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The Living Playing Cards
''The Living Playing Cards'' () is a 1905 French silent trick film directed by Georges Méliès. Synopsis A magician enters a stage set on which a large white screen has been placed. Taking a deck of playing cards, he shows one to the camera, makes it grow larger, and finally throws it upon the screen, creating a gigantic reproduction of the card. He does the same with two face cards, a queen and king, each of which comes to life and steps out of the card. The king chases the magician off the stage, before ripping off his disguise to reveal the magician himself. Production The film is based on a stage magic act performed at Méliès's theatre of illusions, the Théâtre Robert-Houdin in Paris. In the stage version, the magician was Gaston Velle, who would himself later become a director of Méliès-like trick films for Pathé Frères. In the film version, Méliès himself plays the magician. The special effects used are substitution splice The substitution splice or sto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Georges Méliès
Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès ( , ; 8 December 1861 – 21 January 1938) was a French magic (illusion), magician, toymaker, actor, and filmmaker. He led many technical and narrative developments in the early days of film, cinema, primarily in the Fantasy film, fantasy and Science fiction film, science fiction genres. Méliès rose to prominence creating "trick films" and became well known for his innovative use of special effects, popularizing such techniques as substitution splices, multiple exposures, time-lapse photography, Dissolve (film), dissolves, and Color motion picture film#Tinting and hand coloring, hand-painted colour. He was also one of the first filmmakers to use storyboards in his work. His most important films include ''A Trip to the Moon'' (1902) and ''The Impossible Voyage'' (1904). Early life and education Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès was born 8 December 1861 in Paris, son of Jean-Louis Méliès and his Netherlands, Dutch wife Johannah-Catherine Schuering. His ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Star Film Company
The Manufacture de Films pour Cinématographes, often known as Star Film, was a French film production company run by the illusionist and film director Georges Méliès. History On 28 December 1895, Méliès attended the celebrated first public demonstration of the Lumière Brothers' Kinetoscope. The event, held in a room at 14 Boulevard des Capucines in Paris with one hundred chairs and an entry price of 1, demonstrated the practicality of film cameras and projectors. According to later recollections by Méliès, he immediately approached Antoine Lumière and offered to buy a Lumière projector for his own experimentation; Lumière refused. Méliès went on to make repeated offers, all similarly turned down. Méliès next turned to the British film experimenter Robert W. Paul, and in February 1896, obtained an Animatographe projector for 1,000, along with a collection of short films, some by Paul and some by Edison Studios. Méliès projected these for the first time at his the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frames Per Second
A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (construction), a building term known as light frame construction * Framer, a carpenter who assembles major structural elements in constructing a building *A-frame, a basic structure designed to bear a load in a lightweight economical manner ** A-frame house, a house following the same principle * Door frame or window frame, fixed structures to which the hinges of doors or windows are attached *Frame and panel, a method of woodworking *Space frame, a method of construction using lightweight or light materials *Timber framing, a method of building for creating framed structures of heavy timber or willow wood In vehicles * Frame (aircraft), structural rings in an aircraft fuselage * Frame (nautical), the skeleton of a boat * Bicycle frame, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trick Film
In the early history of cinema, trick films were short silent films designed to feature innovative special effects. History The trick film genre was developed by Georges Méliès in some of his first cinematic experiments, and his works remain the most classic examples of the genre. Other early experimenters included the French showmen Émile and Vincent Isola, the British magicians David Devant and John Nevil Maskelyne, and the American cinematographers Billy Bitzer, James Stuart Blackton and Edwin S. Porter. In the first years of film, especially between 1898 and 1908, the trick film was one of the world's most popular film genres. Before 1906, it was likely the second most prevalent genre in film, surpassed only by nonfiction actuality films. Techniques explored in these trick films included slow motion and fast motion created by varying the camera cranking speed; the editing device called the substitution splice; and various in-camera effects, such as multiple expo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stage Magic
A stage illusion is a large-scale magic trick. As the name implies, stage illusions are distinct from other types of magic in that they are performed a considerable distance away from the audience, usually on a stage, in order to maintain the illusion. Stage illusions usually use large props and may involve the use of assistants or large animals.Wilson, Mark. Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic. Running Press Kids. 2003. Examples of stage illusions include sawing a woman in half and levitation. Stage illusion also refers to the field or career of performing stage illusions. Stage illusions * Aquarian Illusion * Asrah levitation * Assistant's Revenge * Aztec Lady * Balducci levitation * Battle of the Barrels * Bullet catch * Cabinet escape * David Copperfield's laser illusion * Devil's torture chamber *Guillotine *Impalement * Indian rope trick *Levitation *Metamorphosis * Mismade Girl *Origami * Predicament escape * Radium Girl * Sawing a woman in half * Squeeze Box Illusio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Théâtre Robert-Houdin
The Théâtre Robert-Houdin, initially advertised as the Théâtre des Soirées Fantastiques de Robert-Houdin, was a Paris theatre dedicated primarily to the performance of stage illusions. Founded by the famous magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin in 1845 at No. 164 Galerie Valois as part of the Palais-Royal, it moved in 1852 to a permanent home at No. 8, Boulevard des Italiens. The theatre's later directors, before its demolition in 1924, included Robert-Houdin's protégé Hamilton and the illusionist and film innovator Georges Méliès. When he first founded the theatre, Robert-Houdin was known primarily for his guest appearances as a magician and his clever mechanical inventions. Eager to solidify his work as a stage performer, he leased assembly rooms in the Palais-Royal and had them converted into a small but elegant proscenium theatre auditorium. In setting his stage, Robert-Houdin deliberately set himself apart from conventional stage-magic traditions; he eschewed the usual ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaston Velle
Gaston Velle (1868–1953) was a French silent film director and pioneer of special effects, who was prominent in early French and Italian cinema during the first two decades of the 20th century. Like his father, the Hungarian entertainer Joseph "Professor" Velle, Gaston began his career as a travelling magician, before putting his illusionist skills to work in cinema and ultimately creating more than fifty films between 1903 and 1911. He worked under Auguste and Louis Lumière, before serving as the head of production for the Italian film studio Cines. But he is best remembered for his work at Pathé, where he was hired to produce trick films that might rival those of his contemporary, Georges Méliès, including classic shorts like Burglars at Work (1904). Some films pioneered lasting techniques, such as his ''Les Invisibles'' (1906) – the first known invisible man film. Velle also created some of the first féerie films, such as ''tit-for-tat'' (1906). Additionally, Velle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pathé Frères
Pathé SAS (; styled as PATHÉ!) is a French major film production and distribution company, owning a number of cinema chains through its subsidiary Pathé Cinémas and television networks across Europe. It is the name of a network of French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest film equipment and production company, as well as a major producer of phonograph records. In 1908, Pathé invented the newsreel that was shown in cinemas before a feature film. Pathé is the second-oldest operating film company, behind Gaumont, which was established in 1895. History The company was founded as Société Pathé Frères (; "Pathé Brothers Company") in Paris, France on 28 September 1896, by the four brothers Charles, Émile, Théophile and Jacques Pathé. During the first part of the 20th century, Pathé became the largest film equipment and production company in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pordenone Silent Film Festival
Le Giornate del cinema muto (referred to in English as Pordenone Silent Film Festival) is an annual festival of silent film held in October in Pordenone, northern Italy. It is the first, largest and most important international festival dedicated to silent filmRichie Meyer, ''Reel News'' (Seattle International Film Festival), Autumn 2007, p.8 and also is present in the list of the top 50 unmissable film festivals in the world according to Variety.Variety, ''50 unmissable film festivals' The Pordenone Silent Film Festival is a non-profit association, whose president is Livio Jacob. The director from 1997 until 2015 was David Robinson (film critic), David Robinson. In 2016, Jay Weissberg became director. Other members of the festival board are Paolo Cherchi Usai, Lorenzo Codelli, Piero Colussi, Luciano De Giusti, Carlo Montanaro, Piera Patat. History Created in 1982 as a collaborative effort between La Cineteca del Friuli in Gemona and the Cinemazero filmclub in Pordenone, the G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Substitution Splice
The substitution splice or stop trick is a cinematic special effect in which filmmakers achieve an appearance, disappearance, or transformation by altering one or more selected aspects of the mise-en-scène between two shots while maintaining the same framing and other aspects of the scene in both shots. The effect is usually polished by careful editing to establish a seamless cut and optimal moment of change. It has also been referred to as stop motion substitution or stop-action. The pioneering French filmmaker Georges Méliès claimed to have accidentally developed the stop trick, as he wrote in ''Les Vues Cinématographiques'' in 1907 (translated from French): According to the film scholar Jacques Deslandes, it is more likely that Méliès discovered the trick by carefully examining a print of the Edison Manufacturing Company's 1895 film '' The Execution of Mary Stuart'', in which a primitive version of the trick appears. In any case, the substitution splice was both the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dissolve (filmmaking)
In the post-production process of film editing, film and video editing, a dissolve (sometimes called a lap dissolve) is a type of film transition in which one Sequence (filmmaking), sequence fades over another. The terms fade-out (also called fade to black) and fade-in are used to describe a transition to and from a blank image. This is in contrast to a Cut (transition), cut, where there is no such transition. A dissolve overlaps two Shot (filmmaking), shots for the duration of the effect, usually at the end of one scene and the beginning of the next, but may also be used in Montage (filmmaking), montage sequences. Generally, but not always, the use of a dissolve is held to indicate that a time has passed between the two scenes. Also, it may indicate a change of location or the start of a Flashback (narrative), flashback. Creation of effect In the film, this effect is usually created with an optical printer by controlling double exposure from frame to frame. In linear video ed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French Black-and-white Films
French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), a British rock band * "French" (episode), a live-action episode of ''The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!'' * ''Française'' (film), a 2008 film * French Stewart (born 1964), American actor Other uses * French (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * French (tunic), a type of military jacket or tunic * French's, an American brand of mustard condiment * French (catheter scale), a unit of measurement * French Defence, a chess opening * French kiss, a type of kiss See also * France (other) * Franch, a surname * French Revolution (other) * French River (other), several rivers and other places * Frenching (other) Frenching may refer to: * Frenching (automobile), recessing or moul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
