Known For
Directing
Born
Dec 08, 1861
Died
Jan 21, 1938
Place of Birth
Paris, France
Credits
357 titles
Georges Méliès
Biography
Georges Méliès (December 8, 1861 - January 21, 1938), full name Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès, was a French illusionist and filmmaker famous for leading many technical and narrative developments in the earliest days of cinema. One of the first filmmakers to use multiple exposures, time-lapse photography, tracking shots, dissolves, and hand-painted color in his work, Méliès pioneered effects that would define cinematic special effects for decades to come. A prolific innovator in the use of special effects, Méliès accidentally discovered the substitution stop trick in 1896, a method of creating seamless disappearing and/or appearing effects used throughout both films and television for decades to come. Because of his ability to seemingly manipulate and transform reality through cinematography, Méliès is sometimes referred to as the first "Cinemagician". Two of his best-known films are A Trip to the Moon (1902) and The Impossible Voyage (1904). Both stories involve strange, surreal voyages, somewhat in the style of Jules Verne, and are considered among the most important early science fiction films, though their approach is closer to fantasy. Méliès was also an early pioneer of horror cinema, which can be traced back to his Le Manoir du diable (1896). In early 1909 Méliès stopped making films to protest Thomas Edison's Motion Pictures Parents Company monopoly, and presided over the first meeting of the International Filmmakers Congress in Paris. Further financial hardships created by his opposition to Edison and diminishing influence, Méliès disappeared from public life. By the mid-1920s he made a meager living as a candy and toy salesma in Paris, with the assistance of funds collected by other filmmakers. Although he was recognized for his contributions in cinema, Méliès spent most of his later years in poverty before being accepted into La Maison du Retraite du Cinéma, the film industry's retirement home in Orly.
Known For
Filmography
Satans Sacrilegious Saga
Devil
Alcoléa & cie Documentary
Méliès: Tales of Terror
The Melomaniac
The Méliès Mystery
Self (archive footage)
El hombre que quiso ser Segundo
Self (archive footage)
The Cinemagician, Georges Méliès
Self (archive footage)
The Extraordinary Voyage
Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
The Magic of Méliès
Self / Various Roles (archive footage)
Cinematógrafo 1900
Self (archive footage)
ORG
Thanks
Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma
Self (archive footage)
Violons d'Ingres
Himself (archive footage)
Gala Méliès
Himself
The Voyage of M. Bourrichon
Director
The Knight of the Snow
Devil
Cinderella or The Glass Slipper
Director
The Conquest of the Pole
Le professeur Mabouloff
The Hallucinations of Baron Munchausen
Director
The Diabolical Church Window
Whimsical Illusions
The Magician
The Diabolic Tenant
Le locataire diabolique
The Spider and the Butterfly
Director
The Doctor's Secret
The Living Doll
Director
The Good Shepherdess and the Evil Princess
Director
Pharmaceutical Hallucinations
Director
The Fortune Favors the Brave
Gnome
Hypnotist's Revenge
Director
Moitié de polka
Director
The Fairy Dragonfly
Director
Incident from Don Quixote
Director
The Duke's Good Joke
Director
A Tricky Painter’s Fate
Director
Honeymoon in a Balloon
Director
The Wonderful Charm
Director
The Old Footlight Favorite
Director
The Helping Hand
Director
Grandmother's Tale and Child's Dream
Director
The Magic of Catchy Songs
Director
Fun With the Bridal Party
Director
French Cops Learning English
The Police Inspector
Two Talented Vagabonds
Director
Oriental Black Art
Director
The Hotel Mix-Up
Director
Tribulations; or, The Misfortunes of a Cobbler
The Roman
Two Crazy Bugs
Director
The Indian Sorcerer
The Fakir
Les malheurs d'un photographe
Director
His First Job
Director
The Forester's Remedy
Director