Tokyo subway tunnel as zoetrope

[amnornes at umich.edu]

I meant to write about this one. It's quite a spectacle, especially if you
aren't expecting it. The first time I went by there with my 5 year-old son, he
just about freaked out!

Markus


Quoting Jason Gray <loaded_films at yahoo.co.jp>:

> With talk of high-tech mobile cinema, I remembered I had
> been meaning to mention an interesting low-tech invention
> which has turned a section of Tokyo's Ginza subway line
> into a kind of zoetrope, or phenakistiscope. As the
> Shibuya-bound subway travels between Tameike-Sanno and
> Akasaka-Mitsuke stations, a poster-sized moving image
> becomes visible outside the window for about ten seconds.
> A natural shutter effect is created by the train passing
> still image "frames" with the appropriate gap between. The
> images look to be printed on special material to reflect
> the light given off by the inside of the subway car,
> creating an almost video-like appearance.
>
> Of course the purpose has been advertising of products,
> but it would be interesting to have filmmakers come up
> with (very) short films that would screen in the tunnel.
> Now, if only there weren't so many bodies in the way, you
> could really enjoy it.
>
> jg
>
>
>
>