Page 21 - Italian-American Herald - October 2022

ITALIAN-AMERICAN HERALD
OCTOBER2022 | ITALIANAMERICANHERALD.COM 21
Barbara Ann Zippi-Och, Executive Producer Text/Cell/WhatsAp 610 566 4883 CiaoBellaLivingItalianStyle@gmail.com
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A Hidden Gem: The History of Cinema Museum in Loreto Aprutino
Entrance to Museum of Cinema in Loreto Aprutino, Italy
The Cinema before Cinema Thaumatrope ~ a 19th Century optical toy
About the Creator
Nicola Ioppolo, born in Catania, Italy
and settling in Loreto Aprutino, Pescara region of Abruzzo, prepared his thesis
on the History of Children’s Literature
at Università degli Studi di Bologna. Ioppolo specialized in screenwriting for animated drawings at the Département Cinéma d’Animation CFT Gobelins in Paris; collaborated as a screenwriter and story editor on several RAI Television series, Alberto the Wolf, Spaghetti Family, The DaVincibles, PsicoVip and Tip The Mouse; collaborated as a teacher at the National School of Cinema in Turin and at the European Institute of Design in Milan; and was a collaborator of Giannalberto Bendazzi, Professor of the History of Animation Cinema at the University
of Milan and he teaches over 20 years Screenwriting and History of Animation Cinema at the “Luchino Visconti” Civic School of Cinema in Milan.
STORY
Hidden amid the stone pathways in the medieval village of Loreto Aprutino, in an old school house building, Nicola Ioppolo went to work with everyday common items and built a hands-on, interactive exhibition to his life passion on the History and Art of Cinema and Animation. I was privileged to be one of the few Americans who have been inside to experience these optical machines that gave rise to the first moving images representing an historical path that predated the birth of Cinema.
Without today’s technology, usually academics in the field of science, think Leonardo daVinci era, worked in the dark about each other’s experiments, in various Countries, and carried out studies on the visual perception of movement which led
to the construction of simple but effective optical machines, often marketed like “games”. They represented the grammatical basis of the motion pictures language. Before being an entertainment opportunity, cinema was the subject matter of research for scientists, doctors, physicists or biologists, who often used it as a didactic tool, suitable for making colleagues
Fast forward: Paris, December 28th, 1895: some lucky spectators are attending Lumiere Brothers first film screening. Today,
more than one hundred and twenty years later, the cinema still fascinates millions
of spectators despite the new forms of entertainment. This unique exhibition allows visitors to have an ‘up close look’ at the adventurous path of inventions that led to this extraordinary discovery.
Stereoscopio ~ 1850’s Magic Lanterns 1939 View-Master Toy (Patent 1939) 2010 Hasbro ~ My3D iPhone/ iPod
Created with simple household items, this interactive exhibition, through functional
and manual machines, aims to make people know and experience, in a tangible way, the fascinating world of the ‘pioneers of motion pictures.’ Visitors touch and play with the devices and with one’s own imagination
from the Shadows Play to the Camera Obscura, from the Thaumatrope to the Phenakistiscope, from the Magic Lantern to the Film Projector. Today’s ‘google translate’ allows anyone to appreciate
the rich series of illustrated panels of the exhibition.
Anamorphosis ~ Drawings that hide secrets Invented 1400 ~ Used by Leonardo daVinci Placing Silver Cylinder on Disc
Zoetrope ~ 1833 ~ Illusion of Motion Hands-On Device
Anamorphic technique is multi-level one art Popular today in cities as street, mural and wall art
and students aware of the results and observations done on particular physical and mechanical phenomena.
Before being a show, “cinema” is nothing more than the words ‘motion design’ attributing active dynamism to a series of fixed figures, whether they are drawn or photographed. The displayed hands-on devices, representing the “Childhood of Cinema,” are rebuilt on the basis of period originals and made of inexpensive materials. The operating modes allow ‘young and old’ to have an active role in understanding the physical and mathematical relationships between the perception of movement, its analysis and synthesis, and the possible tricks to obtain an illusory reproduction.
An Animation Cinema Laboratory within the exhibition is fully operational and includes a projection room where visitors have the opportunity to create short sequences of moving figures, or build on site some simple pre-cinema machines, essentially made with paper and pencil. Believing in ‘Image Education,’ Ioppolo launched in collaboration with the “Gaetano Panbianco” Municipal Library of Loreto Aprutino a series of animated short films, visible online on “loreto lab on vimeo”, which have involved over 300 school age children. These workshops
created considerable interest on the part of students whose topics related to the Abruzzo region’s festivals and life events.
To plan a visit or for more information on this unique exhibit, in USA contact CiaoBellaLivingItalianStyle@gmail.com or in Italy n.ioppolo@libero.it
Ciao Bella! Lady Z
Exhibition Creator ~ Professor Nicola Ioppolo Milton Bradley 1866 released successful toy version
Student Animation Cinema Laboratory w/ Gaetano Panbianco Municipal Library of Loreto Aprutino
Tweens to Seniors: “Building Bridges, Connecting People: Tales on Culture, Heritage & Traditions of all Nationalities”and “2022 Adventures In Abruzzo: An Exhibit & Video Presentation” Bookings accepted * Local to International Public Relations, Television, Social Media, Newspapers & Events Contact CiaoBellaLivingItalianStyle@gmail.com