Please Accept My Apologies.

Wow, it's been over a week since I last posted anything here...However, I will say that it has been a busy hectic week! I've been going to classes, art shows, meetings, Nebraska and somewhere in between all of that fun have had to find to do homework, eat, sleep and read.
Speaking of reading, I just finished reading an amazing book: "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," by Brian Selznick. The book creatively uses illustrations to help tell the story. The way that the author placed illustrations throughout the book makes it seem as if you are "reading" a movie.
And speaking of movies, the book also discusses the origins of film, especially concerning early French filmmaker Georges Melies. I did not know much, if anything, about the early days of film, but after reading this book I was intrigued to find out as much as I could about Melies.
Melies was a magician who, after seeing the "magic" of moving pictures realized that this was a medium which he could utilize heavily. According to Wikipedia (always a good source...) Melies was possibly the innovator of the stop-trick, or substitution method of film-making. He was also one of the first filmmakers to utilize multiple exposures, time lapse photography, dissolves and hand-painted color in his film.
Melies' most famous work is "Le Voyage Dan La Lune," (A Trip to the Moon) about a group of astronomers who go on a voyage to the moon. One of the most famous scenes from this film includes the man in the moon being hit in the eye by a rocket. Another famous film is "The Impossible Voyage." Both of these films are important because they represent two of the earliest science fiction/fantasy films. In addition, Melies is often credited with inventing the horror film!
For more on Melies:
Wikipedia.
The Geoges Melies database.

Finally, here are three great movies, courtesy of YouTube, by this innovative early filmmaker. I don't know much about film making, and what I do know is confined to doing it digitally, so this is amazing to me!

The Four Troublesome Heads (1899)

If you can't see the video, here.

The One Man Band (1900)

If you can't see the video, here.

The Man With the Rubber Head

If you can't see the video, here.