A Trip to the Moon
Okay, so we can argue the toss endlessly about where SFX began and what counts as the first genuine special effects shot, but for all intents and purposes it all kicked off here.
George Méliès was the pioneer of most significant visual effects techniques for the first few decades of cinema, although as with many SFX technicians, his grasp of narrative, pacing and story-telling led to him falling out of favour, once the wow-factor of his remarkable on-screen achievements began to wane. Trip to the Moon gave us paintings, stop-action/substitution, double exposure, fast and slow motion, dissolves and forced perspective. His toolbox was vast and his passion undeniable.
The challenge for us as hardened 21st century film viewers is to jettison our haughty, supercilious dismissal of pre-digital effects and instead watch sequences like this with the wide-eyed rapture and joy of the finale of Cinema Paradiso. Anyone with an ounce of humility who is working in this increasingly diverse field today would concede that they stand on the shoulders of giants like Méliès.
@daveroper77
If you missed part one of this History of Visual Effects click below.
