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,v Filoteo Alberini
il cinetoscopio Verso la fine dell'Ottocento la
di t. Edison SCOperta del cinematografo si
stava concretizzando. Da diverse
nazioni giungeva notizia che
qualcuno aveva messo a punto
un sistema capace di far
osservare immagini fotografate
che creavano il movimento.
Di tutti questi dispositivi, più o
meno suscettibili di essere
sviluppati sul piano pratico,
quello che riscosse una vera
attrazione di pubblico e di un
certo successo economico fu il
Kinetoscopio (dal greco
Kinema, atos = movimento e
skopeo — guardo) di Thomas
Alva Edison. Esso contisteva in
un visore applicato a un cassone
entro il quale scorreva un anello
di pellicola formato da brevi
filmati di fatti comuni, che erano
stati registrati precedentemente
su negativo con una macchina
da presa: la Kinetograph
(sinonimo di cinematografo; dal
greco Kinema, atos =
movimento e grapho = scrivo)
pure messa a punto nel
laboratorio di Edison.
Introducendo una monetina si
poteva ammirare lo spettacolo
guardando in una fessura posta
sulla sommità del cassone.
Il Kinetoscopio, brevettato nel
1891, fu presentato la prima
volta al pubblico nel 1893, in
occasione dell'Esposizione
It was almost the end of the 1800s, and the cinematograph was in the
process of being invented! From different countries, the news arrived that
someone or other had succeeded in putting together a system which
permitted the viewing of moving photographic images.
Amongst these many devices, all of which could more or less be applied
practically, the one which greatly interested the public and enjoyed a
certain commercial success, was the Kinetoscope (from the Greek
kinema, atos = movement, and skopeo = I look) invented by Thomas Alva
Edison It consisted of a screen fitted inside a large box in which a loop of
film turned, composed of short filmed sequences of everyday events which
had been previously recorded on a negative with a movie camera: the
Kinetograph (synonymous with cinematograph; from the Greek Kinema,
atos = movement, and grapho = I write), also invented in Edison's
laboratory. One could watch the moving picture show in the Kinetoscope,
by inserting a coin and looking through a narrow opening in the top of
the large box (fig. 1)
The Kinetoscope, patented in 1891, was first presented to the public at the
World Exhibition in Chicago in 1893. The following year, 1894, it was
presented in New York, where it was a great success, and was also
brought to Europe. It then arrived in Italy and, as you will read later, it
was precisely the Kinetoscope which inspired the invention of the first
Italian movie camera.
In reality, the Kinetoscope ivas basically a film projector, but could only
be used by one person at a time. It was this very limitation that inspired '
the Lumière brothers to invent the "Cinematographe", which they
patented on February 13th, 1895, an apparatus that functioned as a
movie camera, printing machine and projector. It was this last function,
more than any of the others, that permitted the images to be projected on
mondiale di Chicago, e l'anno
successivo a New York, ove
ottenne un grande successo.
Sempre nel 1894 venne portato
in Europa. Giunse anche in Italia
e, come si leggerà più avanti, fu
proprio il Kinetoscopio a far
balenare l'idea della prima
macchina da presa italiana.
Il Kinetoscopio era in realtà una
specie di proiettore
cinematografico, usufruibile,
però, da una sola persona.
Questa limitazione portò, il 13
febbraio 1895, al brevetto dei
Lumière del "Cinematogràphe",
un apparecchio che fungeva
contemporaneamente da
macchina da ripresa, macchina
da stampa e macchina da
proiezione. Quest'ultima
prerogativa soprattutto,
permettendo di proiettare le
immagini su di un grande
a large screen, for any number of spectators, which gave the
"Cinematographe" the edge on Edison's Kinetoscope and, after that
famous first public showing on December 28th, 1895, at the "Grand Café",
14 Bvld des Capucines in Paris before an audience of thirty-three,
resulted in its being used in countries all over the world
It was on the above date that the commercial cinematograph made its
triumphant entrance and officially came into being.
However, a month and a half prior to this historical event, Filoteo
Alberini, the great pioneer of Italian Cinema (who was born in Orte,
March 14th, 1864 and died in Rome on April 11th, 1937) applied for a
patent on the "Alberini Kinematograph", and made his own cinema
history! (figs. 2 & 3)
Photography had been invented sometime before the cinematograoh
came into being, and every photographer nurtured a secret dream of
creating moving images; a deep, unconscious desire which was finally
realized with the birth of the cinematograph
Filoteo Alberini also started out as a photographer, and it was precisely
through his passion for photography that he ivas able to invent a movie
camera and projector in one, and make his entrance into
cinematography.
No one better than Filoteo Alberini himself, can tell us how his passion for
photography was born, and reprinted below is an extra from an article
(an abbreviated version of a talk he gave in Rome) which he wrote, and
which appeared in the Rome newspaper "La Tribuna", on February 1st,
1923, and was later published by the "Rivista Cinematografica" of Turin,
on February 10th, 1923:
•There was nothing I could do, that was my nature, and having given the
matter considerable thought, I came to the conclusion that I would get