Episode 1 - Imagination Brought to Life

Introduction Join us as we look at the history of Science Fiction Film. Welcome to Watch This! SPACE! Dive through the airlock of reality and into the universe of speculative cinema as we look at what was, to see what could be. For the first week, we watched four early, early examples of science fiction films: The Astronomer’s Dream (1898); see  https://scifist.net/2018/02/28/the-astronomers-dream/ A Trip to the Moon (1902); see https://scifist.net/2018/02/21/a-trip-to-the-moon/ A Trip to Jupiter (1909); see https://scifist.net/2018/03/24/a-trip-to-jupiter/ A Trip to Mars (1910); see https://scifist.net/2018/03/25/a-trip-to-mars/ From The Origins of Science Fiction Film (1900s - 1920s): The origins of film began in the early 1900s with short black and white films created to extend the magic of theater on screen. Science fiction cinema is one of the first genres to be translated to film, but as a way for magicians to use illusion, theatrics, and trickery to stun crowds. One early pioneer of cinema, Georges Méliès was a magician by trade and used cinema to create dozens of films, including Le Voyage dans la Lune (A voyage to the Moon) (1902) based on stories by Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. All of Méliès' films are applauded for exploring special effects and creating worlds of fantasy and whimsy. Science fiction literature continued to influence the new medium with films like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916), Frankenstein (1910), and The Lost World (1925). Hoyt's The Lost World (1925) is one of the first films to utilize stop-motion animation by special effects pioneer Willis O'Brien. Science fiction film became a vehicle for prediction and social commentary in Europe with films like Aelita: Queen of Mars (1924) and Metropolis (1927). Metropolis, directed by German expressionist Fritz Lang, is widely celebrated as the important and influential science fiction film. Discuss science fiction and its literary roots, including how it intertwined with fantasy (medieval romance, Gulliver’s Travels, etc.) and horror (Frankenstein, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Invisible Man, etc.) Acknowledge the major source of the week: Janne Wass’s site scifist 2.0. Points for discussion: Early sci-fi films expanded the realm of special effects beyond the work of stage magicians and theatrical productions with effects like superimposition, jump cuts, crossfades, etc. From the article on The Astronomer’s Dream: Repeated in print, the films seems a mess, and in a sense it is. But just like modern action film directors use fast cuts and special effects to thrill a viewer, so did Méliès. In his first five years of filmmaking he more or less developed most of the tricks that made up the bulk of special effects up until the birth of computer graphics. These included double exposure, superimposition with a black background creating what would later be called “blue screen” or “green screen” photography, time-lapse photography, stop tricks, forced perspective with moving cameras and pulleys, dissolves, and early animation done by hand-painting directly on the film frames. To all this Méliès added beautifully realized sets, complicated and sometimes gigantic puppeteered props, extravagant costumes and stage effects like smoke and fire. In the earliest films, scientists look like wizards. What’s the significance of that? Is it connected to the fact that some of the early sci-fi filmmakers came from stage magician backgrounds? Sci fi films as a vehicle for showing “the possible,” not just what filmmakers can do but, as the era progressed, what could be possible with society (true golden age science fiction). Traveling to other planets: Although A Trip to Jupiter is a dream, both A Trip to the Moon and A Trip to Mars involve actual travel and use methods with some literary history to them (From the Earth to the Moon and The First Men in the Moon).