the man, the myth, the legend of horror movies is george méliès, who created the first horror movie “the house of the devil.” originally an illusionist, his background helped him tweak and manipulate images on film. he created special effects on screen, such as spirits, dancing skeletons, giant creatures, and sudden appearances and disappearances. a trick that this early director used was what spirit photographers would use in the 1860s, which was the practice of using double exposures or superimpositions to depict ghosts within a frame of film. after dominating the very early film industry, he constructed a glass studio in paris, which is where he invented many cameras modifications and devices to help him bring his visions to screen. he is believed to be responsible for many special effects firsts: split screen, double exposure, overlapping dissolves, fades in and out, and stop motion photography.
