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A flip book, flipbook, flicker book, or kineograph is a booklet with a series of images that very gradually change from one page to the next, so that when the pages are viewed in quick succession, the images appear to animate by simulating motion or some other change. Often, flip books are illustrated books for children, but may also be geared toward adults and employ a series of photographs rather than drawings. Flip books are not always separate books, but may appear as an added feature in ordinary books or magazines, frequently using the page corners. Software packages and websites are also available that convert digital video files into custom-made flip books.


Functionality

Rather than "reading" left to right, a viewer simply stares at the same location of the images in the flip book as the pages turn. The booklet must be flipped through with enough speed for the illusion to work, so the standard way to "read" a flip book is to hold the booklet with one hand and flip through its pages with the thumb of the other hand. The German word for flip book—''Daumenkino'', which translates to "thumb cinema"—reflects this process, the photographic progression integral to film.


History

There are some medieval illuminated books with sequential images, such as ''Sigenot'' (circa 1470). The illustrations in ''Sigenot'' are consistently framed and have short intervals between different phases of action, but the images cannot produce the illusion of a fluent motion. The necessary notion of instances smaller than a second would not really develop before the nineteenth century. The oldest known documentation of the flip book appeared on 18 March 1868, when it was patented by John Barnes Linnett under the name ''Kineograph'' ("moving picture"). They were the first form of animation to employ a linear sequence of images rather than circular (as in the older phenakistoscope). The German film pioneer,
Max Skladanowsky Max Skladanowsky (30 April 1863 – 30 November 1939) was a German people, German inventor and early filmmaker. Along with his brother Emil, he invented the Bioscop, an early movie projector the Skladanowsky brothers used to display a moving pict ...
, first exhibited his serial photographic images in flip book form in 1894, as he and his brother Emil did not develop their own film projector until the following year. In 1894, Herman Casler invented a mechanized form of flip book called the Mutoscope, which mounted the pages on a central rotating cylinder rather than binding them in a book. The mutoscope remained a popular attraction through the mid-twentieth century, appearing as coin-operated machines in penny arcades and
amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...
s. In 1897, the English filmmaker Henry William Short marketed his "Filoscope", which was a flip book placed in a metal holder to facilitate flipping. By 1948, an "automated multiple camera" for the production of "Pocket Movie flip book" portraits was marketed in the United States.


In culture

A type of flip book figures prominently in the rise in fortunes of the fictional artist Tateh in ''Ragtime'' written by E. L. Doctorow and published in 1975 later included in the film and musical adaptations of the book. The first international flip book festival was held in 2004, by the Akademie Schloss Solitude in
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
. Another international flip book festival was held in
Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...
,
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
in 2005. Since 2007,
Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that produces animated feature films and short films for the Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a s ...
has started its films with a
production logo A production logo, studio logo, vanity card, vanity plate, or vanity logo is a logo used by Film studio, movie studios and television production company, production companies to brand what they produce and to determine the production company an ...
that initially evokes a flip book. It starts with a view of an empty page of
paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...
, then as the pages start to turn, details are drawn in to reveal
Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...
in ''
Steamboat Willie ''Steamboat Willie'' is a 1928 American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. It was produced in black-and-white by Walt Disney Animation Studios and was released by Pat Powers (producer), Pat Powers, under the name of Cele ...
''. In 2010,
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
postal services released a flip book of stamps depicting a moving gömböc. The Israel Philatelic Federation released an "Israeli Animation Stamp Booklet" in November 2010 with 15 stamps designed by Mish to be animated when flipping the pages. It commemorated the 50th anniversary of ASIFA, the 25th anniversary of ASIFA Israel, and the "Flip Book 250th Anniversary". The
Finnish passport Finnish passports (; ) are issued to nationals of Finland for the purpose of international travel. Aside from serving as proof of Finnish nationality, they facilitate the process of securing assistance from Finnish consular officials abroad (or ...
design released in 2012 contains a flip book of a walking moose.


See also

* Electrotachyscope * Flip page * Mutoscope * Praxinoscope *
Stop motion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...
*
Strobe light A strobe light or stroboscopic lamp, commonly called a strobe, is a device used to produce regular flashes of light. It is one of a number of devices that can be used as a stroboscope. The word originated from the Ancient Greek ('), meaning ...
* Thaumatrope *
Zoetrope A zoetrope is a Precursors of film#Modern era, pre-film animation device that produces the illusion of motion, by displaying a sequence of drawings or photographs showing progressive phases of that motion. A zoetrope is a cylindrical variant of ...
*
Zoopraxiscope The zoopraxiscope (initially named ''zoographiscope'' and ''zoogyroscope'') is an early device for displaying moving images and is considered an important predecessor of the movie projector. It was conceived by photographic pioneer Eadweard ...


References


External links


Flipbook.info
– Includes demonstration videos of antique flipbooks.
History of Flip Books
– a brief history of flipbooks. {{Authority control Audiovisual introductions in 1868 1860s in animation Animation technology Optical toys Books by type History of film