Here you can listen to clips from our museum audio tour, with insights from museum curator Dr. Phil Wickham, principal donor Peter Jewell, and university lecturer Dr. Helen Hanson.
To browse through all the clips, visit the museum's SoundCloud page. Scroll down from the podcasts and you will find sound clips under the titles of our display cases in the galleries.
Shadow Theatre
Peter Jewell talks about different forms of shadow theatre from around the world, including the traditional Turkish shadow play characters Karagöz and Hacivat.
Panorama, Diorama and Protean Views
Peter Jewell talks about the development of the panorama and subsequent pre-cinema visual effects.
Optical Toys
Peter Jewell talks about the praxinoscope and phenakistoscope, 19th century devices that simulated moving images and were among the first forms of animation.
Magic Lanterns
Peter Jewell talks about the magic lantern and its role in the development of early cinema.
Pioneers of Cinema
Peter Jewell talks about cinema pioneers the Lumière brothers, Thomas Edison and William KL Dickson and their revolutionary inventions.
Beginnings of Cinema
Peter Jewell talks about some notable items in the collection from the early days of cinema.
Sound and Technology
Dr. Helen Hanson talks about the development of film technology, focusing on a number of items from the collection.
Cinemagoing
Dr. Phil Wickham talks about the rise of cinema and cinemagoing as a popular pasttime.
Charlie Chaplin
Peter Jewell talks about items relating to the iconic silent-film star Charlie Chaplin.
Stars
Dr. Phil Wickham talks about famous Hollywood stars, including Marilyn Monroe and James Dean.
Filmmakers
Dr. Phil Wickham talks about renowned filmmakers Michael Powell, Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles.
British Cinema
Dr. Phil Wickham talks about British cinema, from the silent era through to modern classics.
Blockbusters
Dr. Phil Wickham talks about the success of blockbuster movies and merchandising, focusing on Steven Spielberg's Jaws and the indomitable Star Wars franchise.
