Marie-Georges Méliès Life And Accomplishments

Marie-Georges Méliès (birth name) a pioneer of the early cinema was born on December 8, 1861 in Paris, France. He was born to wealthy industrialist parents who manufactured shoes. At an early age Georges Méliès showed interest in the arts, and stage design. He studied stage design and puppetry in Paris at various theatres. "In 1884, Méliès continued his studies abroad, in London at the request of his parents - they insisted he learn English after which they intended him to work at his father's footwear business. While in London, he developed a keen interest in stage conjury after witnessing the work of Maskelyne and Cooke. On his return to Paris he worked at his father's factory and took over as manager when his father retired. His position meant that he was able to raise enough money to buy the
"…Méliès built small glass enclosed studio. Finished by early 1897, the studio permitted Méliès to design and construct sets painted on canvas flats. Even working in this studio, however, Méliès continued to create various kinds of films." (Thompson and Bordwell, 24) Two of the films he created while in his studio were Divers at Work on the Wreck of the "Maine" and The Dreyfus Affair; both were shown as separate films. Many have said that both of these films shown together are the most complex works of the early cinema.
Méliès' next film in 1899, Cinderella he began to join many shots sell them as one film. Méliès became the film industry's first filmmaker to use unnaturally arranged scenes to create and tell a narrative story, with the film Cinderella. This was a set of three films, Little Red Ridding Hood (1901), and Blue Beard (1901) followed. Méliès appears as Father Time, bearded and fastened to a massive clock. These fairy tales were taken from pages of books to the screen in complete fascination to his audiences, he saw fairy tales as great material for his