was the Moving Panorama, which also featured moving pictures but operated in a different way.
The Moving Panorama Tours
A moving panorama's base element was a long continuous painted scene, which was fed into a spool mechanism, which created the illusion that the audience was travelling through a location. This show was usually accompanied by a narrator who described the sights, and live music that also created tension and emotional gravitas during proceedings.
Replica of a 19th Century moving panorama.
Successful moving panoramas went on tours and could be quite profitable. John Banvard, one of the most successful the narrator, was able to pay for the construction of a massive mansion on Long Island from the profits of a world tour.
Professional painters worked to create the illusion of scenery according to the stage manager's wishes. From the 1820's the painters were credited in playbills, and at times their names could be larger than the actors, which illustrates the importance of the artists to these projects. Topics could be as wide ranging as balloon trips, travel through foreign lands or recreation of battles.
The moving panorama concept, and variations, started to become popular in the 1820's and remained so until the 1920's in some parts of the world. In the 21st century the moving panorama shows started to be shown alongside movies, the form of media which would come to replace it. On 24 June 1905, in Japan, for instance, the Russo-Japanese War was represented with models in a large water-filled tank and a painted backdrop. This illustrates the hybrid nature of later shows.
The moving panorama allowed armchair travel all over the world for the masses before the era of film. With its lush, colourful depictions of the world, it would a while before another form of entertainment could improve on its immersion. Film, in actual fact, could be seen to be a direct evolution of the moving panorama.
Thank you for reading!
Film only came to the fore late in the 1800's, but for a large portion of that century there was already a form of entertainment that gripped imaginations. It was the Moving Panorama, which also featured moving pictures but operated in a different way.
The Moving Panorama Tours
A moving panorama's base element was a long continuous painted scene, which was fed into a spool mechanism, which created the illusion that the audience was travelling through a location. This show was usually accompanied by a narrator who described the sights, and live music that also created tension and emotional gravitas during proceedings.
Successful moving panoramas went on tours and could be quite profitable. John Banvard, one of the most successful the narrator, was able to pay for the construction of a massive mansion on Long Island from the profits of a world tour.
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| An 1848 illustration of a moving panorama. |
Professional painters worked to create the illusion of scenery according to the stage manager's wishes. From the 1820's the painters were credited in playbills, and at times their names could be larger than the actors, which illustrates the importance of the artists to these projects. Topics could be as wide ranging as balloon trips, travel through foreign lands or recreation of battles.
The moving panorama concept, and variations, started to become popular in the 1820's and remained so until the 1920's in some parts of the world. In the 21st century the moving panorama shows started to be shown alongside movies, the form of media which would come to replace it. On 24 June 1905, in Japan, for instance, the Russo-Japanese War was represented with models in a large water-filled tank and a painted backdrop. This illustrates the hybrid nature of later shows.
The moving panorama allowed armchair travel all over the world for the masses before the era of film. With its lush, colourful depictions of the world, it would a while before another form of entertainment could improve on its immersion. Film, in actual fact, could be seen to be a direct evolution of the moving panorama.
Thank you for reading!
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