The camera was able to record in 16, 20 and 24 frames per second (with 24 being the standard). For a while it could be called the industry standard, though the advent of sound meant it was no longer as useful. This is one area in which Poland was superseded by other nations, notably America – The Jazz Singer, the first sound film, premiered in 1927, but it would take two years for any films with sound to arrive in Poland. The first film in question was The Singing Fool, premiering in Warsaw in 1929. (It’s worth noting that The Jazz Singer seems to have had its own Polish connections...)
After sound lessened the usefulness of the aeroscope, the death blow was given by the Bolex, which managed to gain a foothold in the market that it still maintains to this day.
The first film manifesto
First publication of Matuszewski's 'New Source of History', 1898, photo: public domain
Though Prószyński’s pleograph never achieved the fame of the Lumieres’ invention, Poles were still present in the development of this brand-new medium in many other forms. Living at the time in Paris, Polish-born Bolesław Matuszewski worked as a camera operator, photographer and most importantly, film theorist.
Scott Mackenzie’s Film Manifestos and Global Cinema Culture is a text that attempts a comprehensive overview of all the important film manifestos and theories since the inception of film. There’s one title of interest amongst this collection, namely Bolesław Matuszewski’s A New Source of History: The Creation of a Depository for Historical Cinema, a work that boasts more than just a lengthy title:
