10 Movies You Didn’t Know Were Responsible For Game-Changing Innovations

Georges Méliès was a magician who used the new technology of film to extend his repertoire of illusions. His first shorts are an early example of special effects seemingly removing his head or multiplying himself; he developed many techniques that would be in common use throughout the years such as double exposure, split screen, and shot dissolving.

His 1902 film, A Trip To The Moon, is the culmination of his knowledge of visual trickery and is seen as film's first science fiction picture. As anyone who has seen a sci-fi film from Godzilla to Star Wars will tell you, special effects and grandiose vision tends to go hand-in-hand with the genre.

The film is based on a book by Jules Verne and follows the adventures of idiots (getting to the moon may take intelligence, but they are idiots) exploring the moon and running afoul of the local population who they see as nothing but savages. They accidentally get back to the moon (once again idiots) where they are welcomed as heroes.

Méliès actually intended the film to lampoon Victorian attitudes towards imperialism so one can see the film as the medium's first satire. Not bad for a magician.