Cinema & communicating Scientific Theory – 1923

The Einstein Theory of Relativity (link to Vimeo, couldn’t embed for some reason, grrr)

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While digging about in the history of film and animation, for the purposes of getting a bit of perspective on the talents of the Eames’ in their skillful creation of ‘A Communications Primer’ (1953) I came upon this example of early animation & live action cinema, created for educational purposes by Fleischer Studios (brothers Max & Dave Flescher) in 1923 – here’s what Wikipedia has to say on the matter:

The Einstein Theory of Relativity (1923) is a silent film directed by Max and Dave Fleischer and released by Fleischer Studios.

In August 1922, Scientific American published an article explaining their position that a silent film would be unsuccessful in presenting Albert Einstein‘s theory of relativity to the general public. They argued that only as part of a broader educational package including lecture and text would such a film be successful. Scientific American then went on to review frames from an unnamed German film reported to be financially successful.

Six months later, on February 11, 1923, the Fleischers released their relativity film, produced in collaboration with popular science journalist Garrett P. Serviss to accompany his book on the same topic. Two versions of the Fleischer film are reported to exist – a shorter two-reel (20 minute) edit intended for general theater audiences, and a longer five-reel (50 minute) version intended for educational use.^[1]

The Fleischers lifted footage from the German predecessor, Die Grundlagen der Einsteinschen Relativitäts-Theorie^[2], directed by Hanns-Walter Kornblum, for inclusion into their film. Presented here are images from the Fleischer film and German film. If actual footage was not recycled into The Einstein Theory of Relativity, these images and text from the Scientific American article suggest that original visual elements from the German film were.^[3]

This film, like much of the Fleischer’s work, has fallen into the public domain. Unlike Fleischer Studio’s Superman or Betty Boop cartoons, The Einstein Theory of Relativity has very few existing prints and is available in 16mm from only a few specialized film preservation organizations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Einstein_Theory_of_Relativity

(Accessed 22.08.11)

It’s very interesting to discover this film as it reveals how advanced the use of cinema/moving image was at this early point in the 20th century. Indeed, animation seems to have been a common media form since the 1800’s, with Vaudeville shows combining live performance, animation sequences through zoetrope, thaumotrope and phenakistiscope devies, ‘chalk talk’ and ‘lightning sketches’. As Mark Langer of Carelton University writes:

One must understand that the earliest films that a modern spectator would regard as animated were shown quite differently than today’s theatre presentations. Early cinema exhibition owed a greater debt to vaudeville for the structure of the film program than it did to the conventions of middle-class theatre. The earliest movies were shown in programs mixing together short films on a variety of subjects, sometimes interspersed with live acts, in much the same way as a vaudeville bill of performance would have been organized.

http://animation.library.ucla.edu/historicalEssay.html

(Accessed 22.8.11)

It’s interesting to view the Eames’ technique with a sense of the historical progression of animation & film since the 1800’s. The Eames’ were largely self-taught, and learned through their peers rather than through ‘formal’ indoctrination via studios, or as part of the industry. They learned from the fringes in a way, in an amateur but entirely serious manner. (And perhaps they had the freedom of the amateur in that regard… not being self conscious of the canon… the attitude of the transdisciplinary?) It will be interesting to learn more about their association with Billy Wilder, he being a close friend of the Eames. (They designed their famous lounge chair for Billy Wilder, to suit his midday napping patterns!)

More on this subject of early science communication through cinema anon…

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