Etienne-Jules Marey was a french scientist who made several early productions in film-making. His name is not too common when discussing early films, but then, he was a scientist, not a filmmaker. Still, film was one thing he experimented with and this is one of his shorts. It features the take-off of a fly, in silhouette and it makes me wonder how he shot it. Did he use a microscope? It really is very unique to watch. Anyway, everybody says it is the first film to feature a fly. That's not saying much though. How many people film flies?!?! Well, because Marey was a scientist he must have been interested in nature, animals and ... flies. Why else would he bother filming this?