MOVABLES, MOVIES, MOBILITY: Nineteenth‐century looking and reading

Paper mechanisms for sonic interaction

“…This property was well known in the golden age of movable books when pull-the-tab mechanisms were often used to trigger a cascade of surprising events, such as the emergence of a previously unseen character. At this level the techniques used in books bear close resemblance to the spectacular and surprising effects used in cinema since its origin [15]. Well-engineered paper mechanisms can convey a sense of magic, especially when the locus of gestural action is displaced from the main display of the consequences of such action.…”

“…In pop-up books, temporality is the greatest common factor that paces the reader's entanglement, continuously challenging him or her with successions of constraints and degrees of freedom in the acts of looking, scanning, and contemplating [15]. Scenes and characters are revealed according to precise choreographies of spatio-temporal hierarchies.…”

“…Temporal strategies, that facilitate syncing between display and text, allow to achieve strong narrative effects. For instance, the motion cycle mechanism introduces the illusion of perpetual movement, playing with the rhythm and pace of repetitive motion [15]. Time is suspended, and the tight coupling between display and storytelling reinforces the whole narration.…”

“…Movable books depend on negotiating "a balance between the narrative's linear storytelling and the visual's interactive and spectacular" display [15]. Sonic interaction design has the potential to introduce yet another performative dimension and a new level of engagement.…”

“A Story, Exemplified in a Series of Figures“: Paper Doll versus Moral Tale in the Nineteenth Century

“…(1)(2) Nikolajeva and Scott's references to representation, narration, linearity, and nonlinearity highlight some of the key issues faced in the negotiation of the picture book. Moreover, the movable book sui generis entails yet more layers, what Eric Faden (2007) calls the "balance between the narrative's linear storytelling and the visual's interactive and spectacular tendencies" (74). Gillian Brown (2006) even analyses the reader's "tactile" interaction with the movable (here, switching a head) as fore-grounding "the reader's part in the making of the meaning of the book" (358), her terms directly echoing those of McKenzie.…”