''The Magician'' (french: Le Magicien; Star Film Catalogue no. 153.) is a
1898
Events
January–March
* January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, B ...
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
short
Short may refer to:
Places
* Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon
* Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community
* Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place
People
* Short (surname)
* List of people known as ...
black-and-white
Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey.
Media
The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
silent trick film
In the early history of cinema, trick films were short silent films designed to feature innovative special effects.
History
The trick film genre was developed by Georges Méliès in some of his first cinematic experiments, and his works remain th ...
, directed by
Georges Méliès
Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès (; ; 8 December 1861 – 21 January 1938) was a French illusionist, actor, and film director. He led many technical and narrative developments in the earliest days of cinema.
Méliès was well known for the use of ...
, featuring a wizard, a
Pierrot
Pierrot ( , , ) is a stock character of pantomime and '' commedia dell'arte'', whose origins are in the late seventeenth-century Italian troupe of players performing in Paris and known as the Comédie-Italienne. The name is a diminutive of ''P ...
and a sculptor in a rapid series of
jump cut
A jump cut is a cut (transition), cut in film editing in which a single continuous sequential shot of a subject is broken into two parts, with a piece of footage being removed in order to render the effect of jumping forward in time. Camera posit ...
s. The film is, "another exercise in the art of the jump-cut," according to Michael Brooke of BFI Screenonline, "in the tradition of Georges Méliès' earlier ''
A Nightmare
''A Nightmare'' (French: ''Le cauchemar'') is a short silent trick film created and released in 1896 and directed by Georges Méliès. It was released by Méliès's Star Film Company and is numbered 82 in its catalogues, where it was advertised a ...
'' (''Le Cauchemar'', 1896) and ''
The Haunted Castle'' (''Le Château hanté'', 1897)."
Synopsis
A wizard conjures a table and a box out of thin air, and then vanishes as he jumps toward the box. Pierrot emerges from the box and takes a seat, when suddenly a banquet appears on the table, but it vanishes along with the table and chair before he can eat. A man in an Elizabethan doublet taps him on the shoulder and he is transformed into a Renaissance sculptor. Lifting a half finished bust onto a pedestal he prepares to set to work on it with a hammer and chisel only for it to come to life and snatch his tools from him. He attempts to embrace the sculpture only for it to disappear and reappear in a variety of poses. Finally the Elizabethan man reappears to kick him in the rump.
Current status
Given its age, this short film is available to freely download from the Internet.
References
External links
*
''The Magician''on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
French silent short films
French black-and-white films
Films directed by Georges Méliès
Films about magic and magicians
1898 short films
1890s French films
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