Almost immediately after the Lumière brothers introduced the first practical motion picture projector in 1895, visual effects were introduced. That year, the first known visual effect was used by Alfred Clark at the Edison Company to depict “The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots”.

Independently, a French magician named George Méliès accidently discovered the ‘jump cut’ when his motion picture camera jammed. He quickly realized its potential for creating fantasy. ‘Trick films’ soon became the first major film genre.

Today, the availability of sophisticated software has led to an explosion in the use of visual effects. But few people entering the field know the history of this art form and the work of numerous crafts people that brought the art form to its present state.

Robert Mrozowski offers a series of lectures covering the milestones in the history of visual effects.  In his presentations he reviews the breadth of effects techniques and the derivation of often-used technical terms. The presentations include anecdotal historic details to provide an entertaining orientation to visual effects.

“If I have seen further,

it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”

                                          Sir Isaac Newton