Motion Picture Research Commemoration Plaque - Stanford University - Palo Alto, CA - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

Located in the SW corner of Memorial Court on the Stanford University campus is a bronze plaque, one of a number of plaques located within the Quad. This particular plaque commemorates the historic occasion when motion picture research was conducted on the Palo Alto Farm (now Stanford University). The plaque reads:

IN COMMEMORATION OF THE MOTION PICTURE RESEARCH CONDUCTED IN 1878 AND 1879 AT THE PALO ALTO FARM NOW THE SITE OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY THIS EXTENSIVE PHOTOGRAPHIC EXPERIMENT PORTRAYING THE ATTITUDES OF MEN AND ANIMALS IN MOTION WAS CONCEIVED BY AND EXECUTED UNDER THE DIRECTION AND PATRONAGE OF LELAND STANFORD CONSECUTIVE IN STANTANEOUS EXPOSURES WERE PROVIDED FOR BY A BATTERY OF TWENTY FOUR CAMERAS FITTED WITH ELECTRO SHUTTERS EADWEARD J MUYBRIDGE PHOTOGRAPHER CARRIED OUT THE INVESTIGATION AND SHOWED THAT THE PHOTOGRAPHS COULD BE COMBINED IN PROJECTION TO GIVE THE TRUE APEARANCE OF MOTION JOHN D ISAACS MECHANICAL ENGINEER ADVANCED THE RESEARCH BY DEVISING ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT J D B STILLMAN, MD ANALYSED THE PHOTOGRAPHS RELATING TO THE LOCOMOTION OF THE HORSE THIS TABLET ERECTED BY STANFORD UNIVERSITY MAY 8 1929

This plaque commemorates the earliest known projection of moving images in the world, a very poignant occasion at the time. Eadweard Muybridge, the director of these images would later experiment with projecting moving images of men, women and children in various states of movement. Muybridge was a true pioneer of his day and his groundbreaking work with projecting moving images would inspire others in moving closer to inventing the movie camera.

Wikipedia contains a great article surrounding the events of this commemorative plaque and even contains an imbedded GIF animation of Muybridge's first moving images of a horse (Sallie) galloping on Palo Alto Farm. Click the link below to view it.

Group that erected the marker: Stanford University URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link] Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: Stanford University Memorial Court Palo Alto, CA USA

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