Sallie Gardner at a Gallop
Encyclopedia
Sallie Gardner at a Gallop was an early production experiment on June 19, 1878 that led to the development of motion pictures. The motion picture consists of 24 photographs in a fast-motion series that were shown on a zoopraxiscope
. The photographs were taken by Eadweard Muybridge
, who was commissioned to produce them by Leland Stanford
. The concept of the shoot was to show that horses who are galloping lift all four hooves completely off the ground.
During July 1877, Muybridge tried to settle Stanford's question with a series of progressively clearer, single photographic negatives showing Stanford's trotter, Occident, airborne in the midst of a racing-speed gait. One of the prints was sent to the local California
press
, but because the film negative
was retouched, the press dismissed it. Negative retouching was very common at the time, however, and the photograph won Muybridge an award at the Twelfth San Francisco Industrial exhibition.
The following year, Stanford financed his next project, although it was rumored that the two had a $25,000 wager on a bet. The motion picture was taken at Palo Alto
on June 19, 1878 in the presence of the press. Muybridge photographed a Kentucky
-bred mare named Sallie Gardner that Stanford owned.
The cameras were arranged along a track parallel to the horse's path. Muybridge used 24 cameras which were 27 inches apart and about one twenty-fifth of a second in time. The shutters
were controlled by trip wires, which were triggered by the horse's hooves. The photographs were taken in succession at one thousandth of a second. Domm, the jockey who was riding Sallie, set a speed of 1:40 gait, which meant that the horse was going at a mile per 1 minute and 40 seconds, equivalent to 36 miles per hour (16.1 m/s). The result was a motion picture of the horse lifting all four hooves off the ground at the same time when galloping. The prints were produced onsite and when the press also saw the broken straps on Sallie's saddle, they became convinced of the authenticity of the photographs.
based on an account Stanford had written. This was not taken well by Muybridge, as this incident caused the Britain's Royal Society of Arts to summon him to explain why he was not credited for the work. The society then offered to finance further photographic investigations of animal movement.
In 1880, Muybridge projected moving images on a screen when he gave a presentation at the California School of Fine Arts, making this exhibit the earliest known motion picture exhibition. He later met with Thomas Edison
who had recently invented the phonograph
. Edison went on to invent the precursor of the movie camera, the Kinetoscope
.
Muybridge’s studies and work were published in Philadelphia under the auspices of the University of Pennsylvania after nine years of successive experimentation with photography and motion. The publication consisted of 781 collotype plates
and was named Animal Locomotion: An Electro-photographic Investigation of Consecutive Phases of Animal Movements, 1872–1885. The collotype plates measured 19 by 24 inches, each were contained in 36 by 36 frames which totals approximately 20,000 images. The published plates contained 514 men and women in motion, 27 plates depicted abnormal male and female movement, 16 subjects were about children, 5 plates was about adult male hand movement and 219 subjects were about animals.
Zoopraxiscope
The zoopraxiscope is an early device for displaying motion pictures. Created by photographic pioneer Eadweard Muybridge in 1879, it may be considered the first movie projector. The zoopraxiscope projected images from rotating glass disks in rapid succession to give the impression of motion. The...
. The photographs were taken by Eadweard Muybridge
Eadweard Muybridge
Eadweard J. Muybridge was an English photographer who spent much of his life in the United States. He is known for his pioneering work on animal locomotion which used multiple cameras to capture motion, and his zoopraxiscope, a device for projecting motion pictures that pre-dated the flexible...
, who was commissioned to produce them by Leland Stanford
Leland Stanford
Amasa Leland Stanford was an American tycoon, industrialist, robber baron, politician and founder of Stanford University.-Early years:...
. The concept of the shoot was to show that horses who are galloping lift all four hooves completely off the ground.
Development
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
press
News media
The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
, but because the film negative
Negative (photography)
In photography, a negative may refer to three different things, although they are all related.-A negative:Film for 35 mm cameras comes in long narrow strips of chemical-coated plastic or cellulose acetate. As each image is captured by the camera onto the film strip, the film strip advances so that...
was retouched, the press dismissed it. Negative retouching was very common at the time, however, and the photograph won Muybridge an award at the Twelfth San Francisco Industrial exhibition.
The following year, Stanford financed his next project, although it was rumored that the two had a $25,000 wager on a bet. The motion picture was taken at Palo Alto
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...
on June 19, 1878 in the presence of the press. Muybridge photographed a Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
-bred mare named Sallie Gardner that Stanford owned.
The cameras were arranged along a track parallel to the horse's path. Muybridge used 24 cameras which were 27 inches apart and about one twenty-fifth of a second in time. The shutters
Shutter (photography)
In photography, a shutter is a device that allows light to pass for a determined period of time, for the purpose of exposing photographic film or a light-sensitive electronic sensor to light to capture a permanent image of a scene...
were controlled by trip wires, which were triggered by the horse's hooves. The photographs were taken in succession at one thousandth of a second. Domm, the jockey who was riding Sallie, set a speed of 1:40 gait, which meant that the horse was going at a mile per 1 minute and 40 seconds, equivalent to 36 miles per hour (16.1 m/s). The result was a motion picture of the horse lifting all four hooves off the ground at the same time when galloping. The prints were produced onsite and when the press also saw the broken straps on Sallie's saddle, they became convinced of the authenticity of the photographs.
Aftermath
The relationship between the Muybridge and Stanford became turbulent in 1882 when Stanford produced the book The Horse in Motion as Shown by Instantaneous Photography, which was published by Osgood and Company. The book did not include the photographs taken by Muybridge, although it claimed to feature instantaneous photography, but instead, showed 100 illustrations based on the photographs taken of Sallie. Muybridge was not credited anywhere in the book except in a technical appendixIndex (publishing)
An index is a list of words or phrases and associated pointers to where useful material relating to that heading can be found in a document...
based on an account Stanford had written. This was not taken well by Muybridge, as this incident caused the Britain's Royal Society of Arts to summon him to explain why he was not credited for the work. The society then offered to finance further photographic investigations of animal movement.
In 1880, Muybridge projected moving images on a screen when he gave a presentation at the California School of Fine Arts, making this exhibit the earliest known motion picture exhibition. He later met with Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
who had recently invented the phonograph
Phonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
. Edison went on to invent the precursor of the movie camera, the Kinetoscope
Kinetoscope
The Kinetoscope is an early motion picture exhibition device. Though not a movie projector—it was designed for films to be viewed individually through the window of a cabinet housing its components—the Kinetoscope introduced the basic approach that would become the standard for all cinematic...
.
Muybridge’s studies and work were published in Philadelphia under the auspices of the University of Pennsylvania after nine years of successive experimentation with photography and motion. The publication consisted of 781 collotype plates
Collotype
Collotype is a dichromate-based photographic process invented by Alphonse Poitevin in 1856. and was used for large volume mechanical printing before the existence of cheaper offset lithography. It can produce results difficult to distinguish from metal-based photographic prints because of its...
and was named Animal Locomotion: An Electro-photographic Investigation of Consecutive Phases of Animal Movements, 1872–1885. The collotype plates measured 19 by 24 inches, each were contained in 36 by 36 frames which totals approximately 20,000 images. The published plates contained 514 men and women in motion, 27 plates depicted abnormal male and female movement, 16 subjects were about children, 5 plates was about adult male hand movement and 219 subjects were about animals.