The Cameraman's Revenge(Film, 1912)

The Cameraman's Revenge (Russian: Месть кинематографического оператора, romanized: Mest' kinematograficheskogo operatora) is a 1912 Russian short film written and directed by Ladislas Starevich. It, along with other works by Starevich, stands out in the history of stop-motion animation for its use of actual dried insect specimens (beetles, grasshoppers, dragonflies, etc.) as articulated stop-motion puppets portraying all of the characters. "The Cameraman’s Revenge is a perfect example of young Starewitch’s unsentimental, unmoralistic style. The story is perfectly suited for animal characters. As in Aesop and Phaedrus’ fables, it is universal because its protagonists are animals – i.e. symbols. Mr. and Mrs. Beetle are a typical middle-class couple bored by family life. Starewitch’s characters are also good actors: The spectator has fun and identifies himself in the incoherent and very realistic Mr. Beetle. His acting is, again, a balanced mix between human and animal action: His human feelings are clear but, at the same time, his features and anatomical structure are scientifically correct." ()