History of Science Fiction Films - Silent Film

Silent Film

Science fiction films appeared very early in the silent film era. The initial attempts were short films of typically 1 to 2 minutes in duration, shot in black and white, but sometimes with colour tinting. These usually had a technological theme and were often intended to be humorous. One such short was Le Voyage dans la Lune, created by Georges Méliès in 1902. Often considered to be the first science fiction film, it drew upon Jules Verne and H. G. Wells in its depiction a spacecraft being launched to the moon in a large cannon. Its ground-breaking special effects pioneered the way for future science-fiction films, and it became largely popular after its release.

Science fiction literature would continue to influence early films. Jules Verne's classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was adapted multiple times, notably into the 1916 film, one of the first feature-length science fiction films. Others, such as Edison Studios' 1910 adaptation of Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, and the 1913 adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, brought the concept of mad scientists to cinema. These two also demonstrated an early overlap between the science fiction and horror genres. Into the 1920s, another success was The Lost World, based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's book of the same name. It was one of the earliest examples of stop-motion animation, and also introduced several now-famous science fiction concepts, like monsters, dinosaurs, and hidden worlds.

Meanwhile, in Europe, the 1920s displayed a distinct difference from American cinema. European film-makers began to use the genre for prediction and social commentary. In Russia, the film Aelita discussed social revolution in the context of a voyage to Mars. In Germany, one of the most important pioneers of science fiction was the Expressionist Fritz Lang. His 1927 film Metropolis was the most expensive film ever released up to that point. Set in the year 2026, it included elements such as an autonomous robot, a mad scientist, a dystopian society, and elaborate futuristic sets. His 1929 work Frau im Mond, or Woman In The Moon, came as the silent film era was coming to a close, and notably introduced the idea of counting down the time to a rocket launch.