Yes, things like the zoopraxiscope by Muybridge (His motion studies are incredible), and other phenakistiscopes, long predate the traditional motion picture cam

Yes, things like the zoopraxiscope by Muybridge (His motion studies are incredible), and other phenakistiscopes, long predate the traditional motion picture camera and are evidence of incredible inventiveness and a human search for motion by way of optical illusion. Then you get people like Melies who just exploded what you could do with the camera and, in a certain fashion, invented a lot of the special effect techniques we know today through sheer playfulness and experimentation.