Die Reise zum Mond

George Melies's `A Trip to the Moon' welcomes a change in film making of the twentieth century. Combined with live action as well as models, the movie tells a story about astronauts who take a trip to the moon. The moon, having a human face captures the astronauts after they crash into its eye. They later escape the moon and it's moon-men and make it back to earth safely. Melies wrote, directed and starred in this movie. He used many important techniques in his films to make them successful. Not only did he develop editing skills and superimposed images, he also used double exposure to complete the magic behind his films. Still used today, Melies's special effects, small models, painted backgrounds, weird makeup and costumes were just some of the important things used in the movie `A Trip to the Moon.'

For the filmmaker Melies, the use of stop action photography played an important role in `A Trip to the Moon.' He specialized in making objects vanish or change by stopping and restarting his camera. The use of self-painted sets, real people along with animated figures and the placement of real faces on objects helped this 1902 movie draw in his audience and leave them with many astonished looks.

A Trip to the Moon is barely a film as a modern audience would understand it, but the short's intriguing visuals make it an entertaining and interesting watch. Effectively a reinterpretation of the classic nineteenth century colonial adventure story (oh no - savages!) in an outer space context.

B

A group of astronomers travel to the moon by getting shot out of a large cannon. They head into the interiors and encounter strange moon-men among giant mushrooms. The version I saw is black and white with a modern narration. The narration is off-putting and out-of-place. I would have loved to see the hand painted colors. Nevertheless, this is a classic. It is imaginative. It is beautiful. It has a nice narrative flow like watching a children's book come to life. The effects are fun. This is a cinematic icon.

Title says it all. Méliès was an interesting man, this is an inspiring movie.

A group of scientists build a rocket and fly to the Moon.

Wonderfully imaginative and innovative. Directed by Georges Melies, a pioneer in the art and technology of film-making. Shot in 1902, when cinema was in its infancy, the movie shows cinema's theatrical roots, as well as the resourcefulness and ingenuity a pioneer like Melies possessed, and needed to possess.

Clever set design, "special effects" and editing. Good plot with a great innocence and imagination to it all.

It also gave us the iconic moon-with-a-rocket-in-its-face image.

Such a landmark film in cinema history that it features heavily in Martin Scorsese's homage to cinema - 'Hugo' (2011).