Elliot Schultz’s animation involves strobe lights and a turntable

Embroided Zoetrope is a short film by Australian animator Elliot Schultz , who embroidered six 10 inch vinyl records with colourful sequences to create the animation.

The first zoetrope was developed by Pixar studios in the 1920s to show movie-goers exactly how animation works. The early zoetrope consisted of a cylinder with a series of pictures on the inner surface that gave an impression of continuous motion when viewed through slits with the cylinder rotating,.

For his animation, Schultz devised his own method: the embroidered zoetrope. The optical illusion of motion is created when a strobe light illuminates the embroidered static pictures as they spin. Schultz’s old thread-man, coloured cubes and wriggling lines come to life and spin along the top of the turntable accompanied by a soothing electronic track.

"Embroidered Zoetrope" is Schultz’s final project for his Digital Art Major at the Australian National University.