Standing O!

The film "A Trip to the Moon" was made more than 100 years ago, back when high-tech cameras and special effects were nothing but dreams to filmmakers. Seeing this film made with such creativity, flamboyance and extraordinary effects, you wouldn’t think it was made in 1902.

I would be truly amazed if I lived in that era and saw this movie, as it gave a different approach to filmmaking. First, its backdrop and effects only made use of props, people and people as props, as if you were watching theater but through a camera. The grandness of the special effects (such as the smoke or the moon landing) were all unbelievably amusing, given such limitations to technology in that time. Another is the way the film was shot. Georges Melies’ style is really more on theater, given his background on it, which is why the way this was shot was through a steady camera set at one position, as if watching a play, and instead allowed the entire set and everyone on it to move, so as to achieve the desired effects. Despite this style, Melies was still able to incorporate various angles of a single shot, as seen in the moon launch, which was a technique not many used back then. Movies such as this are considered trailblazers in the industry, as they introduced techniques and styles that are still the basis of what filmmakers do today.

If today I am awestruck by the effects and cinematography of the LOTR and Marvel films despite the existence of amazing new technology in filmmaking, what more with this movie if I lived in the 1900’s. I would probably have stood up, applauded and cheered my heart out during the credits of this film back then, given that it was able to do so much given so little - proof that amazing things can be achieved through ingenuity and creativity.

Reaction paper for A Trip to the Moon