Magic lantern slides

Manufacturer	W. Rider & Co.
Title	"A terrible Christmas Eve"
Place	London (Great Britain)
Date	1894
Register	27628

“Life Models” or “Theatrical Life Models” are a type of glass slide for projecting with a magic lantern. They told a story by means of different glass slidess with photographic images, often hand coloured, that depicted a variety of scenes. These scenes featured actors or extras, usually amateurs, and included appropriate sets and props, similar to those of a theatrical performance of the time. The lanternist projected all the slides one after another, which were commented on by a narrator and often accompanied by live music. Projections of this kind were very popular, especially in Victorian England between 1870 and 1914, and dealt with melodramatic and/or moralising themes. The sequence of photographic images to tell a story, the staging, the use of actors or extras, the use of narrative techniques typical of audio-visual language, etc., make this type of projection one of the clearest forerunners of cinematographic art. The twenty-four slide series ‘A terrible Christmas Eve’ tells the story of the difficulties of a woman's life in a rural area near the coast, her courage and the importance of Christmas Eve.

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