Daily Archives: February 8, 2023

Being an audience in the “Fantasmagorie” or any phantasmagoria show would scare me into thinking it was real, and I would react with fear mixed with fascination. France’s end of the 18th-century era was right after the French Revolution, and many people like Robertson were fascinated with death, ghost stories, and the supernatural. Many were genuinely frightened by the ghostly images and tales of terror, and I would be among those people.

When you see such an illusion that strikes you as real for the first time, you don’t expect it, which increases the shock and spookiness of the whole show. Robertson went to many lengths to make people believe that this was real. The “Fantasmagorie” show was more than the moving images of the Fantoscope that he invented; He wanted to create a frightening environment. The performance took place in a dark theater, lighted by a creepy candlelight, eerily sounds played on a glass harmonica, as he narrated tales of phantasmagoria (ghost stories).

I believe there are ways to achieve the same level of fascination and fear in today’s era. In most of them, you have the surprise element, but it’s lacking the – is this real? A sensation that Robertson’s show had.
You can get scared by horror movies, Haunted houses, Escape rooms with horror themes, and more.
When thinking about an illusion that can create the same uncertainty of what’s real and what’s not, I think about really great magic shows or mentalist performances. Even VR experiences can definitely make you feel diluted.

Prompt 3

Gaspard Robertson’s “Fantasmagorie” happened at a tumultuous time. The French Revolution had just happened, the French Monarchy had just been abolished, everyone saw the king and queen get their heads chopped off, the new government wasn’t doing too well, and political dissidents and regular folk are getting their heads chopped off. In addition, there was a whole bunch of diseases to contend with; smallpox, typhus, cholera, dysentery, tuberculosis, syphilis are some of the more common ones. This is the time period where women had 13 children and they were lucky if 5 made it to adulthood. As such, death was a constant companion.

I’d venture that modern people are feeling what the 1797 French audience felt about their daily lives. US politics and economics aren’t looking too well. Two geriatric men are probably going to fight over the presidency next year. There’s a bunch of fighting going on at the international level. Important political reporters are getting unalived. COVID-19 is a fact of life that we have to live with at this point. A bunch of diseases (like measles) are making a comeback because of disbelief in science. Basic necessities (like water) is rare for some people. Technology is our constant companion.

So when Robertson rolls up with his “Fantasmagorie,” I imagine it is an escape. It’s new and scary in the same way technology is new and scary. There is genuine fear, but it is thrilling. Technology is developing so fast, and it’s always doing new scary things as much as it improves lives. Robertson’s spooky ghost show in a rundown church probably is most visually and aurally similar to horror movies, but today’s “Fantamagorie” is probably most closest to VR games today. There’s at least one game which requires the person with the VR set to diffuse a bomb, which probably summons a similar emotional experience to those who experienced Robertson’s “Fantasmagorie.”