A band-leader has arranged seven chairs for the members of his band. When he sits down in the first chair, a cymbal player appears in the same chair, then rises and sits in the next chair. As the cymbal player sits down, a drummer appears in the second chair, and then likewise moves on to the third chair. In this way, an entire band is soon formed, and is then ready to perform.
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French magician and filmmaker Georges Melies has seven chairs lined up across your movie screen. He appears dressed as a musician and takes a seat, then a super-imposed Mr. Melies rises, with cymbals, from the first sitting Melies and sits in the second seat. From the second seat, a drumming Melies moves on to the next seat. This goes on until all seven seats are filled with different members of an instrumental orchestra. Melies plays each part. They perform enthusiastically for the audience and meld back into the original Melies. He is a one man band!****** L'homme orchestre (1900) Georges Melies ~ Georges Melies
It's hard to believe that this masterpiece of special effects was filmed in 1900. Georges Melies clones himself six times, transforming into a conductor and six members of an orchestra. The seven of him perform together, then coalesce into the one. At the time, all special effects work had to be done in the camera by use of shutters, back- cranking, and re-cranking. Melies had to carefully coordinate his actions, timing them perfectly, or the entire shot would be ruined. Kudos are due as well to the cameraman, who had to be metronome-steady in order to make the effect work.Surely this little film served as inspiration for Buster Keaton's "The Playhouse".
Director Méliès later went on to make several other shorts where he acted and replicated himself (in two cases, popping off his head and using it to make a whole bunch of singing heads), but I think this is one of the earliest of this type of film (the first coming in 1898). But, instead of pulling off his head, he is able replicate himself many times until he is an entire performing ensemble. While compared to later trick cinematography this isn't a great special effect, for its day it was amazing and quite funny. For a similar type experience (though of course a lot better because of advancements in camera-work), see Buster Keaton's THE PERFORMANCE--where he not only plays all the performers, but all the members of the audience (including the women)!If you want to see this film online, go to Google and type in "Méliès" and then click the video button for a long list of his films that are viewable without special software.
This is one of the earlier displays of the wit and camera wizardry of movie pioneer Georges Méliès. The idea is a simple one, but by no means an easy one to carry off using the resources of the time. Méliès also adds a few interesting details to the high-quality camera tricks.The same idea was used later on by other silent screen comedians, most notably by Buster Keaton in his wonderful feature, "The Playhouse". This much earlier movie is quite a bit simpler, but considering its era it is almost as impressive. Méliès plays a band-leader and each member of the band, using multiple exposures and other carefully crafted special effects to create an amusing scene.As Méliès gained even more experience, his features often added lavishly detailed settings to the fine visual effects. This 1900 movie relies mostly on the central idea, without too much background detail, but his technique is already excellent, and this is one of many entertaining Méliès features that demonstrate his considerable creativity and skill.
