Robots. Monsters. Aliens. Spaceships. Time machines. These are some of the elements of a popular genre of movie. And you guessed it right. Science fiction, or simply sci-fi, remains a classic cinema treat among moviegoers.
Science fiction stories can challenge assumptions by engaging in what ifs. Sci-fi films show us what might have happened to our society if things had been different. This genre is appealing because it's the premier storytelling form of modernity.
But where did this iconic genre originate, and historically, what is the first sci-fi film created?
The 120 Years Old Sci-Fi Film That Started It All
George Méliès' "A Trip to the Moon," a 15-minute French movie that was shown on screens 120 years ago in 1902, is the first sci-fi film ever made.
"A Trip To The Moon" is about a comical bunch of astronomers who plan and conduct a trip into space.
Consequently, the astronomers build a massive bullet-shaped spaceship, and fire themselves at the moon.
They meet a bunch of hobbity goblin-like moon monsters, fight, then fall off the moon and crash back down into the sea.
The movie involves various science fiction elements and it has a fairly simple plot. However, the story here is not what really matters.
The most unique element in the movie that amazes the audiences is the creativity, detail, and innovation Méliès put into each scene.
For a movie made in 1902, "A Trip To The Moon" features incomparable levels of animation and scenery.
The most notable scene happens when the space rocket bullet strikes the face of the moon.
"A Trip To The Moon" has an active and engaging storyline. It has key moments and actual events that created a world adjacent to ours.
Read Also: Creating Tractor Beam Makes Science Fiction To Reality
The Man Behind The First Sci-Fi Film
Méliès, a silent movie pioneer, not only created the first sci-fi movie but also created and laid down the fundamentals of special effects.
Before committing himself as a film magician, Méliès was a stage magician. He even used to have his own Parisian theater where he would stage magic shows.
He saw a presentation of the cinematograph in 1895. It was an early version of the film camera (and projector) by the Lumières brothers. This motivated him to set about learning the craft of film.
You have to remember that Méliès is working on his film magic before filmmakers started using camera tricks to create special effects. Back in the days, they were dubbed as "illusions."
When Méliès started with cinema, he combined his love of stage illusions with his newfound love of film.
Méliès actually made history was when he reviewed the footage from a camera that malfunctioned. The malfunctioning camera accidentally cut out halfway through a scene, then restarted.
The result of the malfunctioning camera was one person suddenly disappearing, and another who looked to be magically transforming into another.
It was a breakthrough for Méliès and he used this technique repeatably in his film "A Trip To The Moon," where moon aliens would disappear into a puff of smoke like magic.
Méliès was considered the first filmmaker to experiment with double exposure, split screen, dissolve, superimposition, and reverse shots. He also worked with moving the camera to create the illusion of objects changing size.
He made more than 500 films but "A Trip To The Moon" was the most famous one.
