Georges Méliès

Georges Méliès (December 8, 1861-January 21, 1938, full name: Maries-Georges-Jean Méliès) was a French filmmaker who is famous for leading many technical and narrative developments in the earliest cinema.Born in Paris, France where he later died.

He was very innovative in the use of "special effects". He accidentally discovered the stop trick, or substitution, in 1896, and was one of the first filmmakers to use multiple exposures[?], dissolves, and color in his films.

Before making films, he was a magician at the Theatre Robert-Houdin[?]. In 1895, he became interested in film after seeing a demonstration of the Lumière Brothers[?]' camera. He directed 531 films, between 1896-1914. In subject matter, these films are often similar to the magic theater shows that Méliès had been doing, containing "tricks" and impossible events, such as objects disappearing or changing size.

His most famous film is "A Trip to the Moon[?]" (Le Voyage dans la Lune) from 1902; also famous is "The Impossible Voyage[?]" (Le Voyage a Travers l'Impossible) from 1904. Both of these films are about strange voyages, somewhat in the style of Jules Verne. These are considered to be some of the most important early science fiction films, although their approach is closer to fantasy.

Early filmography: (English Title & Original French Title)

• The Vanishing Lady / Escamotage d'une dame chez Robert-Houdin (1896)
• An Up-to-Date Conjuror / Illusioniste fin de siècle (1899)
• Cendrillon / Cinderella (1899)
• The Dreyfus Affair / L'Affaire Dreyfus (1899)
• A Trip to the Moon / Le Voyage dans la Lune (1902)
• The Infernal Cakewalk / Le Cake-walk infernal (1903)
• The Mystical Flame / La Flamme merveilleuse (1903)
• Kingdom of the Fairies / Le Royaume des Fées (1903)
• The Monster / Le Monstre (1903)
• The Melomaniac / Le Mélomane (1903)
• The Inn Where No Man Rests/L'Auberge du Bon Repos (1903)
• The Magic Lantern / La Lanterne magicue (1903)
• The Ballet Master's Dream / La Rêve du Maître de Ballet (1903)
• The Damnation of Faust / Le Damnation de Faust (1903)
• The Terrible Turkish Executioner / Le Bourreau turc (1904)
• Untameable Whiskers / Le Roi du Maquillage (1904)
• The Impossible Voyage / Le Voyage à travers l'Impossible (1904)
• Palace of the Arabian Knights / Le Palais des Mille et Une Nuits (1905)
• Paris to Monte Carlo / Le Raid Paris-Monte Carlo en 2 heures (1905)
• The Merry Frolics of Satan / Les 400 Farces du Diable (1906)
• The Mysterious Retort / L'Alchimste Parafaragamus ou la Cornue infernale 1906)
• The Eclipse / L'Éclipse du soleilen pleine lune (1907) (image)
• Dream of an Opium Eater / Le Rêve d'un fumeur d'opium (1907)
• The Doctor's Secret / Le secret du Médécin (1910)
• Baron Munchausen's Dream / Les Hallucinations du Baron de Münchausen (1910)
• Conquest of the Pole / Á la Conquète du Pole (1910)