Best known for having captured the first clear photographic image of a horse at full gallop, Eadweard Muybridge completed his magnum opus on Animal Locomotion right here at the University of Pennsylvania between the years 1883 and 1886. Born Edward James Muggeridge and later working under the pseudonym Helios, among others, his most notable inventions include at once the zoopraxiscope, which paved the way for the cinematographic film strip, and the mysterious self-mythology of his own public persona. Adventurer, innovator, acquitted murder—this course will explore the troubled heritage of Muybridge with an eye both to his biography and to the impact he left on the development of film technology. Providing an introduction to the discipline of cinema and media studies, as well a reflection on how to discuss and evaluate problematic legacies, this class will critically examine photographic and cinematic claims to truth and the popular-cultural memory of Muybridge ranging from Thomas Edison to bullet time, from Rick and Morty to Jordan Peele.

CIMS History & Geography