The public has always had an interest in horror and the macabre, and film horror, like a lot of film beginnings, has its roots in theatre and public spectacle. From Greek tragedy employing elements of horror to the spectacle of public executions to the oral traditions of legends and folklore involving monsters, we have always liked to be frightened and, perhaps, dance with death, but from the safety of the audience.
In Episode 01, we discuss the beginnings of film horror which lie in the age of the magic lantern and phantasmagoria.
Check out this fascinating and in-depth lecture on the history of the magic lantern from the Yale Peabody Museum:
and this recreation of a phantasmagoria show put together by the Museo del Cinema in Spain:
We also briefly discussed some early versions of the movie camera as well. In the collage below, starting clockwise from top left, there is Edison's kinetographic camera, patented in 1897; the Lumiere Bros. cinematographe, developed in 1895; the Jenkins and Armat Phantoscope (1895); and the first commercially produced 35MM film projector, R. W. Paul's theatrograph (1896).
Our main discussion centers around George Melies' 1896 film Le Manoir du Diable (The House of the Devil).
If you would like to get more information about the film's director, Georges Melies, considered the father of cinema, go down the rabbit hole here: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Georges-Melies
Listen to Episode 01 here:
Sources
Burton, S. R. (1970). Vikram and the Vampire: Classic Hindu Tales of Adventure, Magic, and Romance. Retrieved from Sacred Texts: https://www.sacred-texts.com/goth/vav/index.htm
Calvert, P. (n.d.). Sir Henry Irving (1838-1905) as 'Mephistopheles' in 'Faust' by W. G. Wills. National Trust Collections. Smallhythe Place, Kent. Retrieved from the National Trust Collections: https://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/1117183
Carey, E. (2018, October 4). Madame Tussaud: the astounding tale of survival behind the woman who made history. Retrieved from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/oct/04/madame-tussaud-edward-carey-little
Encyclopedia Britannica. (2022). Edison and the Lumiere Brothers. Retrieved from Encyclopedia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/art/history-of-the-motion-picture/Edison-and-the-Lumiere-brothers
Encyclopedia Britannica. (2022). Professional Motion-Picture Production: Lighting. Retrieved from Encyclopedia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/technology/motion-picture-technology/Lighting
Heise, W., Irwin, M., Rice, J. C., McNally, J. J., Thomas A. Edison, I. & Hendricks. (1896) May Irwin kiss. United States: Edison Manufacturing Co. [Video] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/00694131/
Library of Congress. (2022). Shift to Projectors and the Vitoscope (1895-1896). Retrieved from Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/collections/edison-company-motion-pictures-and-sound-recordings/articles-and-essays/history-of-edison-motion-pictures/shift-to-projectors-and-the-vitoscope/
Library of Congress. (n.d.). Inventing Entertainment: The Early Motion Pictures and Sound Recordings of the Edison Companies. Retrieved from Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/collections/edison-company-motion-pictures-and-sound-recordings/articles-and-essays/history-of-edison-motion-pictures/early-motion-picture-productions/#:~:text=It%20was%20dubbed%20the%20Black,it%20aligned%20with%20the%20sun
Punch. (2022). Cartoons about Ireland from Punch. Retrieved from Punch: https://magazine.punch.co.uk/image/I00008OZb2QpkY40
Solomon, M. (2012). Georges Méliès: Anti-Boulangist Caricature and the Incohérent Movement. Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media, vol. 53, no. 2, 305-327.
The Georges Melies Project. (2022). The Story of Georges. Retrieved from The Georges Melies Project: https://www.thegeorgesmeliesproject.org/
The Ragtime Webring. (2022). Rags and Pieces by Scott Joplin (1895-1905). Retrieved from Internet Archive Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20090606111507/http://www.perfessorbill.com/pbmidi15.shtml
Trevathan, C. E. (1896). "Bully" Song. Retrieved from National Museum of African American History & Culture: https://nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2014.275.19
University of Leeds Library. (2022). Dracula. Retrieved from University of Leeds: https://library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections/view/1261
Music Sources
"And Away We Go" Jackie Gleason Show Program Promo - 1955 CBS - Library of Congress - Public Domain.
Funeral March of a Marionette by Charles Gounad, Victor Symphony Orchestra (1922) - Library of Congress, National Jukebox - Public Domain.
Great Crush Collision, 1896 by Scott Joplin, David Back. Midimusic.github.io. Used with permission.
Ragtime Winter Day Logo Loop by logobest - Music Standard License from AudioJungle
Rhapsody In Blue Part 1 (Menlo Park) by Paul Whiteman and George Gershwin (1924) - Internet Archive - CC BY-NC.
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by Bach, G. D. Cunningham (1926) - Internet Archive - Public Domain.
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