Explanation of Pinboard Animation by Alexeïeff

Added by Tim J. 1 month ago on 6 November 2009 10:43

Description

These short fragments show how "Pinboard" works. This is the device invented by Alexandre Alexeïeff and his first wife, Alexandra Alexandrovna Grinevskya, sometime before 1931. It uses shadows cast by hundreds of thousands of tiny needles or pins as a means of creating light and shadow which results in a gorgeous chiaroscuro effect.

Alexeïeff & Parker made many animated films using this device which was also used by them to prepare the set of slides opening Orson Welles' film "The Trial". Where are those slides now?? They should be published in an album!

The full documentary is about 1 hour long and is available on several DVDs in Europe and US, just search for "Alexeieff" on the web. It was also included on the 7-DVD set of Norman McLaren complete works.