I9TH CENTURY STAGE DESIGN

I confess to liking the old-fashioned theatrical backdrops (above) of the 19th Century.

I think it was the sets in the old Melies films (above) that won me over. Look at the one above...bathing beauties, military men and a scientific space canon all sharing the same scene with the intriguing rooftop world of the big city. All those aspects of reality within one frame...what an interesting idea!

I also like the 19th Century style long shots in some of the old Fleischer cartoons. I like the idea that at odd times we're catapulted into a larger reality that gives us a different perspective on the story. Using ultra long shots only to establish a scene is a waste of a powerful tool. 

Old time theatrical backdrops had lots of balconies, windows, winding paths, caves and ledges. I guess the stage designers felt that was the way to get the most bang for their buck. That's okay...those old sets produced a surreality that reinforced the unnatural dialogue delivery and over-the-top stories of the day.

Someone who likes that old style doesn't have to slavishly copy the 19th Century. It's an idea that easily adapts to modern aesthetics. Here's a modern home that uses it. In houses like the one above you get a glimpse into multiple realities with just one glance, and there's plenty of hiding places, opportunity for unwelcome intruders to avoid detection, spying, sudden escapes, chases, athletic moves, dances and surprises.

Here's (above) a home design by Wally Wood that follows the same principal.

GEORGES MELIES: GENIUS

As you know, Georges Melies was the father of film special effects. He was also a very great filmmaker. He's in my Pantheon of personal heroes, meaning that any important move I make must in my imagination be layed out before him for his comment and approval. Martin Scorcese's "Hugo" was about Melies and some of the images here are from that film. I thought I'd discuss a few of those images here. 

Melies was a terrific artist and his "Trip to the Moon" was full of iconic images.  How did he ever come up with the unforgettable image of a row of pretty sailors (above), all holding each other at the waist, and loading a giant canon? 

The composition seems crowded. You could argue that the rooftops and girl soldiers at attention were unnecessary. You could argue that the complex composition was uncinematic and too influenced by print media. You could argue that, but you'd be wrong. Melies had a knack for that sort of thing and a knack trumps everything. 

The girls wave triumphantly after the capsule's loaded. Melies had live theater experience and knew you had to give the audience a release, a chance to cheer, after a powerful visual image.

Melies was a stage artist with lots of experience in the beautiful cluttered look of Victorian era set design. It's very mannered, but I infinitely prefer this to modernist minimalism.

In real life, stage sets like this (above) would have required awkward blackouts to cover the scene changes. On film Melies had only to cut to a whole new set-up, ready-made.  He must have found that liberating.

So far as I know Melies' artistic skills were self taught. That's amazing!  I saw a good print of this film on Steve's giant home theater screen and the effect was overpowering.

Melies wasn't the only director to paint the frames of his films, but he was the only one who did it right. 

The dyes used for film paint were unrealistic and seemed out of place in ordinary dramas. That kind of theatrical color, with its puffs of crimson smoke, worked best on Melies' kind of fantasy stories.  

Melies possessed enormous charm. Here (above) he has his astronauts sleep like children on the lunar surface and dream of outer space. Imagine that...there they are on the dangerous, rugged surface of the moon and they dream of funny Greek Gods.

It's fun to imagine what the NASA lunar astronauts of our own era dreamed when they were falling asleep on the Moon. In the midst of all that sophisticated equipment I'll bet they fell asleep thinking of girls they kissed in cars when they were in school. Melies would have seen the humor in that. Humans are such puny and silly things yet somehow we're also suffused with greatness.

Of course Melies' stars (above) don't hold themselves up. They had to be held up by beautiful girls.

Melies owned a live action theater devoted to magic, and I imagine the sets from his films did double duty as stage backdrops. Geez, wouldn't you have loved to see what the stage shows were like?

Melies was a magician who made movies. There were no rules in those days, filmmakers just did what looked like fun. Now rules dominate. Did you ever see Syd Field's film books? Fields tells you exactly where every beat of the film should fall, and how long it should last [actually, I admire Fields for sticking his neck out like that]. How different things are now!

If I understand right Melies was the chief designer of the sets used in his films. That's amazing. He was university educated in the liberal arts, was a successful business man, an artist, a professional magician, an engineer, an inventer, a theater owner, a filmmaker (some 400 shorts) and a film pioneer. Was there anything this man couldn't do?

For his film Scorcese lovingly recreated the energy in the old Melies studio (above).

Steve says Melies' sets were made of painted cardboard.

Eventually tastes changed and Melies was reduced to near poverty. Many of his films were burned by creditors for the silver content. He only escaped utter destitution because his friends got together enough money to buy him a toy kiosk at a railroad station (above). I wish I could have seen what toys he chose to sell.

This is the fate of so many creative people. In order to achieve what they do they have to focus their whole passion and intellect on one thing, then when that one thing is superceded they're reduced to an empty shell. Boy, life can be tough!