understanding movies
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Julia Castellon posted Mar 16, 2021 8:56 PM
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I must admit that when I first played Georges Melies’ A Trip to the Moon I checked my computer to see if the volume was muted or on low, but then it hit me that they didn’t have audio back then, apparently not even music sounds to go with the film. Then once I started watching it, my first few thoughts were primitive (clearly only in comparison to today’s standards), bizarre, and strange, yet at the same time amazed by the quality of the actual film for its time and ahead of its time for conceptualizing a trip to the moon.
Melies’ use of scale-model effects, illusion, fantasy and “special effects” (Dirks, n.d.) in this film at that time would have been nothing short of astonishment, even without sound, for those watching it. From an emotional standpoint the mere thought of taking off and landing on the moon would have been mind-blowing for the people at that time. It certainly surpassed its predecessors of simpler films of a few seconds long in some instances. Then thinking of it spiritually, the creatures on the moon, imagine thinking of what that meant for people of that time who never occurred to them to think of such things. This is certainly completely different from how I processed the last movie I saw, WW84. The contrast is like night and day from the standpoint of the special effects, costume, illusion, and fantasy – to name a few. Huge differences between these two films are the flying parts, in Melies’ film, they shot the “spaceship” out of a cannon, then defeating the moon men by hitting them with an umbrella and having a spoof of white dust appear to demonstrate thee defeat, and finally getting back to earth by pulling down on a string. WW84’s effects were significantly more advanced and sophisticated from the fighting scenes and the actual use of a fighter jet to fly. On the similarity front, I will have to say that the concept of the storyline, plots, and character development (Dirks, n.d.) related. Both Melies and Patty Jenkins’ directorship of the films showed how much they wanted to entertain their audience.
Going beyond the entertainment value of a non-documentary movie, I like watching movies for the emotion effect that I get from relating to the characters and the storyline. I enjoy watching the special and visual effects, especially when watching some of the movies in 3D effect. I enjoy being amazed. I also enjoy a good cry every now and then.
RESOURCES:
Dirks, T. (n.d.). The history of film the pre-1920s early cinematic origins and the infancy of film. Filmsite. https://www.filmsite.org/pre20sintro.html
Shaggylocks. (2011, July 7). Le voyage dans la lun (a trip to the moon) by Georges Méliès (1902) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y04KFNBC_5o
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· Markley : Week One Discussion
Samantha Markley posted Mar 17, 2021 10:05 PM
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I found the film “A Trip to the Moon” by George Melies to be unamusing but interesting at the same time, if that makes any sense. I found it to be interesting because I, personally, did not know that they were creating movies back then, so that really amazed me and the quality of the movie was not half bad; obviously it is much better today though. I also could not help but think that back then they probably thought traveling to the moon would never occur, but look at us now! According to Dirks (n.d.) George Melies was a very important part of cinema as he assisted with “expanding its development”. While I have seen some old time movies, this was the first movie I had seen from that timeframe. If I had to guess I would say that those who watched it enjoyed it as movies were a new thing to them and it was something different. We tend to get excited over new advances in today’s society so I would think that back then something like this would be intriguing to them.
Without sound it was rather difficult to know what the movie was about at first, for example, I first thought that it was about wizards due to the hats that were worn in the very beginning but as the movie progressed it became more clear; the title also helped clear things up. What I gathered from this movie was that it was a “scientific fiction” film about space. Filmsite stated that Melies introduced “trick photography” to cinema (Dirks, n.d.), he used this in ‘a trip to the moon” in many ways; including by putting a face on the moon. The last movie that I viewed was “Coming 2 America”. I really enjoyed the movie. I rather not ruin it for those who have not seen it yet; but I felt that it was rather predictable. In some ways it seemed to follow the same storyline as the first one. One thing that “Coming 2 America” has in common with “A Trip to the Moon” is that in both movies they go on an adventure. In “A Trip to the Moon” they travel to the moon and in “Coming 2 America” they travel to NYC on a mission to find someone. Another thing that these two movies and all movies really have in common is the concept of storylines, plots and character development (Dirks, n.d.).
In my opinion, movies are a great way to destress. I love to sit back, relax and watch a good comedy or chick flick after I had a rough day, myself. I am a huge Hallmark Movie fan; especially their Christmas Movies. Movies with happy endings always make me feel happy and warm inside, definitely my go to.
References
Le Voyage Dans la Lun (A Trip to the Moon) by Georges Méliès (1902). (2013, March 21). [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNLZntSdyKE
Dirks, T. (n.d.). Film history before 1920. Filmsite. Retrieved from https://www.filmsite.org/pre20sintro2.html
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Chrisson Peters posted Mar 17, 2021 9:28 PM
After watching the Gorge Melies film A Trip to the Moon for the first time, it left me a little confused about what was happening since there wasn't any audio. Viewers back then probably rely on body language or the acting itself to understand the story being told compare to now, where there is audio to provide information to understand the story in a movie. After watching the film for a second time, the story or purpose of the film became clear. The film was about wizard scientists going to the moon in what appears to be a bullet to explore the moon. Viewers of the film then was probably mind blown about the idea of traveling to the moon and started questioning if it was possible. However, in recent time people have successfully done the unthinkable back then.
Viewers of this film back then were probably excited about this sci-fi film. Wizards using umbrellas as weapons to fight monsters on the moon would appear to be something funny. Not only would it be funny, but spiritually, seeing monsters on the moon will leave viewers wondering if there is such a creation on the moon at the time. While watching the film, I observed that the director used the stop-trick to turn the telescopes into chairs by stopping the motion for a split second. They also used looping with the blacksmiths because their moving pattern of them hitting the object was the same for a short period of time. Also, the director used the fade-out effect to bring in the next scene, and a time-lapse effect was used in the film to transition between night and day while the actors were sleeping. Some of the elements used in A Trip to the Moon were used in the Tom and Jerry movie that came out recently. In the Tom and Jerry movie, they used special effects in the image and sound to make the stuff appear real. Also, Fade out was used in the film to open the next scene. While these elements were used for the same purpose in both films, the elements in Tom and Jerry looked better due to modern technology.
Beyond the entertainment value, some values from seeing movies are the possibility of new development such as new technology in the movie that can become a reality. One can be motivated by an actor/actress's actions in the movie. Finally, it can help one to set bigger goals or dreams from what they had set then by seeing a better version of that goal or dream in a movie.
References
Dirks, T. (n.d.). The history of film the pre-1920s early cinematic origins and the infancy of film. Filmsite. https://www.filmsite.org/pre20sintro.html
Le Voyage Dans la Lun (A Trip to the Moon) by Georges Méliès (1902). (2013, March 21). [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNLZntSdyKE
· Week one
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Patrick Graves posted Mar 16, 2021 2:37 PM
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"A Trip to the Moon'' is a good science fiction movie. They had a great use of magic and entertainment. The plot was also great. A group of astronauts had a meeting to try and go to the moon. One of the astronauts was able to build a cannon to launch them into space. By the time they get there they encounter exploiting aleints. They had to fight for survival. I can see how back then how people would be jumping to the edge of their seat with excitement, laughter, and curiosity. I’m sure the movie kept them wondering how they do some of the stunts and special effects.
I felt a lot of the same feeling watching “Wonder Woman 1984”. How I know if I enjoy a movie if I can see myself in the movie or if I cannot think about anything else while I watch it. They had out of this world monsters, special effects, and great plot. Wonder Woman had a lot of CGI and a lot more tech involved in making it. That is the big difference but you can see a lot of the same techniques used to grab the audience's attention back then are still used today. A storyline, stunts, special effects, comety, and drama.
