Today’s first-ever Virtual Reality (VR) / 360° interactive Doodle—created in collaboration with the Google Spotlight Stories, Google Arts & Culture, and Cinémathèque Française teams—celebrates Georges Méliès, the trailblazing French illusionist and film director on the release date of what is considered to be one of his greatest masterpieces: À la conquête du pôle (The Conquest of the Pole, 1912). Méliès pioneered numerous technical and narrative film techniques in the early days of cinema, primarily in the use of special effects and creation of some of the earliest films of the science fiction genre.
Enjoy the full Google Doodle VR experience on mobile, Cardboard, or Daydream by downloading the Google Spotlight Stories app now on Google Play or in the App Store. You can also experience the Doodle without a headset as a 360° video on the Google Spotlight Stories YouTube Channel!
Special thanks to Méliès experts at The Cinémathèque Française for their partnership on this project. Below, Laurent Mannoni, Director of Heritage at The Cinémathèque Française, shares more about Méliès and his impact on the world of cinema:
Over a hundred years later, we can thank the pioneering mind of Georges Méliès for much of the cinematographic wonder and special effects we see today. The title of one of his films, L'Homme-Orchestre (The One-Man Band, 1900), perfectly captures all that he was: a cartoonist, painter, caricaturist, magician, director of Robert-Houdin theater, set designer, comedian, writer, actor, technician, fantasy enthusiast, visionary of more than 500 films, and owner of the first glazed studio designed for the cinema. He was involved in ALL aspects of production for his works, from drawing set concepts to directing actors.
Méliès’ contribution to the seventh art was revolutionary. In a time when cinematography was nascent and almost exclusively documentary-style, Melies single handedly opened the doors of the dream, the magic, and the fiction. He accomplished this fundamental act by uniting the universes of Robert-Houdin with the chronophotography and cinematography of Marey and the Lumière brothers. The entire body of Méliès' work shines with dynamic fantasy, boundless imagination, and an irresistible jubilation. The worlds he created were explosive and a unique mixture of phantasmagoria, devilry, trompe-l'oeil, illusions, flames, fumes, and vapors.
Méliès often drew inspiration from current events. For example, his film A la Conquête du Pôle (The Conquest of the Pole, 1912) gives a comical and magical interpretation of the then recent explorations of Amundsen and his unfortunate competitors. He even built a "Snow Giant" inside his glazed Montreuil studio for the film, whose head alone measured two meters (over 6.5 feet) tall!
But Méliès also proved himself to be a visionary of what was to come. His film Le Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon, 1902) is a burlesque and wonderful prediction of the landing of man on the moon, which would take place 67 years later. Similarly, Le Tunnel sous la Manche ou le Cauchemar franco-anglais (Tunneling the English Channel, 1907) predicted the Channel Tunnel well before it was drilled. He also imagined and built numerous scientific novelties for his time: he constructed his own solar eclipse using stage machinery in Éclipse du soleil en pleine lune (The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon, 1907), he mocked trendy medicine in Hydrothérapie fantastique (The Doctor’s Secret, 1909), he staged an electric factory in A la Conquête du Pôle (The Conquest of the Pole, 1912), and he imagined modern television in Photographie électrique à distance (Electrical Photographer [Long Distance Wireless Photography], 1908) many years in advance.
An amazingly agile actor and remarkable mime, Méliès also starred in almost all of his films. He sometimes even multiplies on stage, as in L'Homme-Orchestre (The One-Man Band, 1900), when seven Méliès appear in the same frame! Thanks to an optical trick, he even inflates his head until it explodes in L’Homme à la tête de caoutchouc (The Man with the Rubber Head, 1902).
Both of the examples above bring us to another major contribution of his pioneering mind: special effects. The magic of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg today could not have been possible without Méliès’ development of techniques across theatrical machinery, pyrotechnics, optical effects, horizontal and vertical dropouts, camera stops, crossfades, overprints, conjuring, editing effects, and color effects on film.
Méliès was fascinated by new technologies and was constantly on the lookout for new inventions. I imagine he would have been delighted to live in our era, which is so rich with immersive cinema, digital effects, and spectacular images on screen. I have no doubt he would have been flattered to find himself in the limelight via today’s very first Virtual Reality / 360° video Google Doodle, propelled around the world thanks to a new medium with boundless magical powers.
Explore original Georges Méliès memorabilia and discover the story behind the invention of the first cinema studio and special effects by visiting our new Google Arts & Culture exhibit, created in collaboration with The Cinémathèque Française in Paris, France.
Doodler and project art lead Hélène Leroux shares a behind-the-scenes look of the development of the Doodle, produced by Nexus Studios:
Georges Méliès transformed the world of cinema (and our lives!) more than a century ago. What a pleasure it has been to discover the immensity of the work and legacy he left behind through hundreds of film! He saw film and cameras as more than just tools to capture images. He saw them as vehicles to transport & truly immerse people into a story.
Méliès brought magic to filmmaking through dozens of tricks and illusions. What better way to pay homage to this then by using one of the most innovative and immersive tools we have for storytelling today: Virtual Reality!
In the Doodle, Co-director Fx Goby, Nexus Studios, and I wanted to highlight several tricks Méliès pioneered while also transporting the viewer into a magical world and story. Below are some examples of this:
How did he do it?: Méliès would film himself multiple times over the same film strip!
Film where this is featured: L'Homme-Orchestre (The One-Man Band, 1900)
How did he do it?: Méliès would stop the camera from filming, switch characters, and start filming again
Film where this is featured: The Living Playing Cards, 1905
How did he do it?: Méliès would place a black cache right in front of the camera to give the illusion of elements disappearing
Film where this is featured: The Four Troublesome Heads, 1898
How did he do it?: Méliès would use the same technique as above, but this time, he would film another bit of film on top of the black cache
Film where this is featured: The Mermaid, 1904
How did he do it?: Méliès would stop the camera, have the character walk out, and start filming again
Film where this is featured: Trip to the Moon, 1902
In addition to being a magician, Méliès was an expert storyteller, so it was important for the Doodle to have a clear story. We approached it as if it were a ballet or play you watch at the theatre, where YOU get to choose where to look. In these situations, the spectator becomes the camera, editing their own film.
Here is an early sketch showing the layered story (it was important to have clear separation between the layers). The main elements of the story, such as the primary character animations, take place in the red section. Secondary scenes, such as musician characters playing the score, take place in the yellow section. Finally, loop animations of decorative elements and special surprises take place in the blue section!
I wanted the art in the Doodle to represent the handmade worlds Méliès created in his films. He created and painted all the assets himself! To do this and achieve that warm feeling, I focused on a heavy painted look and added plenty of textures to the characters and elements. The team then did an incredible job adapting the 2D designs into the 3D modelling!
Colors were also very important. During Méliès’ time, they couldn‘t film in color so they would have to paint every frame of the films, often using a very limited palette of colors! We chose to represent that by incorporating a strong dominant color (e.g. cyan, red, or yellow) in every scene of the film.
It was an honor to have been a part of creating an original story and experience to remind people of how much Méliès brought to the world. We hope it will inspire others to bring their own dreams to life.
Merci monsieur Méliès!