Journal Entry – Week 2

If I were at Gaspard Robertson’s “Phantasmagoria” show in 1797, I’d be amazed and scared. The ghostly images would look so real, and the spooky atmosphere with smoke and eerie sounds would make me jump. Back then, people were fascinated by the unknown, especially after the French Revolution.

Today, haunted houses, escape rooms, and VR horror games give us a similar thrill. They use technology to create creepy, immersive experiences that scare and excite us, just like Robertson’s show did!

I could imagine myself as one of the audience members for Gaspard Robertson’s “Fantasmagorie” shows since I am a fan of horror and supernatural things, and at the time this show must’ve felt immersive and terrifying. During a time before true film and projection was invented, I think I would’ve been amazed and curious about how the show was being produced, since I always like to discover the behind the scenes for my favorite pieces of entertainment. With todays technology, we have the power to be even more immersed with virtual reality experiences and 4D shows. The reaction people have for those shows were probably the same reactions people had for the Fantasmagorie shows back in 1797.

“Fantasmagorie” wouldn’t be an experience that could ever be forgotten. The sensitivity of such a performance has the audience almost living the experience as if they are a part of it, not just a show. The essence of the show in a time as early as 1797 astounds me to this day, with the only thing that I could compare such to is Virtual Reality. While I can compare the two though, the experiences and methods that Robertson used during his shows, still haven’t even been replicated in that, its a once in a lifetime attraction, one which still has to have a candle match its flame, and one which still can not be outshined, even through our resources of today

Prompt 3

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?

Horror and gore are some of my favorite subjects, especially in the arts. There was no such thing as modern-day movies like the “Scream” franchise in 1797 so if I were an audience member during that time it would feel like an out-of-world experience. So I believe I would be one of Gaspard Robertson’s biggest fans regarding his “Fantasmagorie” shows. When it comes to bringing ghosts into a projection it increases the scare factor because it would feel as if they were really with you in the room. Not to mention the spooky aura from the candlelit room mixed with the glass harmonica would not only add to the experience but feel as if the show was a reality. The way he could bring the supernatural into the form of a real-life projection with him trying to mix as many elements to further improve his shows would impress and captivate me.

When I was a lot more younger my father would actually improvise bed time stories and would use a lamp and his hands to cast hand shadows onto the wall. This meshed with his oral storytelling introduced me to the media of shadow puppets and hand shadows.

Much like in the video “The Master of Shadow Puppets”, Zheng’an’s performance with shadow puppets and story telling made me think back to when my father would do it with his hands.

Attending one of Robertson’s shows in 1797 would have been an unforgettable experience. The projections of ghosts and specters would feel so real that I might momentarily believe in magic. The mastery of light and shadow would create an immersive illusion, blurring the line between reality and the supernatural.

This sensation reminds me of my first immersive VR experience. Just as VR transports users into hyper-realistic worlds, Robertson’s illusions played with perception, making the impossible seem tangible.

“Fantasmagorie,” created by Étienne-Gaspard Robert, was a show that could be quite frightening for those who had never experienced it before. Aimed at inducing fear, the performance utilized a magic lantern along with various visual and sound effects to create the illusion of animation. Some audience members even believed that the show involved witchcraft. While the visual effects themselves were harmless, Robert employed nitric acid to produce smoke, a substance with dangerous health implications that could pose real risks to the audience. This reaction may have intensified the viewers’ fear and excitement surrounding the show.

Today, a contemporary equivalent can be found in “4D movies,” which blend traditional cinema with physical effects that occur within the theater. These effects are designed to immerse the audience, making them feel as if they are part of the film.

I couldn’t imagine myself being an audience member at one of Gaspard Robertson’s “Fantasmagorie” shows in 1797 because I’m not really a fan of supernatural horror. As for my reaction? I’d imagine as an audience member, I would’ve been impressed by the creativity in the show, but during that time I probably would’ve been terrified of the magic and very unsettling atmosphere of the show. Another form of entertainment that would get the same reaction out of me today would be modern day horror movies because with modern technology, animation is so much more refined, and it can produce the same reaction now as it did back then.

If I could have been in one of the shows of “Fantasmagorie” by Gaspard Robertson in 1797, at that time, the first reaction I would have had would have been curiosity to know what was happening in the theater and at the same time fear for what was going to happen, because at that time the supernatural phenomena were beginning to become famous. Inside the show, everything was dark and the smoke made it seem that the ghosts and specters were really floating in front of us, I would have felt terrified, because surely the screams of the other people also made the atmosphere more terrifying. I would have gone home in fear that some ghost from the show would follow me and appear in the dark.

And the first thing that came to my mind today that is the closest thing to the shows at that time, would be the haunted houses or houses of terror that are in the fairs in some towns or cities. Because they use the environment around you, the smoke and ghosts to make you feel that same sense of fear and at that moment just think that everything is real even if it is not. And virtual reality, which now without the need to be in a theater you can feel the whole experience from your home and in some places make it more immersive by creating a 4D scenario.

I cannot imagine myself being a part of the audience at the Gaspard Robertson’s “Fantasmagorie” show in 1797 because I am surrounded by technology far advanced than what they had, and it is hard for me to say whether or not I would have felt the same emotions that the audiences felt. I love horror and art so I would likely be fascinated than scared. Older horror movies most definitely scared me and gave me chills back then, but I don’t think I would’ve felt the same if I were to watch the Gaspard’s show back then either. Same goes with newer horror movies, I would end up feeling disappointed and bored and not feel the scariness that I felt back then. The only thing I would say that is probably close to what Gaspard showed in 1797 is analog horror. Take “The Man in The Suit” by Unkn0wingly as an example. They both show images with eerie sounds, and they both tell us a story but unlike Gaspard, Unkn0wingly tells us his story with texts on the images. I will admit that watching analog horror sometimes gives me the creeps and is one of the few things that can pretty much replicate how I felt when I watched those older horror movies back then.

Examples of the 19th Century’s “Magic Lantern” and the “Optic Cinema” both use a light source on top of an image reflected from a mirror/glass onto a wall. The “Magic Lantern” displayed a single frame of artwork, while the “Optic Cinema” displayed a series of rotating frames to further tell a story. Furthermore, other than cave paintings, a tool that almost every technique of early animation used (including the “Magic Lantern” and the “Optic Cinema”) is some form of light manipulation. For example, projecting images based on their color brightness values or based on shadows.

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.

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.

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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.

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.

There are several of other forms to express the oral storytelling, the common ones are the poem storytelling and the fairy tales, and I’ll mainly focus on fairy tales. The fairy stories are stories based on the magical, unrealistic and supernatural components. However, by asking for “experience or participation,” I would interpret it as being part of a play or performance, so the answer would be yes. I used to do ballet and have performed in some plays, which were The Nutcracker and a fantastical one that was created by my ballet school. In my performance, there was barely oral participation, but this made me realize that the movements, expressions and music, was already expressing by itself. The way I felt when I used to participate in those performances was like stepping into another world for the reason that I used to see the settings of the performance, I used to see the costumes that advanced ballerinas were wearing, and it felt like a fantasy. Five out of seven days per week, four hours after school that I was attending to the rehearsals, and with a preparation of six months. This means that I spent most of my time there, living in an imaginary world. Lastly, the most exciting part was the last few weeks of the rehearsals before the actual performance because that’s where we started to go to the theater and wearing our costumes as well.