I really like the effects that Georges Melies created and his use of editing scenes together, like in Trip to the Moon, where the footage of the train (a lifesize set) splices with a scene that uses a model. I also really like the super imposed shots like the face in the moon. This has become an iconic image and Melies' style of sets, which are almost like an animation backgrounds, have inspired a lot of subsequent films, and even music videos. For example, this video by The Smashing Pumpkins for their song Tonight Tonight which is a direct tribute to the work and style of Melies:
Georges Melies was also the subject of Martin Scorsese's Oscar winning movie Hugo, which (with a little artistic licence) tells the story of how a young boy discovers the past of the man who runs a toy stall at the Gare du Nord train station in Paris. This man turns out to be Georges Melies. It is a beautifully shot film, very much in keeping with the fantastical world that Melies tried to create with his own films. In Hugo there are scenes portraying Melies working on his films. One of the extras that feature on my DVD of Hugo is an interesting film The Cinemagician: Georges Melies. This recounts the career of Melies and shows excerpts from Melies' films along with interviews with his great-great-granddaughter, and peopple involved with the film Hugo.
There is a really interesting Official website dedicated to Melies at: http://www.melies.eu/English.html
There are lots of other websites that feature articles on Melies.
I posted the article taken from earlycinema.com website in a previous post, here are just a couple more that I have used in my research so far:
Melies, Inspiration and Illusions - http://www.classichorror.free-online.co.uk/TML/melies.htm
Georges Melies A Biography: http://www.aclassicmovieblog.com/2012/04/georges-melies-brief-biography.html
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