Georges Méliès
Directing
- Born:
- 1861-12-08
- Died:
- 1938-01-21
- Place of birth:
- Paris, France
Biography
Georges Méliès (December 8, 1861 - January 21, 1938), full name Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès, was a French illusionist and filmmaker famous for leading many technical and narrative developments in the earliest days of cinema. One of the first filmmakers to use multiple exposures, time-lapse photography, tracking shots, dissolves, and hand-painted color in his work, Méliès pioneered effects that would define cinematic special effects for decades to come. A prolific innovator in the use of special effects, Méliès accidentally discovered the substitution stop trick in 1896, a method of creating seamless disappearing and/or appearing effects used throughout both films and television for decades to come. Because of his ability to seemingly manipulate and transform reality through cinematography, Méliès is sometimes referred to as the first "Cinemagician". Two of his best-known films are A Trip to the Moon (1902) and The Impossible Voyage (1904). Both stories involve strange, surreal voyages, somewhat in the style of Jules Verne, and are considered among the most important early science fiction films, though their approach is closer to fantasy. Méliès was also an early pioneer of horror cinema, which can be traced back to his Le Manoir du diable (1896). In early 1909 Méliès stopped making films to protest Thomas Edison's Motion Pictures Parents Company monopoly, and presided over the first meeting of the International Filmmakers Congress in Paris. Further financial hardships created by his opposition to Edison and diminishing influence, Méliès disappeared from public life. By the mid-1920s he made a meager living as a candy and toy salesma in Paris, with the assistance of funds collected by other filmmakers. Although he was recognized for his contributions in cinema, Méliès spent most of his later years in poverty before being accepted into La Maison du Retraite du Cinéma, the film industry's retirement home in Orly.
Known For
Filmography
Satans Sacrilegious Saga
Alcoléa & cie Documentary
Méliès: Tales of Terror
The Méliès Mystery
El hombre que quiso ser Segundo
The Cinemagician, Georges Méliès
The Extraordinary Voyage
Georges Méliès: The First Wizard of Cinema (1896-1913)
The Magic of Méliès
Cinematógrafo 1900
Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma
Violons d'Ingres
Gala Méliès
The Knight of the Snow
Cinderella or The Glass Slipper
The Conquest of the Pole
The Diabolical Church Window
Whimsical Illusions
The Diabolic Tenant
The Doctor's Secret
The Fortune Favors the Brave
French Cops Learning English
Les infortunes des patineurs
Tribulations; or, The Misfortunes of a Cobbler
The Indian Sorcerer
Not Guilty
The New Lord of the Village
In the Barber Shop
Long Distance Wireless Photography
The Good Luck of a 'Souse'
The King and the Jester
Satan in Prison
Good Glue Sticks
The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon
Delirium in a Studio
Tunneling the English Channel
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
The Witch
The Mysterious Retort
The Merry Frolics of Satan
A Roadside Inn
A Desperate Crime
The Hilarious Posters
The Inventor Crazybrains and His Wonderful Airship
Rip's Dream
Ulysses and the Giant Polyphemus
The Palace of the Arabian Nights
A Mesmerian Experiment
The Lilliputian Minuet
The Black Imp
The Living Playing Cards
The Christmas Angel
The Firefall
The Wandering Jew
The Impossible Voyage
The Mermaid
The Devilish Plank
The Cook in Trouble
The Wonderful Living Fan
Tchin-Chao, the Chinese Conjurer
Faust and Marguerite
The Imperceptible Transmutations
The Clockmaker's Dream
The Untamable Whiskers
The Fugitive Apparitions
Every Man His Own Cigar Lighter
A Wager Between Two Magicians, or, Jealous of Myself
Tit for Tat
A Moonlight Serenade
The Terrible Turkish Executioner
Faust in the Underworld
The Ballet Master's Dream
The Magic Lantern
Alcofribas, The Master Magician
Extraordinary Illusions
Bob Kick, the Mischievous Kid
Jupiter's Thunderballs
Apparitions
The Infernal Cauldron
The Kingdom of the Fairies
The Monster
The Melomaniac
The Oracle of Delphi
The Mystical Flame
The Mysterious Box
The Infernal Cake-Walk
Misfortune Never Comes Alone
Beelzebub's Daughters
The Marvellous Wreath
The Enchanted Basket
Robinson Crusoe
Gulliver's Travels Among the Lilliputians and the Giants
Sure Cure for Indigestion
An Impossible Balancing Feat
The Human Fly
The Treasures of Satan
A Trip to the Moon
The Prolific Magical Egg
The Dwarf and the Giant
The Man with the Rubber Head
The Devil and the Statue
Hat of Many Surprises
Bluebeard
The Prince of Magicians
The Temple of the Sun
A Maiden's Paradise
The Magician's Cavern
The Triple Headed Lady
The Brahmin and the Butterfly
The Astronomer's Dream
The Christmas Dream
Joan of Arc
The Artist and the Dummy
The One-Man Band
The Fat and Lean Wrestling Match
Going to Bed Under Difficulties
Up-to-Date Spiritualism
The Wizard, the Prince and the Good Fairy
The Magic Book
A Fantastical Meal
The Triple Conjurer and the Living Head
The Dreyfus Affair
Cinderella
Summoning the Spirits
The Human Pyramid
A Midnight Episode
The Devil in a Convent
An Up-to-Date Conjurer
The Mysterious Knight
The Mysterious Portrait
Cleopatra's Tomb
The Pillar of Fire
The Four Troublesome Heads
The Temptation of St. Anthony
Pygmalion and Galatea
The Magician
The Famous Box Trick
The Bridegroom's Dilemma
Faust and Marguerite
Le château hanté
The Bewitched Inn
Naval Combat in Greece
Between Calais and Dover
Dancing in a Harem
A Funny Mahometan
Gugusse and the Automaton
A Nightmare
Le manoir du diable
Conjuring
Playing Cards
A Terrible Night
The Vanishing Lady