Inside History: A History of Film (Sample)

Georges Méliès (far left) in his original Star-Film studio in
Montreuil, near Paris, France
early films, where he started to experiment with illusions
and camera tricks such as dissolving scene cuts,
superimposition, and many practical effects. His most
notable trick, substitution splicing, was allegedly
discovered by accident after a camera jam whilst filming
on a Parisian street; an illusion cleverly demonstrated
throughout A Trip to the Moon to make various objects
transform or disappear.
Méliès initially struggled to market A Trip to the Moon due
to its unusually high cost for the time. It consisted of 260
metres of film, which was 3x longer than the short clips
being produced by the Lumière brothers and Thomas
Edison. This naturally came with a high production cost
involving intricate set designs, costumes, and the 3
months it took to film. Méliès agreed to lend a copy to a
carnival exhibitor for free to trial it to audiences and it
was met with great applause. The exhibitor immediately
purchased the film, which went on to be a major
international success.
This success was not without problems, as several
producers in the United States – including Thomas
Edison – reproduced the film and sold it as their own.
Méliès responded by expanding his Star Film Company,
establishing an office in New York City. His brother,
Gaston, worked to discourage piracy and the
extortionate profits made at Méliès’ expense.
Méliès had several years of continued success before
fading into obscurity. He struggled with the quickly
evolving methods of film distribution, made poor
financial decisions, and was faced with the onset of
World War I. During the war, Méliès’ film stocks were
occupied by the French military, who melted them down
for silver. Remaining copies were sold cheaply to secondhand
outlets or discarded as his theatre was demolished
in 1923. In the same year, Méliès burned the negatives
for the film out of frustration. This devastating time
caused him to withdraw from film completely.
Journalist Georges-Michel Coissac sparked a revival in
Méliès work towards the late 1920s, as he was finally
recognised for his revolutionary contributions to cinema.
Louis Lumière awarded him the Knight of the Legion of
Honour in 1931 and named him “the creator of
cinematic spectacle”. Incomplete copies started to
emerge around this time, and in 1997 a complete
version was finally reconstructed. In 2011, a full
restoration of a hand-coloured print was completed and
featured in the Martin Scorsese film Hugo (2011). This
centred around the life of Méliès and paid homage to the
remarkable impact that he made at the beginning of
cinematic history.
10 INSIDE HISTORY