The Pit-sawyers

In The Pit-sawyers (1878), Émile Reynaud set the scene to demonstrate the act of sawing within a saw pit. The motion is continuous; however, it fails to generate a convincing effect. The wooden planks do not change shape, rendering the sawing visually redundant. With this piece, the animator appeared to recognise the limits of suitable subject matter for strips projected on a Praxinoscope. This unsuccessful experiment highlights that the reproduction of motion requires logical sequencing to be perceived as effective. Looped animation introduces the additional challenge of making the end of a strip serve as both conclusion and premise. A girl skipping continuously fulfils this requirement. By contrast, cutting has a definitive endpoint, with no physical means of returning to its original state.