Journal Entry – Week 2

I chose prompt 2. The form of oral storytelling I have the most experience with is plays, and the play I am most attached to is Hamilton. This play is very similar to early cave drawings in the way information is presented. The songs are brief enough to give you just enough information to make inferences and draw conclusions in your head, while the imagery being acted out provides further details and enhances the audio.

I could imagine being in this theater experience, but I think because of how he presented it as a real showing of spirits, and people never having exposure to his projection techniques before, it makes sense that the audiences went wild and the shows were initially shut down. I think if I had been there, I would have gone running to a church to find a priest to help me, and probably would have thought I needed an exorcism or some kind of religious protection afterwards. 

The old memory it made me think of was when I was very young and went to Disney World and was in the haunted house, and this one room we all were standing in started to grow longer to expose more of these paintings of these characters on the walls. And then when I was in a rolling cart on a track during the ride, I saw my reflection in a mirror with a ghost sitting right next to me. It was shocking as a child to experience these types of optical illusions, but also very exciting. 

I chose to answer Prompt 2.

Being an audience member at one of Gaspard Robertson’s “Fantasmagorie” shows in 1797 would have probably shocked me, initially considering the period but then I would have been amazed. Gaspard incorporated creepy animated puppets in combination with the ominous environment like smoke, and skulls on the walls to capture the horror. I enjoy horror now so I would have wanted to see this groundbreaking performance more often. I think the kind of entertainment that could elicit some of the same emotions is horror. The horror genre itself is so vast but slashers and paranormal are categories that could still scare and shock most people when done right.

In terms of oral story telling , the first device which came to mind is none other than music . Music is certainly a form of story telling or conveying a message to the listener through an un-traditional approach . Though I enjoy the art of music , I also enjoy writing lyrics to express how I feel at times when Im having a hard time conveying my feelings directly . Music is similar to the examples given in the article by Zach Zorich and the film by Great Big Story in the way that they all tell a story . The examples are different in the delivery . One being a reading , another a film & music being an audible form of communication .

I imagine my response would encompass eagerness, shock, a little bit of fear, and a little bit of relief. I experience those same emotions when watching most of Christopher Nolan’s movies. In particular, The Prestige is a beautiful example of this. The story takes you on a wonderful journey. The major plot twist and climax of the movie certainly fall under horror. Simultaneously, frightening feelings are embraced because I also felt that there was an incredible lesson to be learned. Also, I just truly appreciated the attention to detail and art form. Lighting is extremely crucial in this movie too and I’m certain Gaspard Robertson would have appreciated this as well. I think both creators are notorious for pushing boundaries during their respective time periods.

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.

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.

Shadow puppets and stop motion both have similarities to one another. Both use physical objects to create motion using either light or a various amount of pictures in a sequence. They also have the advantage of being tangible, so you have more control over what the viewer sees at any given moment. However they differ in what they can show visually. With stop motion, you really aren’t as limited to what you can create compared to shadow puppets, where you have to create the puppets so they can work best when cast with light.

Yes i can imagine being in one Gaspard Robertson’s “Fantasmagorie” shows in 1797, i think i would of been excited and on the edge of my seat when it was going on because it was something new so i wouldn’t know what to expect. It reminds me of a thriller/horror movie because the way he adds smoke, hanging skeletons and all these little things on the side to make you feel like you’re really there. The show would also give the same vibes as a horror movie.

I can imagine if I attended to one of Gaspard Robertson’s “Fantasmagorie” shows in 1797 would have been an exciting experience, particularly in the absence of modern electricity. The interplay of shadows and the frightening nature of the figures would likely have been simultaneously entertaining and somewhat unsettling. Today, a similar form of entertainment elicit the same type of emotions might be found in a horror movie, where viewers are called upon to willingly suspend their disbelief. Despite being aware of the fiction, the experience remains unsettling to some extent with the macabre which definitely fits within the supernatural horror. 

Prompt 1

I chose the phenakistiscope (spindle viewer) and the zoetrope as examples of pre-cinema animation tools.

Both tools rely on the same principle of persistence of vision, which creates the illusion of motion by rapidly displaying a series of still images. They also use slits to help control the timing of the images being viewed, an essential feature that makes the animation appear smooth.

However, there are several key differences between the two. The phenakistiscope requires the viewer to spin the disc while looking into a mirror through the slits to see the animation. This limits the experience to just one person at a time. On the other hand, the zoetrope, developed around 1834 by William George Horner, works without a mirror and allows multiple people to watch the animation simultaneously.

The zoetrope also paved the way for later developments in animation, as it evolved into more sophisticated devices like the praxinoscope, which replaced the slits with mirrors for a clearer viewing experience.

All in all, both devices were key contributing factors in the evolution of animation and story telling.

If i was in audience in a Gaspard Robertson’s “Fantasmagorie” show in 1797 I would’ve been weirded out and scared at the same time.In the period of 1797 a bunch of things were happening.Such as the wake of the bloody Reign of Terror trailed a fascination with death and the macabre.My reaction to it would’ve been mind blown and entertained because of the illusions of the resurrected dead he speculated.A form of entertainment that would elicit the same emotions would be horror films or series, as well as supernatural films.They would give the same scary and terrifying emotions.

I chose to answer prompt 1 and use The Magic Lantern (17th Century Europe) and the Praxinoscope (19th Century France) as notable examples.

The Magic Lantern was an early image projector that used light to project hand-painted slides onto a screen. The slides often depicted sequential images that could give the illusion of motion, such as a person moving or animals walking. This was one of the first devices to use light and lenses to animate still images, serving as a precursor to cinematic animation. It was developed in the late 1600s in Europe, often credited to Christiaan Huygens, a Dutch scientist and inventor.

The Praxinoscope was a 19th century optical toy designed to create the illusion of movement, improving on earlier devices like the zoetrope. It consists of a rotating cylindrical drum that holds a strip of sequential images. Around the center of the drum is an inner circle of mirrors, which reflects the images as the drum spins. It was invented in 1877 by Emile Reynaud, a French inventor and pioneer in animation.

The two are pre-cinema devices that share commonalities in their purpose, use of light, and sequential imagery. Part of the broader history of visual storytelling and early animation, both devices were developed to create the illusion of motion and to entertain audiences. They also utilized light in their operation. While The Magic Lantern used light to project images onto a screen, the Praxinoscope relied on reflected light from mirrors to view moving images. Lastly, both devices worked by presenting a series of sequential images, producing the illusion of movement when viewed in rapid succession. The Magic Lantern used painted slides, while the Praxinoscope used drawings placed on a rotating cylinder.

Both devices also contain many differences including their technology, mechanics, viewing experience, and cultural / technological impact. The Praxinoscope was a more sophisticated device in terms of technology and mechanics, creating a smoother and more natural animation. The Magic Lantern projected static images that were changed manually or using a mechanical slide changer, producing a more limited animation. However, The Magic Lantern allowed a larger audience by projecting images onto a wall or screen. It was often used for public shows or educational presentations. The Praxinoscope was more of a personal or small-group device, as viewers would look directly into it to see the animation. Finally, The Magic Lantern was a crucial device in the evolution of visual media, serving as both an educational tool and entertainment medium for centuries. The Praxinoscope was a major step forward in the development of true animation techniques, influencing the creation of longer animated sequences.