Perhaps the first science fiction fim ever made was the 1902 La Voyage de la Lune by Georges Melies. Melies was a French Magician, born in 1861 in Paris. In 1895, he saw the first motion pictures and started soon after to make his own. Quite by accident, he discovered the technique of stop action animation. He invented the techniques of fade ins and fade outs and the dissolve as methods for narration. He made over 500 films. He died in relative obscurity in 1938, the victim of a rapidly changing world and unrecognized by the industry he had helped to create.
His films are now being restored and admired for the truly innovative and magical wonders of imagination that they really are.....
La Voyage de la Lune:
Briefly, the voyage is announced and all of Paris turns out to marvel at the huge gun which is going to shoot a rocket to the moon, actually a cannon shell with a party of explorers inside.
The shell is fired and hits the moon in the eye. The explorers see the earth rise and the marvels of the stars. They trek into the interior of the moon where they find a forest of giant mushrooms and the Selenites. They are captured by the Selenites, but fight their way back to the shell, which falls off the edge of the moon and plummets back to earth, into the ocean where a waiting ship rescues them.
They go back to Paris, there is a big parade and everyone is happy!
4 comments:
Hello Microdot,
I remember see this old flim years ago. Yes it was a good one that has stood the test of time. As you know, I have been very busy on the project I told you about but you know that I have to take time to visit you and your thoughts my friend.
I tried to go on Muddy's site but it was block and accessed by invation only. I will try agian tonight.
Engineer, I believe that Muddy went on vacation to Germany and eastern France...I tried to convice him to come to here.
I'm pretty sure that you are on his list of addresses...
I think he did it as a "fire wall" to keep the blog from being taken advantage of by his flabby fundamentalist fans in his absence.
Good plan on Muddy's part. Anti-Blog Beast Protection....got it. :-)
I hope he has a great time in Europe. I know that I enjoyed my travels there. I have a much more worldly viewpoint and global understanding because of it. I keep telling my wife that I want to get her to Europe. (Italy, France, Ireland, etc.) No time soon with the oldest daughter getting married next summer and college for the youngest in four years.
I'm going to visit NYC in late October for 2 weeks...
It should be interesting....
I have lived with the same woman for over 25 years...we have never officially married, but finally...it's going to be official...The scary part is that it started as a casual thing...now, friends have snowballed it into an affair...
I would have been happy with the discount chinese dinner you get in Chinatown if you get married at the city clerks office....
but now??? we have a band for the reception and a legion of friends feverishly at work...planning unthought of details...
I've never done this before, I'm scared....
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