A Trip to the Moon is one of the first known science fiction films. The scenes are very elaborate and complete with painted backdrops and are constructed in a similar way as those of the Lumière Brothers. They both have complex, layered, contrapuntal motion playing out before a static camera, which represents the audience’s point of view as they watch the action unfold on a “stage”. Unlike the short films made by the Lumière Brothers which tended to capture a “natural” event, one that shows scenes of daily and familiar occurrence, Méliès tries to see how far he can push the fantastical and the end result is a film that is much an example of surrealism rather then naturalism.
Also, this film reminds me of a tableau vivant style, where a group of suitably costumed actors or artist’s models are carefully posed and theatrically lit. There is one big difference though, the film has a more developed story and is filled with action where the actors don’t freeze in motion for the duration of the time. Whereas in a tableau vivant the people shown do not speak or move throughout the duration of time. The approach thus marries the art forms of the stage with those of painting or photography, and as such it has been of interest to modern photographers.
A Trip to the Moon uses multiple exposures onto a plate. It also uses special effects such as the scene where the spaceship lands in the moon’s eye. There is one unusual choice which shows an action twice in different ways. When the astronomers land on the lunar surface, the same event is shown twice and very differently. The first time it is shown crashing into the eye of the man in the moon and the second time it is shown landing on the moon’s flat terrain.
Photographic cameras use memory to store the images, and can be uploaded to a computer, ipod, etc. whereas, film camera’s use the old film canisters and have to be developed (taken to the store). They are similar because they both contain a lens which is positioned in the middle, a flash, and both have a similar body shape .They also have view finders.
