Ghostly Goings On

 If you’ve visited us this week, you may have encountered a few ghostly apparitions while exploring the ship or settled in to hear a terrifying tale from one of our storytellers. In this blog post find out about the Victorian fascination with spooky spectres and come behind the scenes as we show you how we created our haunted ship. 

  The mid-nineteenth century was a golden era for paranormal activity. Ghosts were everywhere; from the growing popularity of ghost stories in literature and on stage to the demand for real-life experiences such as seances and mediums, the Victorians were fascinated with the supernatural. It was also an age of innovations in science and engineering, and many technologies – such as spirit photography – were invented to try to capture evidence of this supernatural phenomena.  

 Just like the Victorians, our Interpretation Team also happen to be passionate about storytelling, innovative technologies, and ghosts. For this October Half Term, they combined these passions to explore different ways to authentically invite spirits to the SS Great Britain. The results were two new installations on board: apparitions in the Forward Hold, and Pepper’s Ghost.  

Pepper’s Ghost 

 Pepper’s Ghost is an illusion technique traditionally used in theatre, using a combination of hidden stages, a reflective surface, and clever lighting to project a ghostly apparition onto the stage. It is named after its inventor, John Henry Pepper (1821-1900) who was a lecturer and proponent of public science. It was first debuted in 1862 with a Christmas Eve production of Charles Dickens’ The Haunted Man in which Pepper used the illusion to fill the stage with a series of ghostly escapades. It proved to be extremely popular and ran for 15 months, eventually moving to a larger venue due to audience demand.   

 Interpretation Manager Natalie recreated this illusion to accompany the ghost storytelling sessions on board using a modern approach. Instead of hidden stages and complicated lighting, Natalie’s version uses a digital device to project a video of a spectral being onto a reflective surface – in this instance, an acrylic screen.

This screen is set within a large bell jar and angled in such a way that it appears invisible to the audience. The effect is magical, creating the illusion of a floating apparition contained within its chamber.  

Forward Hold apparitions 

 In the spirit of Pepper’s Ghost, the Interpretation Team were also keen to try and recreate a full body apparition in the ship’s forward hold. They partnered with Holotronica, a Bristol based company who are the world’s leading hologram effects company. Back in September, Head of Living History Simon attended Holotronica’s studios along with Natalie to film their ghostly characters. 

The team at Holotronica then created the installation in the forward hold using Hologauze, a fully silvered projection gauze which is completely transparent. When the videos of the ghosts are projected onto it, they look as though they are appearing out of thin air… 

We’ve loved having our paranormal passengers on board, but they won’t be around for long. Make sure to visit us this October Half Term if you want to encounter them before they move on!