The Melomaniac
| Le Mélomane | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Georges Méliès |
| Starring | Georges Méliès |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 50 meters[2] |
| Country | France |
| Language | Silent |
The Melomaniac(French:Le Mélomane) is a 1903 French silenttrick filmdirected byGeorges Méliès.
Plot
[edit]A music master leads his band to a field where fivetelegraph linesare strung onutility poles.Hoisting up a gianttreble clef,he turns the set of lines into a giantmusical staff.He then uses copies of his own head to spell out the tune for "God Save the King,"and his band joins in.
Production and release
[edit]Méliès himself plays the lead role of the music master. The superimposition effects inThe Mélomaniac,allowing multiple Méliès heads to appear on the staff, were created by amultiple exposuretechnique requiring the same strip of film to be run through the camera seven times.[3]The rest of the film's special effects were created withsubstitution splices.[4]
The film was released by Méliès'sStar Film Companyand is numbered 479–480 in its catalogues.[2]The film was registered for American copyright at theLibrary of Congresson 30 June 1903.[2]
The French film scholars Jacques Malthête and Laurent Mannoni believeThe Mélomaniacto be Méliès's most famoustrick film,[5]and a Méliès guide from theCentre national de la cinématographiejudges that the film merits that position.[4]Film critic William B. Parrill rates it "innovative and creative".[6]
References
[edit]- ^Malthête, Jacques; Mannoni, Laurent (2008),L'oeuvre de Georges Méliès,Paris: Éditions de La Martinière, p. 31,ISBN9782732437323
- ^abcMalthête & Mannoni 2008,p. 345
- ^Frazer, John (1979),Artificially Arranged Scenes: The Films of Georges Méliès,Boston: G. K. Hall & Co., p. 113,ISBN0816183686
- ^abEssai de reconstitution du catalogue français de la Star-Film; suivi d'une analyse catalographique des films de Georges Méliès recensés en France,Bois d'Arcy: Service des archives du film du Centre national de la cinématographie, 1981, pp. 136–7,ISBN2903053073,OCLC10506429
- ^Malthête & Mannoni 2008,p. 147
- ^Parrill, William B. (2011),European Silent Films on Video: A Critical Guide,Jefferson, NC: McFarland, p. 474
External links
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