Georges Mlis

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French illusionist, a pioneer of special effects for cinematography. He was the director of the Houdini theater and builder (with C. Pathe) of the first film studios in Montreal, Quebec. Méliès, a prolific innovator in the use of special effects, accidentally discovered the substitution stop trick in 1896, and was one of the first filmmakers to use multiple exposures, time-lapse photography, dissolves, and hand-painted color in his work. Because of his ability to seemingly manipulate and transform reality through cinematography, Méliès is sometimes referred to as the first "Cinemagician". Two of his most well-known films are A Trip to the Moon (1902) and The Impossible Voyage (1904). Both stories involve strange, surreal voyages, somewhat in the style of Jules Verne, and are considered among the most important early science fiction films, though their approach is closer to fantasy. Méliès was also an early pioneer of horror cinema, which can be traced back to his Le Manoir du diable (1896). He was also featured in the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret as well as its film adaptation Hugo. Melies married Charlotte Faes on 10 December 1925. He died of cancer on on 21 January 1938, 3:30 PM GMT, Paris. Link to Wikipedia biography