A trip to the moon is a French black and white silent Sci-Fi film made by the French illusionist and

filmmaker George Mlis. Because of his talent in transforming reality through filming, Mlis is referred to as
the "Cinemagician". On first sight it appears that Mlis had an interest in illusion and magic when he first visited the Egyptian Hall run by the famous illusionist John Nevil Maskelyne, and soon considered magic as a lifelong passion. He took magic lessons from Emile violin and performed in different galleries and created his personal illusions over the years. His film is inspired by the two popular novels of the time: From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne and The First Men in the Moon by H. G. Wells, was named one the 100 greatest films of the 20th century. The film shares the successful launch of a gigantic cannon that was commissioned by scientists. After arrival, the scientists start discovering the moon, however they soon realized it's occupied by clutches. The scientists escaped to their shell, which falls down a cliff straight to the Ocean and then pulled out by a steamship. It is likely that the film stands out from others because of his early use of special effects and stop trick technique to give the illusion of disappearance by stopping the camera and moving the object or person out of the frame and starting the camera again.

"It contains a plethora of special effects, executed brilliantly for their time"

In addition to that, his mix of double exposure, dissolve and time-lapse techniques as well as his own paintings in the background that gave the film a unique style. The image above shows a transition from a scene showing people to another one showing the moon. Regardless the lack of filming techniques, he considered scaling up the moon to make the viewer focus on it, as it will be years before filmmakers employ close-ups. The film's humor is expressed by the craziness and excitement of the characters and their movements in different directions. "This film is far more varied than the others" It is noticeable that attention to details was important to Mlis. On analysis it can be seen that Mlis has considered the laws of physics by making the shell rise to the surface due to its airtightness, the presence of different sorts of oceanic species such as jellyfish, seaweed and lizards.
This film is considered as one the most important films in the history, in terms of using the effects, having a narrative and its continuous entertainment even though the length of the film was unusual at that time. He managed to express his interest in illusion and magic successfully and to show the Sci-Fi gender by not considering the absence of air and presence of gravity, which wasn't intentional. This fact gives the film a sense of comedy. " A trip to the Moon was a critical success for George Mlis, and thank to his creativity and technical excellence, it still entertains, its duration doesn't hurt, either-even a great movie cannot hold attention for long without deviating from medium shots".

BIBILOGRAPHY: Matt Barry (1999). An early, great masterpiece. In: http://www.imdb.com [Online] At: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000417/reviews?start=70 (Accessed: 30/09/2012) John Nesbit (2006). Trip to the Moon, A (1902). In: http://oldschoolreviews.com [Online] At: http://oldschoolreviews.com/rev_20/trip_moon.htm (Accessed: 30/09/2012) Chris Edwards (2009). A Trip to the Moon (1902). In: http://silentvolume.blogspot.co.uk [Online] At: http://silentvolume.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/trip-to-moon-1902.html (Accessed: 30/09/2012)

IMAGES: http://mythicalmonkey.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/georges-meliessesquicentennial.html

cerestv (2009). Viaje a la Luna, de Georges Mlis (1902). [online]. Available from: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxB2x9QzXb0>. [Accessed 30/09/2012].