Where the magic began
The physical world of practical magic
The digital revolution and CGI
The modern hybrid era
disney Georges Melies revolutionized early cinema with double exposure and camera tricks.
disney Georges Méliès used the substitution splice and double exposure to layer multiple images in his 1902 masterpiece A Trip to the Moon.
What accidental event in 1896 led Georges Méliès to discover the substitution splice technique?
Which pioneering 1902 French silent film used double exposure to show a rocket landing in the Moon's eye?
disney Stack practical and digital effects frame by frame to discover how movie magic is made.
disney Ray Harryhausen perfected Dynamation in 1963 to pit miniature skeletons against live actors.
What is the name of the stop-motion process Ray Harryhausen invented to merge miniature monsters with live-action footage?
Which animator created the groundbreaking stop-motion effects for the original 1933 film King Kong?
disney First Movie Special Effects
He stopped the lens on a Paris street (oh-oh, wait!) / A carriage turned into a hearse so neat (yeah, just like that!)
In the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, how was the iconic Emerald City background created?
How did Peter Jackson keep forced perspective working in The Lord of the Rings when the camera moved?
Which optical illusion technique makes actors of similar height look like giant wizards and tiny hobbits?
Early green screen: Before green screens, filmmakers used a 'Dunning process' in the 1930s, which combined yellow sodium lights and blue-dyed film to separate actors from backgrounds.
An illusion created for a motion picture, television show, or theatrical production. In 1896, French filmmaker Georges Méliès pioneered these techniques after his camera jammed while filming in Paris.