Shadow Puppetry and Optical Theatre had some similarities and differences. One similarity between the two styles of early animation is the use of external audio. For shadow puppetry, the puppeteer would speak and play instruments as he worked with the puppets. Optical theatre required a pianist to play music, along with a couple people reading out the dialogue. Both styles were accompanied by instruments and narration/dialogue. A difference between the two is that shadow puppetry was performed live, in the sense that the puppets were being moved in real time. However, optical theatre was already animated beforehand, and only required the projectionist to keep the film rolling.
Daily Archives: September 11, 2024
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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? Can you think of any form of entertainment that would elicit the same emotions today? (Re-)read/watch these resources for inspiration…
If I was an audience member at one of Gaspard Robertson’s “Fantasmagorie” shows I would have been absolutely terrified. The technology and method in which that show was done was cutting edge for it’s time which I believe would mirror very similarly to a high quality VR experience today. I also think in a more traditional form of entertainment we can also compare it to a haunted house. It states in the reading that the use of magic lanterns were quite common in middle class life which is very surprising. In which case that version seems like it could also resemble other middle class entertainment in other time periods.
