Lotte reiniger / multiplane camera

Lotte Reiniger, a pioneering German animator, developed her own version of the multiplane camera in the 1920s to enhance her silhouette films. Long before Disney popularised the technique, Reiniger built a system of glass planes stacked at different levels, each holding paper cut-out figures, backgrounds, and scenery. By moving elements independently and adjusting their distance from the camera, she created depth, perspective, and dynamic motion within her intricate shadow animations. This innovation gave films like The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) a remarkable three-dimensional quality. Reiniger’s multiplane method was both technically inventive and artistically poetic, influencing generations of animators.