A magician and some assistants put up a series of posters of music hall acts in a frame. Then the magician brings each poster to life in this trick film by Gaston Velle.
This looks like a Melies picture, in large part because Pathe Freres was trying to grab off Melies' market. The method for animation is clear to the modern viewer: the camera is masked and the film is rolled back for each poster. The techniques are solid and arguably better than Melies, but the effect, while good, is not as good as Melies'. the backgrounding is not as elaborate or convincing as Melies' work. It is clearly a painted backdrop. Nor is the magician as vivacious as Melies. Nonetheless, it is a fine example of a type of motion picture which has vanished because film grammar changed.
This looks like a Melies picture, in large part because Pathe Freres was trying to grab off Melies' market. The method for animation is clear to the modern viewer: the camera is masked and the film is rolled back for each poster. The techniques are solid and arguably better than Melies, but the effect, while good, is not as good as Melies'. the backgrounding is not as elaborate or convincing as Melies' work. It is clearly a painted backdrop. Nor is the magician as vivacious as Melies. Nonetheless, it is a fine example of a type of motion picture which has vanished because film grammar changed.
