At this point, Georges Méliès was starting to realize what the film edit could accomplish and all the things he could produce using this simple effect. A mannequin of William Tell could become real, a man could have an awful nightmare, a magician could chop a boy in half, etc. "The Astronomer's Dream" was not only extraordinary in this regard, but in many different regards for the time. It uses some very well-painted sets (Méliès always went for realism when it came for setting the scene) acting (pantomiming), scripts, (of a sort) and is three whole minutes long, an unheard-of run-time for any films at this point. Many of the shorts around this point were only about a minute, had none of this at all and were often just brief little documentaries featuring babies eating, workers leaving a factory, a train arriving in a station, and so on. Audiences didn't care what they saw in the cinemas--so long as it moved. That's how it was that long ago.
"The Astronomer's Dream" (released in the US as "A Trip to the Moon", which is a misleading title especially if you've seen Méliès's 1902 classic) could also be considered one of the first horror movies ever. In my eyes, the very first horror was actually made three years before (in "The Execution of Mary Stuart", also the first known use of the film edit). Even Méliès himself had dived into the horror genre with "The House of the Devil" of 1896 (and its 1897 remake) so the idea of the supernatural wasn't new for him. This film doesn't have any supernatural elements (except for the appearance of Satan) and is or can be considered a horror because of the enormous moon which shows up early on and also towards the end. This is not to say Méliès was meaning this to be a horror at all; I personally believe his intent with almost all of his work was to amuse rather than scare. The moon in here (which looks nothing like the one in "A Trip to the Moon" despite what other people say) certainly does look creepy but is very well-crafted even though only built out of cardboard. Moon faces were a common element in Méliès's earlier work ("A Nightmare" which featured a different moon face being the first film to use one) and I continue to wonder why the director enjoyed using this concept. Maybe, like with Satan, he enjoyed reusing themes to show off his movie magic.
Speaking of Satan, this film also marks one of the few appearances in which the director doesn't play him, since he appears as the astronomer. The rest of the cast appears unknown, besides the fact Jehanne d'Alcy plays the good fairy. (I thought I read it was Bleuette Bernon somewhere, but I don't know where). Unidentified cast members are common in Méliès's career because of lack of credits, and many actors in his studio remain unknown today.
Yet, this film does use some elements of dark humor/horror. The children coming out of the moon's mouth is either meant to be funny or creepy, it's hard to tell which. And don't forget the crazy ending (SPOILERS HERE) where the astronomer climbs into the moon's mouth and the moon spits him back out dismembered. Clearly Méliès was trying to appeal to his audience's dark side when he threw that particular aspect into the mix. This does not mean he was trying to intentionally scare; like I said before, it was all in fun and he would often use a macabre sense of humor throughout his output if you delve into his work even more.
The most impressive thing here, (besides all the other stuff listed above) is the chalkboard animation. Considering stop-motion animation was something Méliès would never really get into (but that other directors would, particularly Segundo de Chomòn) it's odd to see him do a similar technique here. Yet it's hard to tell how he did it. If he had cut to a closeup shot within the scene (nobody did that at this point) it would have been possible to produce the effect. But considering the actor is still moving in shot while the animation occurs, this proves there is no way it could have been done in this way. Unless, of course, he took it as a separate shot and superimposed it on scene, but I can't see any signs of this. In the end, the animation probably relied on some theatrical trick (possibly cut-outs) and that is probably the best guess.
Finally, dreams were a subject the director would work with a lot in his career. If I'm not mistaken, "The Astronomer's Dream" is one of the earliest surviving movies with this theme. It is fun, odd, a little creepy, and comical. One of the best films of the era no doubt, and still a fun and creative little vignette even now.
"The Astronomer's Dream" (released in the US as "A Trip to the Moon", which is a misleading title especially if you've seen Méliès's 1902 classic) could also be considered one of the first horror movies ever. In my eyes, the very first horror was actually made three years before (in "The Execution of Mary Stuart", also the first known use of the film edit). Even Méliès himself had dived into the horror genre with "The House of the Devil" of 1896 (and its 1897 remake) so the idea of the supernatural wasn't new for him. This film doesn't have any supernatural elements (except for the appearance of Satan) and is or can be considered a horror because of the enormous moon which shows up early on and also towards the end. This is not to say Méliès was meaning this to be a horror at all; I personally believe his intent with almost all of his work was to amuse rather than scare. The moon in here (which looks nothing like the one in "A Trip to the Moon" despite what other people say) certainly does look creepy but is very well-crafted even though only built out of cardboard. Moon faces were a common element in Méliès's earlier work ("A Nightmare" which featured a different moon face being the first film to use one) and I continue to wonder why the director enjoyed using this concept. Maybe, like with Satan, he enjoyed reusing themes to show off his movie magic.
Speaking of Satan, this film also marks one of the few appearances in which the director doesn't play him, since he appears as the astronomer. The rest of the cast appears unknown, besides the fact Jehanne d'Alcy plays the good fairy. (I thought I read it was Bleuette Bernon somewhere, but I don't know where). Unidentified cast members are common in Méliès's career because of lack of credits, and many actors in his studio remain unknown today.
Yet, this film does use some elements of dark humor/horror. The children coming out of the moon's mouth is either meant to be funny or creepy, it's hard to tell which. And don't forget the crazy ending (SPOILERS HERE) where the astronomer climbs into the moon's mouth and the moon spits him back out dismembered. Clearly Méliès was trying to appeal to his audience's dark side when he threw that particular aspect into the mix. This does not mean he was trying to intentionally scare; like I said before, it was all in fun and he would often use a macabre sense of humor throughout his output if you delve into his work even more.
The most impressive thing here, (besides all the other stuff listed above) is the chalkboard animation. Considering stop-motion animation was something Méliès would never really get into (but that other directors would, particularly Segundo de Chomòn) it's odd to see him do a similar technique here. Yet it's hard to tell how he did it. If he had cut to a closeup shot within the scene (nobody did that at this point) it would have been possible to produce the effect. But considering the actor is still moving in shot while the animation occurs, this proves there is no way it could have been done in this way. Unless, of course, he took it as a separate shot and superimposed it on scene, but I can't see any signs of this. In the end, the animation probably relied on some theatrical trick (possibly cut-outs) and that is probably the best guess.
Finally, dreams were a subject the director would work with a lot in his career. If I'm not mistaken, "The Astronomer's Dream" is one of the earliest surviving movies with this theme. It is fun, odd, a little creepy, and comical. One of the best films of the era no doubt, and still a fun and creative little vignette even now.