Hugo and Voyage to the Moon Post-Gabriela
This wonderful video from Crash Course gives a comprehensive overview of George Méliès life and describes many of the techniques he used in the making of his films. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8is28gAOTc. I watched this video last week prior to viewing both Hugo and Méliès’ film.
Here a few things that I learned from the Crash Course video: Méliès interestingly came to discover how to cut between scenes (entirely by accident ) when his camera jammed while filming. Méliès invented the technique we know today as “split screen” by covering half of a physical film strip with his hand.
Méliès was also the first to experiment with double exposure. All of his edits were a result of changes made to physical filmstrips. Méliès paid women to color his film strips for him by hand; this is mentioned in Hugo.
Méliès was a visionary, and his inventive films and editing methods capture the Victorian, imaginative and explorative spirit. Méliès was born in Paris in 1861. He first worked as a notable stage magician, running his own theater company. He took on the responsibilities of director, producer, actor, and magician for all of his shows. After working in his own theater, he moved on to explore the medium of film after being inspired by the work of the Lumiere brothers.
His life story is briefly touched upon during the film. New technologies like the lantham loop allowed film makers, like Melies, in the 19th century to make larger strips of continuous footage. These longer film strips provided more opportunities for creativity and editing. A Trip to the Moon’s film strip was 825 feet long.
I appreciate Kaitlin’s post from last week, her insights and her questions. I recognize, as Kaitlin does, that The Voyage to the Moon strongly touches upon imperialist themes.
The women in the short film have the Victorian, idealized “womanly” figures. They wear corsets, appearing young, vivacious, and beautiful. The women in the film contrast greatly with the wise, old, and intellectual men congregating around the chalk board, planning their trip to the Moon—their wrinkled faces and their long beards trailing to the ground.
The presence of the wise, old wizards could be interpreted as an example that in popular culture, a man’s value did not diminish with his age, while a woman’s might have. Notice how there are no older women in the film. A woman’s value in Victorian society diminished when her beauty faded, and she lost her ability to have children or to do housework.
Méliès film cuts really do suspend belief, especially at the the beginning of the film when stools suddenly appear in the wizard’s hands, seemingly out of thin air.
Throughout the film, I found the actor’s expressions to be quite comical. They were very dramatic; the actors often appear to be pantomiming. The actors were clearly influenced by their director’s origins and experience with stage craft.
I wonder if aspects of Arabella of Mars were inspired by this film?
Kaitlin mentioned the moon’s expression and several other wonderful examples of imperialist undertones. To build upon her analysis, I personally found it really interesting how the explorers defeat the alien king with tremendous ease. They simply just throw him, immediately turning him into dust. The explorers in the film are understandably given superior strength and powers because they are wizards, but I also feel that this moment embodies imperialist ideals. The “white man” can so easily overpower the “aliens.” After the wizards’ return from the moon, people are parading the streets, some even dressed up in alien costumes; this reminds me of racist, imperial stereotypes, social Darwinism, and colonialist exhibitions.
Now onto Hugo…
How do we think automata in this film are portrayed vs how they are portrayed in Arabella of Mars? I find it very interesting that both Arabella and Hugo see automata as being alive, as having hyper-realistic human characteristics. Hugo has a dream where the automata man is looking at him, and Arabella imagines the navigator nodding his head and giving advice.
Both Arabella of Mars and Hugo are modern stories taking place in the Victorian and Post-Victorian times. I would love to hear your thoughts about how they connect.
I find it particularly interesting that in the Victorian age some technology seemed to be so removed from humanity ie mechanized factories ( cold, metal, unfeeling). Metal spires and chimneys imposed the skyline; smog filled peoples’ lungs. Some technology became increasingly more “inhumane” during the Victorian age while some inventors interestingly strove to use technology and their knowlege of mechanics to make things that were more life-like. The history of automata is fascinating!
I actually read Hugo as a young child, and I fell in love with graphic novel.
This time around, I found that the movie really had me thinking a about something I read in the History of England textbook.
Watches and trains completely changed people’s perception of time. Train stations profoundly influenced people’s social interactions and relationships. This as very clear in the movie Hugo.
As we examine the question “how is technology treated in the film?”. I would like to quote Hugo.
Hugo says “ … I imagine the whole world was one big machine. Machines never come with any extra parts you know. They always come with the exactly amount they need. So I figured if the entire world was one big machine. I couldn’t be an extra part. I had to be here for some reason”
I feel that this quote explains why the film might appeal to a world audience today. We live in an increasingly mechanized world filled with electronics and screens and our houses are filled with objects serve their purposes. But what is our purpose? I feel that today our renewed interest in studying the origins of technology, of computers, of artificial intelligence, and of industrialization is related to our desire to find our own purpose. How do we interact with technology and society? What do the machines we make or the say about us? These are questions we ask today and questions that originated in the Victorian age.
Hugo has a reverence for technology and a really wonderful imagination. Melies has grown disillusioned and has forgotten his dreams. I love this part of the story line. Hugo brings hope to Melies, reviving his dreams and interests. I wonder how the Victorians would feel about our steam punk culture today? What would they think about us trying to relive their imagined realities?
This video is really wonderful. It describes the history of automata and even contains an interview with the author of Hugo, the novel the movie was based on.
Hugo’s author can be quoted with “ What is life, if something can mimic the act of life ( referring to automata). I would love for you to watch it, so I can discuss it further with you!
https://youtu.be/C7oSFNKIlaM
The video explains that magicians commonly used automata in their shows, so it would make sense that Melies would have owned one. The video also explains that automata were a luxury of the rich and a form of amusement.
Thank you! I really look forward to discussing all of this with you.Gabriela
Excellent job combining outside sources with the film and the fiction we’ve been reading. That’s good detective work!
Certainly a steampunk author would know of Méliès work, but I’m guessing – I was at a session at a recent steampunk festival where Levine’s book was mentioned, and in particularly the unusual technique of creating space “wind” (like we see in the film). The speaker chose to relate those winds to earlier sailing stories rather than A Trip to the Moon, but perhaps the connection is here instead.
I am considering that the neo-Victorian elements in contemporary stories (including both Arabella and Hugo) might be centered on your areas of overlap: the automatons and clockwork. These days we have concerns with robotics and computers, which could be seen as analagous – they have both good and bad elements, and are both “new” (at least to popular culture). We have similar concerns with the “human” elements of robots (and indeed some fear in having them look too human) and the perceived necessity of computers to run in the background, handling human chores.
Interesting question on how the Victorians, at least the imaginative Victorians, would view our culture. They might be more interested in the morality tales related to Facebook and other issues of automatic/computerized transactions!
Since the semester is coming to a close, I wanted to let you know how much I’ve enjoyed reading your posts and seeing your insights on our class material.
I also found the actors’ exaggerated expressions comical. I think you’re right to suggest it’s because film was a newer art form, but theatrical stage performances had been around for many centuries. The actors in the film were probably used to the kind of acting that required performances large enough to reach the back of the room.
I think you’re very astute to suggest that our interest in technology is a larger concern with how we fit into a world with that technology. I think the question in Hugo is a question of finding our purpose in society as pieces of a much larger machine. Finding our “job” in the machine is equivalent of finding our larger meaning in life. In today’s society, I think it’s much more a question of how artificial intelligence changes our understanding of what humanity means. This is a question that people will have to explore for decades.
Thank you K. Scott, I really appreciate your words. I have really enjoyed reading your submissions, and I hope that maybe can keep in touch after this class. Maybe we can read a book together and discuss it? Yes! Precisely. It’s difficult to remember that film is a relatively new art form when current digitized films and special effects are so advanced. “ Finding our purpose in society as pieces of a much larger machine”… I really like the way you phrased that. That is an excellent question!