Artifact of Film History

     

    The historic film that I find the most interesting is A Trip to the Moon (1902), directed by French illusionist Georges Méliès. Based on other movies created around the same time, I would say that A Trip to the Moon was way ahead of its time. He used special effects in a way that had not been done before, and the staging of the different sets are extremely detailed.

Storytelling

    Georges Méliès did an incredible job with the storytelling of this film. In the opening scene, the audience can see a group of wizards and scientists planning out the construction of a spacecraft and planning a mission to the moon. In the very next scene, we see the spacecraft being built as workers climb inside. We then get to see the spacemen climb inside as the spacecraft is loaded into the launcher by women workers. Then it cuts to a point of view of the spacecraft heading toward the face of the "man on the moon", getting closer and closer until the spacecraft lands directly into the moon's eye and the spacemen climb out onto the moon's surface. Finally, the men explore the moon and meet aliens that they end up bringing back with them to Earth.

Cinematography

    One of the main reasons why this film was so ahead of its time is because of the cinematography. The sets, costumes, and props are extremely detailed and it all comes together and makes it feel as if you were watching a live play. The best part of the cinematography of this film is the camera angles and camera zoom. The director uses clever camera tricks to make it seem as if we were getting closer and closer to the moon or zooming in, which was not possible with technology at the time. Although there is no camera movement, it is made up for by the actors. In nearly every scene the actors are moving constantly to make the film feel more alive. There also was no color on film back then, but the contrasts in the background set design, actors, and props help distinguish smaller details in the environment.

Cultural Relevance

    At the time when this film was made in 1902, the idea of going to the moon was science fiction. Nobody had any idea how humans could make it there, what we would find there, or what any of it would really look like. What makes this film special is that everything about the moon mission is imaginary, wild, and fun. Today's space science fiction films can often be serious. Take Intersteller (2014) and The Martian (2015) for example. They do their best to get a somewhat accurate vision of space and other planets, minus the fiction aspect of it, but of course, we already know what spaceships, the moon, and outer space look like. It is amazing to think that this film was possibly one of the very first science fiction films ever made.