Ghost peppers
In the case of Tupac Shakur, a transparent film was suspended at an angle in front of the stage. This special effect is also commonly used in film. This burgeoning computer-generation technology enables the illusion of moving subjects by combining animation technology with previously recorded digital footage, using a variety of advanced effects and software. Today, through a type of extremely high-quality video projection technology that combines motion capture technology with 3D computer-generated imaging (CGI), “ digital doubles” of celebrities and political world leaders can be virtually projected to large crowds by displaying the graphics through a large-scale Pepper’s Ghost contraption. Over the years, amusement parks and haunted houses began to adapt different variations of Pepper’s Ghost to achieve the effect of ghostly apparitions in their displays. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. When the lights in the hidden room are slightly raised to illuminate the scene, the lights in the stage room are slightly dimmed, and the apparition appears to the audience.īehind-the-scenes of a basic Pepper’s Ghost illusion. The glass reflects the hidden room, kept dark, that holds a “ghostly” scene. The original Pepper’s Ghost optical illusion involves placing a large piece of glass at an angle between a brightly lit “stage” room into which viewers look straight ahead and a hidden room.
One local newspaper even reported that accomplished physicist Michael Faraday returned to Pepper after seeing the illusion and demanded an explanation. Pepper started showing the illusion at theaters around England and Australia, puzzling audiences. Since Pepper popularized the illusion, it became known as Pepper’s Ghost. Pepper, who was lecturing at the Royal Polytechnic Institute in London at the time, came up with an easy way to implement Dirck’s effect in existing theaters using just a sheet of glass. His effect never gained popularity because it was complicated and expensive, requiring theaters to be completely rebuilt to incorporate the trick. In the 1860s, an inventor named Henry Dircks built upon an older Italian optical illusion that manipulated visual effects using glass and light, calling it the Dircksian Phantasmagoria. Pepper’s Ghost: Historical Trickery and Modern Illusion This stunt is an example of the Pepper’s Ghost optical illusion, which can be explained with ray optics. Viral reactions called the digitized performance a “hologram”, which is actually a misnomer. Why? Because the famed musician had been dead for nearly two decades. In 2012, guests at a California music festival called Coachella were shocked to see rap artist Tupac Shakur perform onstage.