The next logical step seemed to be to build a small zoetrope. I wanted to get my "hands dirty" and see what the issues and pitfalls might be. I knew from looking online that the slits needed to be 1/8" to 1/4", and that a traditional zoetrope apparently has thirteen images. Perhaps this is why, zoetropes were sometimes called "Wheels-of-the-Devil." I made mine with sixteen images since if you bisect a circle and keep on bisecting the parts, this works out easily. I dragged out my old drafting tools I hadn't used since the early 1980's when I was an undergraduate. I made the unit from one solid piece of poster board. I had not intended such an elegant solution, (this unit folds flat for easy transport) but it just worked out that way, developing in two dimensions what would fold and link together into three.
The public kiosk is going to to be most likely run on a 20" diameter drum. This one is exactly 1/2 scale at 10", which is perfect for running on a small phonograph turntable. A musty hand-cranked portable is optional, but at about 40 rpm, the spring motor runs an very long time.
Does it work? Yes! My animation skills are not that wonderful, but it will be more than fine for demonstrations purposes tomorrow at Taggart. Way better than just showing a video grabbed off of Youtube.
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