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The hangar of 1886
These studies of balls and batons had been done in front of a new hangar, ten meters deep and ten meters wide and outfitted with moveable panels and curtains that could reduce its area to what was strictly necessary for making chronophotographs. Its increased darkness meant that exposure times could be reduced to 1/2,000 of a second. The hangar was surmounted by a pylon intended for a camera that would take pictures from overhead, and over the next two years other details were added as refinements and the design was completed. A graduated meter to measure the space traversed was hung from the ceiling; the track directly in front of the hangar was covered with wooden cobblestones to keep the dust down; and removable white threads were hung vertically every two meters to serve as a measuring stick.
It was the speed of this camera, the absolute blackness of the hangar, and the increased sensitivity of his plates which permitted Marey to begin photographing flight again, a subject that he had not treated since 1883. Photographing the birds obliquely and overhead showed him, finally, that if human beings wanted to fly it was not the bird that had to be imitated but its flight.