Georges Méliès was truly a magician of the screen. It’s no surprise, considering he enchanted people as an illusionist before devising many special effects and film techniques. At the turn of the 21st century he created seamless screen illusions through in-camera tricks like multiple exposures, split-screens, time-lapse photography, dissolves and hand-colouring. He even accidentally invented the jump cut when his camera jammed.
Between 1896 and 1913, Méliès directed over 500 films. He described them as “little abracadabras” and they were truly magical, inviting audiences on A Trip to the Moon (1902), into The Kingdom of Fairies (1903) and to enjoy a chorus of decapitated heads.
Un homme de têtes video via YouTube.
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Collection
In ACMI's collection
On display until
16 February 2031
ACMI: Gallery 1
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
P180321
Curatorial section
The Story of the Moving Image → Moving Pictures → MI-04. Materiality → MI-04-C01
Object Types
2D Object
Exhibition Prop
Photographic print/Pictorial
Materials
graphic