Editing Mutoscope (section)

==Operation==
The Mutoscope works on the same principle as the [[flip book]]. The individual image frames are conventional black-and-white, silver-based photographic prints on tough, flexible opaque cards. The image on each card is made by [[contact printing]] each frame of the original 70 mm film.<ref>{{cite web |title=Press release (no. 82) |url=https://www.moma.org/momaorg/shared/pdfs/docs/press_archives/3932/releases/MOMA_1967_July-December_0014_82.pdf |publisher=The Museum of Modern Art |access-date=21 July 2021 |date=August 2, 1967}}</ref> Rather than being bound into a booklet, the cards are attached to a circular core, similar to a huge [[Rolodex]]. A reel typically holds about 850 cards, giving a viewing time of about one minute.<ref>[https://www.gameroomshow.com/shop/mutoscopes-reels/ Mutoscopes & Reels], [https://www.gameroomshow.com Gameroom Show].</ref> The reel with cards attached has a total diameter of about {{convert|10|in|cm}}; the individual cards have dimensions of about {{cvt|2+3/4|×|1+7/8|in|cm}}.

Mutoscopes are coin-operated. The patron views the cards through a single lens enclosed by a hood, similar to the viewing hood of a [[stereoscope]]. The cards are generally lit electrically, but the reel is driven by means of a geared-down hand crank. Each machine holds only a single reel and is dedicated to the presentation of a single short subject, described by a poster affixed to the machine.

The patron can control the presentation speed only to a limited degree. The crank can be turned in both directions, but this does not reverse the playing of the reel. The patron cannot extend viewing time by stopping the crank, because the flexible images are bent into the proper viewing position by tension applied from forward cranking. Stopping the crank reduces the forward tension on the reels causing the reel to go backward and the picture to move away from the viewing position. A spring in the mechanism turns off the light, and in some models closes a shutter which  blocks the picture.