Phonovideo - Live performance

For the shortfilm "Stuck in a Groove" which was made with this technique click here.
Phonovideo is a homemade visual tool that allows to display and mix short animations in an analog way without computers etc. It's a mixture of the phenakistoscope technique from 1832 and turntablism. The basic setup is two turntables, two cameras, a videomixer, some output or recording device and a pile of "records" with printed-on animations. You can think of it as an video equivalent to a classic dj-setup.

The thing that sets this project apart from other visualization projects is that the outcoming animation can be manipulated by hand and the audience can see how the animations are created and the animations do exist as a physical "record". Although the process is sometimes not easy to understand for a people who aren't enganged in film or something similar it is at least understandable at all in contrast to digital film making were you have to be a programmer to understand the technique behind it.

Phonovideo can be seen as a counter movement to contemporary digital culture. The project tries to rely on handmade easy but clever stuff which has its unique visual appearance and invites the viewer to think about basic principles of film without overwhelming the viewer with flickery imagery.

Phonovideo is mostly shown as a performance with accompanying music as part of an events evening program but it can be also shows in an exhibition space allowing visitors to try it out for themselves.

How does it work?
Phonovideo builds up on the first device ever created to display animations : The phenakistoscope which was invented in the year 1832 by Ritter Simon von Stampfer and Joseph Plateau (both independent from each other). As in the original Phenakistoscope-disc Phonovideo uses round discs with animations frames distributed evenly following the edge of the discs.
Unlike the original discs which had slits cut into them and had to be viewed through a mirror Phonovideo utilizes the shutter of a video camera to achieve the same effect.
The number of animation frame, the time it takes to spin the record and the framerate have to be in sync to make it work. In the installation the camera records 24 frames per second and it takes 1,333 seconds for on full rotation of the record (45 rpm) so there are 32 animation frames on the record toachieve the desired effect.
The technique allows for a lot of manipulation. If for instance the number of frames on the discs is changed the animation starts to move to the side which can be quite nice if you have for example a walking horse as your animation)

The rest of the work is less complicated. To achieve a seamless mixing of animation loops two turntables are used and the two video sources are routed to a video mixer. Basically its the same setup as a DiscJockey uses. While the projection screen displays the animation on the left turntable the record on the right turntable is changed and vice versa. Take a look at the assembly plan so it should become quite clear.