1. Early Cinema & George Melies- By Subarna Ganguly
Cinema is more than a medium of entertainment it is an art form of unparalleled versatility. Where
Science meets art, reality meets illusion fantasy and imagination, Cinema comes alive. Born from a
scientific invention, it is an all-encompassing art form, where storytelling, painting, literature, theatre,
dance, music all harmoniously come together and create 'magic'.
As a passionate student of films in university I analysed early cinema- The Lumière brothers, Edwin
S. Porter, D.W Griffith and discovered the first wizard of this magical world-George Melies. Adecade
hence, walking the streets of Paris, I find myself thinking often of Melies, the pioneering French film-
maker and weather this generation of 3D special effects savvy cinema goer, knows the man who
started it all.
The 'Salon Indien du Grand Café' in Paris on December 28, 1895 was the historic setting for the first
public screening of short films of the Lumière brothers using their Cinématographe device. These
were the first rudimentary documentaries capturing realistic moving images such as their first film
'Workers leaving the lumière factory'. There was one man in the awestruck audience that day who
saw a greater potential in this marvellous new invention. A passionate magician and owner of Théâtre
Robert-Houdin, bought selling his share of his family shoe business, Melies approached the brothers
offering to buy one of their Cinématographe devices for his theatre. Unfazed by the brother’s refusal,
Melies bought an ‘Animatograph’film projector from Robert Paul reengineering it into a film camera.
By1896, he was making his own ground breaking unique short films.
Méliès’ principle contribution to cinema was in recognising the possibilities of the medium for
narrative and spectacle, combining traditional theatrical elements to motion pictures, presenting
spectacles of a kind not possible in live theatre. He created the basic vocabulary of special effects,
manipulating and distorting time and space to create illusions using jump cuts and other complex
special effects such as double exposure, split screen with performers acting opposite themselves,
overlapping dissolve, fade in fade out, stop motion photography etc. With these techniques and
showmanship he pushed the envelope of film-making from mundane single action shots to an
imaginative storytelling vehicle. In 1897 Méliès constructed a glass studio at Montreuil-sous-Bois, in
which he was able to elaborate his productions and trick work. His 1902 silent film' Journey to the
moon' is considered the first science fiction movie and one of the most influential films of cinema
history. Inspired by a wide variety of sources, including Jules Verne's novels From the Earth to the
Moon and Around the Moon, the film follows a group of astronomers who travel to the Moon in a
cannon-propelled capsule, explore the Moon's surface, escape from an underground group of lunar
inhabitants, and return with a splashdown to Earth with a captive alien. The spaceship hitting the
moon in the eye is an iconic cinematic moment. An original hand printed version was discovered in
1993 and restored. Melies made over 500 films, acting, financing, directing and photographing each
one of them. His films were a roaring international success, inspiring many to copy his style.
The brutal realities of the 1st
world war drove Melies out of business, bankrupt he had to abandon
film making. He was forced to turn his innovative studio into a variety theatre and his beloved theatre
Houdin was demolished. In 1917, the French army turned the main studio building into a hospital for
wounded soldiers, confiscated over four hundred of original prints of Melies’s Star Films, melting
them down to recover silver and celluloid to make heels for the army's shoes. Melies himself in rage
and despair burnt many of his negatives, sets and costumes. Penniless, he ran a tiny sweet and toy
shop in Gare de Montparnasse for many years to make ends meet. In the late 20's his immense
contribution to cinema started to be recognised and he was awarded the legion of honour. Yet he
continued to live in abject poverty and in 1932 the cinema society put him up in a retirement home
for film veterans where he died in 1938. The 2007 novel and 2011 film 'Hugo Cabret' that centers
around his life has helped to keep the embers of his legacy from dying out completely but I feel
perhaps, it is too little too late.