16applications_and_implications

Exercise 16. Applications and Implications

Assignment: Final Project Proposal

Learning Outcomes

Evidence

Answer the following questions:

The What

My project is virtual reality...from the 19th century. I will be building a moving panorama, or crankie. Sue Truman, of The Crankie Factory, defines it simply as:

A crankie is an old storytelling art form. It's a long illustrated scroll that is wound onto two spools. The spools are loaded into a box which has a viewing screen. The scroll is hand-cranked while the story is told. It can be accompanied by a narrative, song or tune.

A precursor to cinema, moving panoramas were popular across the U.S. and Europe especially in the 19th and early 20th century but are rooted in a tradition of picture scrolls that date back to as early as 156 BCE.

Stories are often paired with music
Crankie with music
And sometimes the scrolls function as moving backdrops for puppets, borrowing from traditions of shadow puppetry originating in Asia as far back as 156 BCE
Crankie with puppets

In their earliest form, crankies often gave a glimpse into a faraway place as imagined by the artist such as China, India, the wild west, and the Arctic, or presented stories with familiar characters or themes. Minstrel performers would travel from within a region or city to city to present their performance to the public. Later on crankies became a feature of vaudeville performances. They also appeared in train windows at early amusement parks.

The International Panorama Council has a searchable database of all types of panoramas, including information about their creators. Although it only covers the US and UK, Ralph Hyde has also compiled a comprehensive list of panoramists throughout history.
In the past 25 years there has been a renewed interest in this artform, often tied to folk music, stories, and art and shared at museum exhibits and arts festivals.

The Build

Most crankies include: a scroll, a wooden body, dowels and cranks to move/hold the scroll, and a bulb to backlight the scroll.

Some crankies are as small as match boxes
Matchbox crankie

and others fill up entire walls
Cyclorama.

I'm going to go the more traditional route and create a suitcase-sized moving panorama, perfect for the traveling showman or for the parlour crankster using suggested dimensions here.
Sketch

Materials:

Material Purpose Source/Cost
Plywood .25" crankie box & knobs In house
Butcher paper roll 18" scroll $13.99 for 2
Dowels .75" x4 scroll holders and positioners $2.98 each
Printable sticker paper OR colored vinyl colored stickers $9.49 for 12 sheets
Black cardstock Puppets/Scenery In house
PLA filament Bulb holder In house
PCB Material Circuit boards In house
Electronic components RGB sensor and LED bulb BOM in progress

Manufactured in the Lab: CNC cut press-fit crankie box and cranks, milled and stuffed PCBs, 3D printed bulb holder, color-printed stickers

The How

Manufactured in the Lab: CNC cut press-fit crankie box and cranks, milled and stuffed PCBs, 3D printed bulb holder, color-printed stickers, Laser cut puppets/scenery

Processes:

The When

Crunch time is on! I don't have a lot of time to complete this project, so being organized and efficient will be key.

Timeline

Remaining Questions

Evaluation

Fab Academy presentation as well as local and global evaluation.

Additionally, I hope to take an updated version of crankie to the 5th Annual Vermont Crankie Fest in January 2019 for review by other cranksters and crank enthusiasts.