SODEP

A woman whose husband was murdered five years previously, is stalked by his killer, who wants to eliminate her as a potential witness. What he doesn't know is that the shock of his murder caused her to have amnesia, and she doesn't remember anything.

The 11th short film as part of the Magica series dealing with pre-cinema. Documentary on the work of Etienne-Jules Marey. Marey is a doctor and is interested in movement. He first captures it graphically (the pulse of a man, the stride of a horse, the beating of a bird's wings).

Because he has seduced Germaine de Boismenil, Georges Dormont is thrown out of the army by the colonel and husband of the beautiful. After the death of the Count of Boismenil, Dormont arrived at the castle of the widow with the firm intention of taking revenge. From the outset, he seduces Pierrette, the servant, revives the heart of Germaine, having gotten an appointment with the widow, he makes her naked, humiliates and leaves her. Witness of the scene, Martha, the proud orphan, throws herself into the arms of Gaston, faithful order of the colonel, to avenge her mother. George soon flouted their feelings. He then forces Germaine to reveal his attachment to Pierrette and causes a beautiful scandal.

A jewel thief hides his loot in a WELL while escaping. He returns several years later only to find there is a Resort on the site and the well is the centerpiece of the place. He then has to find a way to retrieve his haul.

The 15th short film as part of the Magica series dealing with pre-cinema. A magic lantern slide show.

The 6th short film as part of the Magica series dealing with pre-cinema. Featuring demonstrations of magic lanterns by children.

The 8th short film as part of the Magica series dealing with pre-cinema. Fictionalised documentary about Emile Reynau who invented the praxinoscope and its system of central mirrors. He then projects his paper strips into the projection praxinoscope before creating the Théâtre Optique, presented at the Musée Grévin. The perforated strips are fragile and often break. The show is cancelled. Reynaud tries to apply photography to his praxinoscope, but without success. Desperate and ruined, he throws his strips into the Seine. Only two survived.

The 9th short film as part of the Magica series dealing with pre-cinema. A ‘panorama’ was a large painting on a cylindrical canvas. It provided a realistic and compelling view of a city, landscape or historical event, giving viewers the feeling that they were part of it. Viewers were positioned in the centre of a circular building or tent, with the canvas stretched around them. This provided a 360-degree view that gave a sense of depth and immersion.

The 2nd short film as part of the Magica series dealing with pre-cinema. In the 18th and 19th centuries, optical views were shown in optical boxes with magnifying lenses. The showmen organised a real spectacle, with a barker, music and sound effects. The views played with light (transparencies, perforations). A series of engravings shows the public's enthusiasm for these shows. The second part of the film is a reconstruction of such a show. First, there are views of Paris, Venice, Constantinople and Versailles, followed by various disasters: plague, floods, fires and shipwrecks.

The 13th short film as part of the Magica series dealing with pre-cinema. The Pathé-Baby, or ‘cinema at home’, the precursor to home cinema, was launched in 1922 and made it possible to watch comedy stars such as Max Linder, Laurel and Hardy, and Felix the Cat, as well as ‘big films’ such as Fritz Lang's Metropolis and Abel Gance's Napoléon, at home.

The 16th short film as part of the Magica series dealing with pre-cinema. Mr Seymour, the hero of the book by London doctor Mr Paris, shows his invention – the thaumatrope – to a little girl and explains how it works. The superimposition of the images is not perfect, so he invents the use of elastic instead of the usual string. Only by recording the two successive images of the thaumatrope on a title bench can they be viewed perfectly. Numerous examples are shown.

The story of the bet of Leland Stanford , baron of the rail, on the gallop of the horse. He uses the photographer Eadweard Muybridge , who is developing a system to analyze the movement.

A glimpse of the pre-history of cinema starting with the projections of Etienne Gaspard Robert (also known as M. Robertson), who used magic lanterns and other optical illusions to develop the genre of the Gothic phantasmagoria in the late eighteenth century.

Short film about the zoetrope, an optical toy

In 1840 it took 5'30" to make a photograph.