Video — Consumed

1902 · Georges Méliès

Méliès' film operates as both a technical achievement and a narrative blueprint for science fiction cinema. The practical effects—dissolves, superimpositions, theatrical sets painted in forced perspective—demonstrate an understanding of cinema as constructed reality rather than documented truth. Each frame functions as a stage composition, with Méliès directing his performers within carefully choreographed tableaux that prioritize spatial clarity and visual rhythm.

The film's editing establishes a vocabulary for episodic storytelling: discrete scenes build momentum through accumulation rather than continuity. The moon surface sequences, populated by acrobatic Selenites, showcase Méliès' background in theatrical magic while his set design—painted backdrops, dimensional props, strategic lighting—creates depth within the flat medium. The famous moon face shot remains striking not for its realism but for its surrealist collision of scale and anthropomorphism.

What makes this essential viewing is its position as cinema's first deliberate act of world-building. Méliès wasn't documenting reality or capturing actualities; he was constructing fantasy through craft and technique. The film's influence extends beyond its immediate imitators to every subsequent filmmaker who understood that the camera could create rather than merely record. It's a technical manual disguised as entertainment, proving that special effects serve story when integrated thoughtfully rather than applied cosmetically.