Abel Gance was known as one of the most important figures in the development of cinema art. As a child, he was growing up in France where anti-Semiticism and class prejudices existed. Therefore being part Jewish, proletarian, and illegitimate was working against him. By the age of 19 he became an actor, and by 21 he had created his how production company, and directed his first film La Digue. His success didn't stop here. As he created more films he introduced magical properties in some of his works by adding mirrors to create distorted effects. He also introduced a film editing style to France that was first developed in America.
Above all, Gance was mostly famous for his three major silent films. One of them being Napoleon
Gance's film Napoleon was is known for its incredible historical representation as well is its new innovated style of filming. This particular film advanced the technique of cinematic language far beyond any single production of the decade. Gance's goal in this film was to "make the spectator part of the action" he did this by using rapid montage and the hand-held camera extensively. This made the film appear to be more realistic as if it was actually happen right in front of the viewers eyes.
George Méliès (1861-1938)
Méliès was also known as a crucial pioneer to the expansion of early cinema. He was a magician as well as the owner of Theatre Robert-Houdin in France. After viewing Lumiere Cinematographe on December 28, 1895 he soon bought his own motion picture camera and began creating his own films. After buying custom made processing equipment, he began combining his two passions; magic and film. He then introduced the idea of "trick" films where he has people appear and disappear. He was extremely innovative with the use of special effects. His best known film was "A Trip to the Moon", it was one of the most epic trick films and everyone saw it as such a success, but financially it didn't do as well as Méliès thought it would. Along with the trick films, he also discovered a lot of other different components in the film industry such as : using multiple exposures, time lapse photography, and hand painted color in his films.
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