History of Visual Effects

One of the classes I am taking this semester is the history of visual effects. It is very interesting to see that visual effect techniques employed by filmmakers of some sort have been around since the 18th century... and were first started by those interested in the occult! This article gives some interesting insight into some of the early development of visual effects:

The foremost necromancer of the age was Johann Schropfer, a coffee-shop proprietor, based in Liepzig. Faced by poor business, he converted his billiard room into a seance chamber and, in the late 1760s, bombarded his unwitting audience with a myriad of ghostly sights and multi-sensory experiences, using projections on smoke, eerie music and sound effects, electric shocks, evil-smelling incense, drugs combined with sophisticated techniques of disorientation, auto-suggestion and sensory depravation. In time Schropfer attracted a cult following and took his show on the road to other parts of Europe. His accomplishments continued until 1774, when he made a tragic error - he became haunted by his own imaginary demons, finally went mad and committed suicide.

Bummer for him.

Of course, one of the foremost pioneers in visual effects was Georges Melies. His film (considered a feature length at the time) A Trip to the Moon is recognized as one of the most important steps in film history: