Pepper's ghost is an illusionary technique used in theatre and in some magic tricks. Using a plate glass and special lighting techniques, it can make objects seem to appear or disappear, transparent, or make one object seem to morph into another. It is named after John Henry Pepper, who first demonstrated the technique in the 1860s.
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In order for the illusion to work, the viewer must be able to see into the main room, but not into the hidden mirror room. The edge of the glass may be hidden by a cleverly designed pattern in the floor. Both rooms may be identical mirror-images; this approach is useful in making objects seem to appear or disappear. This effect can also be used to make an actor reflected in the mirror appear to turn into an actor behind the mirror (or vice versa). This is the principle behind the Girl-to-Gorilla trick found in many haunted houses and in the James Bond movie Diamonds Are Forever.
The mirror room may instead be painted black, with only light-coloured objects in it. When light is cast on the objects, they reflect strongly in the glass, making them appear as ghostly images superimposed in the visible room. The reflections in the glass, which is vertical rather than angled, create the appearance of three-dimensional, translucent ghosts. In the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland/Disney World, this is used to make "ghosts" appear to be dancing through the ballroom, seeming to interact with props in the physical ballroom, disappearing when the lights on the animatronics are turned off.
Giambattista della Porta was a 16th century Neopolitan scientist and scholar who is credited with a number of scientific innovations, including the camera obscura. His 1584 work Magia Naturalis (Natural Magic) includes a description of an illusion, titled "How we may see in a Chamber things that are not" that is believed to be the first known description of the Pepper's Ghost effect.[1]
Porta's description, from the 1658 English language translation, is as follows.
Let there be a chamber wherein no other light comes, unless by the door or window where the spectator looks in. Let the whole window or part of it be of glass, as we used to do to keep out the cold. But let one part be polished, that there may be a Looking-glass on bothe sides, whence the spectator must look in. For the rest do nothing. Let pictures be set over against this window, marble statues and suchlike. For what is without will seem to be within, and what is behind the spectator's back, he will think to be in the middle of the house, as far from the glass inward, as they stand from it outwardly, and clearly and certainly, that he will think he sees nothing but truth. But lest the skill should be known, let the part be made so where the ornament is, that the spectator may not see it, as above his head, that a pavement may come between above his head. An if an ingenious man do this, it is impossible that he should suppose that he is deceived.[2]
The Royal Polytechnic was a permanent science-related fair, first opened in 1838. With a degree in chemistry, John Henry Pepper joined the institution as a lecturer in 1848. The Polytechnic awarded him the title of Professor. In 1854, he became the director and sole lessee of the Royal Polytechnic.
In 1862, inventor Henry Dircks developed the Dircksian Phantasmagoria, his version of the long-established phantasmagoria performances. This technique was used to make a ghost appear on-stage. He tried unsuccessfully to sell his idea to theatres; it required them to be completely rebuilt just to support the effect, which proved too costly for them to consider. Later in the year, Dircks set up a booth at the Royal Polytechnic, where it was seen by John Pepper.[3]
Pepper realized that the method could be modified to make it easy to incorporate into existing theatres. Pepper first showed the effect during a scene of Charles Dickens's The Haunted Man, to great success. Pepper's implementation of the effect tied his name to it permanently. Though he tried many times to give credit to Dircks, the title "Pepper's ghost" endured.
The world's largest implementation of this illusion can be found at the Haunted Mansion and Phantom Manor attractions at several Walt Disney Parks and Resorts theme parks. Here, a 90-foot (27 m)-long scene features multiple Pepper's ghost effect, brought together in one scene. Guests travel along an elevated mezzanine, looking through a 30-foot (9.1 m)-tall pane of glass into an empty ballroom. Animatronic ghosts move in hidden black rooms beneath and above the mezzanine.
The walk-through attraction Turbidite Manor employs variations of the classic technique, enabling guests to see various spirits that also interact with the physical environment, but that are viewable at a much closer proximity. The House at Haunted Hill, a halloween attraction in Woodland Hills, CA, employs a similar variation in their front window to display characters from their storyline.
An example which combines the Pepper's ghost effect with a live actor and film projection can be seen in the Mystery Lodge exhibit at the Knott's Berry Farm theme park in Buena Park, California and the Ghosts of the Library exhibit at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois (both created by the company BRC Imagination Arts using the patented technique known as "Holavision"), as well as the depiction of Maori legends called A Millennium Ago at the Museum of Wellington City & Sea.[4][5]
Pepper's ghost exhibits are beginning to be more widely used in museums, as they attempt to create livelier attractions that will appeal to visitors. In the mid-70s James Gardener designed the Changing Office installation in the London Science Museum, consisting of a 1970s-style office that transforms into an 1870s-style office as the audience watches. It was designed and built by Will Wilson and Simon Beer of Integrated Circles. Another particularly intricate Pepper's ghost display is the Eight Stage Ghost built for the British Telecom Showcase Exhibition in London in 1978. This display follows the history of electronics in a number of discrete transitions.
More modern examples of Pepper's ghost effects can be found in various museums in the United Kingdom and Europe and use a video variation on the illusion known as the Musion Eyeliner and Arena3D's XSTAGE. Examples of these in the United Kingdom are a ghost of John McEnroe at the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum, which reopened in new premises in 2006, and one of Sir Alex Ferguson, which opened at the Manchester United Museum in 2007.[6] Other examples include the ghost of Sarah (who picks up a candle and walks through the wall) and also the ghost of the Eighth Duke at Blenheim Palace.
In October 2008 a life-sized Pepper's ghost of Shane Warne was opened at the National Sports Museum in Melbourne, Australia.[7] produced by The Shirley Spectra.[8] The effect is also used at the Dickens World attraction at Chatham Maritime, Kent, United Kingdom.
The latest example can be found at Our Planet Centre in Castries, St Lucia which opened in May 2011, where a life size Prince Charles, and Governor general of the island appear on stage talking about climate change. [1] The exhibit was designed by LCI from London.[2]
Teleprompters are a modern implementation of Pepper's ghost used by the television industry. They reflect a speech or script and are commonly used for live broadcasts such as news programmes.
Two companies produce versions of this effect using a video as the source. Shirley Spectra Australia's product, "SpectraVision", is aimed at the exhibition market. A recent production is a life-size Shane Warne at the National Sports Museum in Melbourne.[9] Musion's product Musion Eyeliner is aimed at use on stage, a recent production being Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds.
The South African Jewish Museum in Cape Town uses elaborate Pepper's ghost video technology in their permanent exhibit. The Artist Group PXNG.LI is showing evolutionary processes in a Peppers ghost box at the Natural Science Museum in Karlsruhe, Germany.[10]
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