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Phantom ride


Phantom rides or panoramas were an early genre of film popular in Britain and the US at the end of the 19th century. Pre-dating true narrative, the films simply show the progress of a vehicle moving forwards, usually shot by strapping a cameraman to the front. The term phantom ride was applied because the position of the camera meant that only the track and scenery could be seen and the movement appeared to be coming from an invisible force. Though many early films showed local tracks the demand for new footage led to more exotic locations being filmed. This brought a new dimension to the genre, showing foreign lands to those who would otherwise never see them. The genre is also significant, despite its short-lived popularity, due to the role it played in the development of the tracking shot, longer films and film editing, as well as its re-emergence in 4D film and simulation.

Most films before phantom rides used static cameras with all the action happening within the scene. This new style of film-making popularised the idea of motion created by the movement of the camera. American Mutoscope's The Haverstraw Tunnel (1897), featuring a train travelling along the West Shore Railroad in New York and then through the eponymous tunnel, and the Lumière brothers' Leaving Jerusalem by Railway (1897), featuring a train leaving Jerusalem, are considered the first examples of the phantom ride genre. The audience were wowed by the speed and unique perspectives that these films introduced, for the first time experiencing the view of travelling while seated in a small hall.

Screenings of The Haverstraw Tunnel (1897) in London in October of that year proved to be an instant success with a reviewer in The Era writing that, "A more exciting and sensational piece of realism has never been presented to an audience." Starting the following year, Mutoscope's British subsidiary filmed and released their own phantom rides, including Conway Castle - Panoramic View of Conway on the L. & N.W. Railway (1898) and Through Chee Tor Tunnel in Derbyshire - Midland Railway, as did rival companies such as the Warwick Trading Company.


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