Conjuring (1896 film)

1896 French film

Conjuring

A still from the film

Directed by| Georges Méliès

Production
company

Star Film Company

Release date

* 1896 (1896) (France)

Running time

| original running time unknown, but the film was 20 metres long. Only 6 seconds[1] remain.
Country| France
Language| Silent

Conjuring (French: Séance de prestidigitation) is a 1896 French silent trick film directed by Georges Méliès, who is also the actor doing the "conjuring".

## Production and release

[edit]

The film reproduces a magic act Méliès performed at his Paris theater-of-illusions, the Théâtre Robert-Houdin.[2]

Remaining 6 seconds of the movie

Conjuring is Méliès's second film, and his first to move beyond the actuality film genre pioneered by the Lumière brothers and experiment with using the camera to capture a theatrical magic act. (Later in 1896, with his discovery of the substitution splice technique, Méliès was able to begin augmenting his theatrical illusions with new special effects unique to film.)[3] Conjuring can thus be seen as Méliès's first foray into the world of fiction film.[2]

The film was released by Méliès's Star Film Company and numbered 2 in its catalogues.[1]

## Rediscovery

[edit]

A frame from the rotoscoped version

In 2014,[4] the Cinémathèque française received a donation from the collector François Binétruy: a short fragment of chromolithographed animated film, rotoscoped from an unidentified 1896 Méliès film and showing Méliès himself performing a conjuring trick. Such fragments of animation had been manufactured from 1897 onward in Germany and France, for home use in toy projectors.[5]

In 2015, the Cinémathèque uncovered another fragmentary home-projector version of the same film, this time reproducing the original black-and-white live-action frames.[4] In July 2015, the film scholar Jacques Malthête identified the film as Georges Méliès's Conjuring.[4]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Malthête, Jacques; Mannoni, Laurent (2008), L'oeuvre de Georges Méliès, Paris: Éditions de La Martinière, p. 335, ISBN 9782732437323
2. ^ a b Kessler, Frank; Lenk, Sabine (1997), "L'addresse-Méliès", in Malthête, Jacques; Marie, Michel (eds.), Georges Méliès, l'illusionniste fin de siècle?: actes du colloque de Cerisy-la-Salle, 13–22 août 1996, Paris: Presses de la Sorbonne nouvelle, p. 186
3. ^ Rosen, Miriam (1987), "Méliès, Georges", in Wakeman, John (ed.), World Film Directors: Volume I, 1890–1945, New York: The H. W. Wilson Company, p. 750, ISBN 0824207572
4. ^ a b c Mannoni, Laurent, "[Film lithographique] da Une séance de prestidigitation di Georges Méliès", Il Cinema Ritrovato, Cineteca di Bologna, retrieved 1 October 2016
5. ^ Mannoni, Laurent, Les premiers dessins animés sur pellicule de l'histoire du cinéma, Cinémathèque française, archived from the original on 6 April 2015, retrieved 1 October 2016

## External links

[edit]

* Conjuring at IMDb
* Conjuring (rotoscoped version) on YouTube

* v
* t
* e

Georges Méliès

Actualities|

* Actualities (1896–1900)
* Reconstructed actualities (1897–1902)

Films|

| 1896|

* Playing Cards
* Conjuring
* Watering the Flowers
* The Rag-Picker
* Post No Bills
* The Rescue on the River
* A Terrible Night
* Arrival of a Train (Joinville Station)
* A Lightning Sketch
* Conjurer Making Ten Hats in Sixty Seconds
* A Serpentine Dance
* Miss de Vère (English Jig)
* The Vanishing Lady
* The Haunted Castle
* Tom Old Boot

|

1897|

* A Nightmare
* Comedian Paulus Singing
* A Funny Mahometan
* An Hallucinated Alchemist
* The Haunted Castle
* On the Roofs
* D. Devant, Conjurer
* The School for Sons-in-law
* The Last Cartridges
* The Surrender of Tournavos
* Sea Fighting in Greece
* Gugusse and the Automaton
* Between Calais and Dover
* The Laboratory of Mephistopheles
* The Barber and the Farmer
* The Bewitched Inn
* A Private Dinner
* After the Ball
* A Hypnotist at Work
* Dancing in a Harem

1898|

* A Novice at X-Rays
* Divers at Work on the Wreck of the "Maine"
* The Magician
* The Famous Box Trick
* Pygmalion and Galatea
* Adventures of William Tell
* The Astronomer's Dream
* The Cave of the Demons
* The Four Troublesome Heads
* The Temptation of Saint Anthony

1899|

* A Dinner Under Difficulties
* Robbing Cleopatra's Tomb
* The Bridegroom's Dilemma
* An Up-to-Date Conjuror
* The Devil in a Convent
* The Pillar of Fire
* The Clown and Automobile
* A Mysterious Portrait
* Christ Walking on the Water
* Summoning the Spirits
* The Dreyfus Affair
* The Human Pyramid
* Cinderella
* The Snow Man
* The Mysterious Knight

1900|

* Addition and Subtraction
* The Miracles of the Brahmin
* The Cook's Revenge
* The Misfortunes of an Explorer
* Paris Exposition, 1900
* The One-Man Band
* Joan of Arc
* The Rajah's Dream
* The Two Blind Men
* The Artist and the Mannikin
* Thanking the Audience
* The Christmas Dream
* Crying and Laughing
* Coppelia, the Animated Doll
* Fat and Lean Wrestling Match
* A Fantastical Meal
* Going to Bed Under Difficulties
* The Doctor and the Monkey
* What Is Home Without the Boarder
* China Versus Allied Powers
* The Brahmin and the Butterfly
* The Triple-Headed Lady
* Dislocation Extraordinary
* Red Riding Hood

1901|

* The Magician's Cavern
* Excelsior!
* The Sacred Fountain
* Blue Beard
* The Man with the Rubber Head

1902|

* The Eruption of Mount Pelee
* The Catastrophe of the Balloon "Le Pax"
* A Trip to the Moon
* The Shadow-Girl
* The Coronation of Edward VII
* The Treasures of Satan
* The Human Fly
* Up-to-Date Surgery
* Gulliver's Travels Among the Lilliputians and the Giants
* Robinson Crusoe
* The Marvellous Wreath

1903|

* Misfortune Never Comes Alone
* The Infernal Cake Walk
* The Mysterious Box
* The Queen's Musketeers
* The Enchanted Well
* The Inn Where No Man Rests
* The Drawing Lesson
* The Mystical Flame
* The Witch's Revenge
* The Oracle of Delphi
* A Spiritualistic Photographer
* The Melomaniac
* The Monster
* The Kingdom of the Fairies
* The Infernal Cauldron
* The Apparition
* Jupiter's Thunderbolts
* Ten Ladies in One Umbrella
* Jack Jaggs and Dum Dum
* Bob Kick, the Mischievous Kid
* Extraordinary Illusions
* Alcofrisbas, the Master Magician
* Jack and Jim
* The Magic Lantern
* The Ballet-Master's Dream
* The Damnation of Faust
* The Terrible Turkish Executioner
* A Moonlight Serenade

1904|

* Tit for Tat
* A Wager Between Two Magicians, or Jealous of Myself
* Every Man His Own Cigar Lighter
* The Bewitched Trunk
* The Fugitive Apparitions
* The Untamable Whiskers
* The Clockmaker's Dream
* The Imperceptible Transmutations
* A Miracle Under the Inquisition
* Faust and Marguerite
* Tchin-Chao, the Chinese Conjurer
* The Wonderful Living Fan
* The Cook in Trouble
* The Mermaid
* The Providence of the Waves
* The Barber of Seville
* The Wonderful Rose-Tree
* The Impossible Voyage
* The Firefall
* The Christmas Angel

1905|

* The Living Playing Cards
* The Black Imp
* The Crystal Casket
* The Lilliputian Minuet
* A Mesmerian Experiment
* The Venetian Looking-Glass
* The Palace of the Arabian Nights
* The Tower of London
* The Enchanted Sedan Chair
* An Adventurous Automobile Trip
* The Mysterious Island
* Unexpected Fireworks
* Rip's Dream
* The Scheming Gambler's Paradise
* The Inventor Crazybrains and His Wonderful Airship

1906|

* A Mix-up in the Gallery
* The Chimney Sweep
* The Tramp and the Mattress Makers
* The Hilarious Posters
* A Desperate Crime
* Punch and Judy
* A Roadside Inn
* Soap Bubbles
* The Merry Frolics of Satan
* A Seaside Flirtation
* The Mysterious Retort
* The Witch
* Robert Macaire and Bertrand

1907|

* Rogues' Tricks
* Under the Seas
* How Bridget's Lover Escaped
* Tunnelling the English Channel
* The Eclipse, or the Courtship of the Sun and Moon
* Hamlet
* Shakespeare Writing "Julius Caesar"
* Sightseeing Through Whisky
* Good Glue Sticks
* Satan in Prison
* Delirium in a Studio
* The Knight of Black Art
* The Good Luck of a "Souse"

1908|

* Humanity Through the Ages
* The Genii of Fire
* Why That Actor Was Late
* The Dream of an Opium Fiend
* Long Distance Wireless Photography
* The Prophetess of Thebes
* In the Barber Shop
* A Fake Diamond Swindler
* The New Lord of the Village
* The Miser
* Sideshow Wrestlers
* The Broken Violin
* A Love Tragedy in Spain
* Mishaps of the New York–Paris Race
* The Woes of Roller Skaters
* Love and Molasses
* The Mischances of a Photographer
* The Indian Sorcerer
* A Tricky Painter's Fate
* French Cops Learning English
* Fun With the Bridal Party
* Not Guilty
* Buncoed Stage Johnnie
* A Grandmother's Story
* The Helping Hand
* The Old Footlight Favorite
* Honeymoon in a Balloon
* The Duke's Good Joke
* Incident from Don Quixote
* The Fairy Dragonfly
* Moitié de polka
* Fortune Favors the Brave
* Hypnotist's Revenge
* Pharmaceutical Hallucinations
* The Good Shepherdess and the Evil Princess
* The Living Doll
* Seein' Things
* The Frozen Policeman
* Tribulation or the Misfortunes of a Cobbler

1909|

* The Doctor's Secret
* The Diabolic Tenant
* Whimsical Illusions
* King of the Mediums
* The Spider and the Butterfly

1911|

* Baron Munchausen's Dream
* The Diabolical Church Window

1912|

* The Conquest of the Pole
* Cinderella or the Glass Slipper
* The Knight of the Snows
* The Voyage of the Bourrichon Family

Related|

* Georges Méliès in culture
* Le Grand Méliès (1952 documentary)
* Around the World in 80 Days (1956 film prologue)
* The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007 book)
* Hugo (2011 film)
* Théâtre Robert-Houdin
* Jehanne d'Alcy (wife)
* Gaston Méliès (brother)

* Filmography
* Bibliography
* Category

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