I watched a documentary about Georges Melies, who made films in France at the beginning of the 1900s (the DVD available at NetFlix.) Melies made over 500 movies from 1890s to the 1910s, incl. Trip to the Moon (Le voyage dans la lune) and Infernal Cakewalk.

Melies invented many methods of film. He accidentally discovered the stop-trick, where you stop the camera, substitute persons or things, and restart the camera. He also invented stop-action animation and made the first color films, using hand-coloring. He also used dissolve transitions. His plots are primitive, but there are plots, characters, and development (esp. in his movie Bluebeard (Barbe-Bleu). He also features lots of pretty girls in hot pants (the French invented hot pants in 1890s.)

On the other hand, his films use only one camera, no angle shots, over-the-shoulder, closeups, or tracking shots. Few outdoor scenes. Everything is set up on a stage and the camera faces the stage. Actors walk in and out (or often explode). There is a constant whirlwind of action. The Infernal Cakewalk is five minutes of wild dancing.

We usually think special effects started with StarWars in the late 70s. But special effects was a main feature of film at the beginning. It's only later, in the 30s to 50s, that film developed drama (esp. with German and Danish directors). 0 comments

Soccer Without Borders is building a soccer league between ten orphanages in the townships of Cape Town, South Africa. They work with youths in San Francisco (USA), Nicaragua, and El Salvador. They are also planning programs in schools in West Bengal, India. Visit SoccerWithoutBorders.org 0 comments

Learn how to get discounts and freebies on your cell phone services. Confessions of cellphone sales critters at Cingular, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint. 0 comments