Daily Archives: February 6, 2025

4 posts

Week 2- Marcelle Villeneuve

Journal Entry - Week 2

Can you imagine being an audience member at one of Gaspard Robertson’s “Fantasmagorie” shows in 1797? What do you think your reaction would have been? Can you think of any form of entertainment that would elicit the same emotions today? (Re-)read/watch these resources for inspiration:

I don’t think I can imagine how that would have felt. I think since I was born in an age of so many new innovations coming and going so fast it’s hard for me to put myself in their shoes. I do Bellevue it was probably amazing and jawring but also beautiful, I would put it past the audience to laugh or cry at such simple art. I think now a days something that could invoke the same emotion is obviously ai, i feel like there are more than just that but thats the first that comes to mind. Ai brings so many new emotions and wile it is growing in realism so fast i feel like it definitely gives the same vibe, something new known to be impossible not even 10 years ago.

Victoria Gonzalez * Journal 2 prompt 3*

Journal Entry - Week 2

I don’t think I could imagine myself in the audience at Gaspard Robertson’s “Fantasmagorie” shows in 1797 while it looks unique and very creative I think I would be somewhat nervous or worried depending on the show and what the story would be about, the spooky candlit room along with the ghouls would scare me with all of the creepy elements that are added to the show. My reaction to the show would most likely panicky and a little afraid since this was something that was still new to people.

I believe that Robertsons show via metalonmetalblog and his lanterns on wheels called Fantoscope changing images along with the candlelit AND adding the introduction to the afterlife. Giving it a more terrifying and creepy for the audience I think it would definitely freak a lot of others in this time with all the dark and eerie elements.

Evan Fortune W2 Prompt 1

Journal Entry - Week 2

A good example of a pre-cinema piece was the zoetrope, which was a beautiful way of showing the illsuion of movement in a more complex way compared to other forms of animation before it. Sure, there were many succesors to the zoetrope but it’s a very creative way to show animation. If anything, it’s extremely impressive. Not to mention, the magic lantern is a cool way to bring images to life at it’s time, and it was a very creative way to show the illusion of movement through moving different images around in a lantern. It worked really well when it came to the art of the theater and telling stories like fairy tales and whatnot. Similarly with the zoetrope, you are able to tell a story through the illusion of movement, and both forms of pre-cinema did a great job of that for their own time periods.

Gino Sofia W2 Prompt 1

Journal Entry - Week 2

The first pre-cinema piece I’ll talk about would be the optical illusion toys that were relatively common in the mid 19th century. While a very early and rough concept through spinning the the toy it would cycle through 2 images, one on the front and one on the back. This would give the crude perception of motion and make the person spinning it think that the image is in motion.

The second pre-cinema piece would be the flipbooks, these became popular in the late 19th century and the very beginning of the 20th century. Just like the optical illusion toy from a couple of generations ago, this would utilize the rapid flipping of motion to trick people into thinking the pages were in motion. While the optical illusion toy allowed for 2 images, the flipbook alternative allowed for a longer motion given how many pages the booklet was.

Both essentially work the same, some what crude and early given animation wasn’t a staple yet but they used the same method of rapid motion to gain the illusion of movement.