A century ago, filmmaker George Méliès wowed the earliest movie audiences with bold visual effects. He understood the malleability of filmed imagery, and by locking down his camera and recranking partially exposed film through the gate, he was able to achieve startling double-exposures and in-camera composites. Visual effects were born, but so was an annoying limitation on filmmakers: in order to combine the real and virtual, filmmakers had to lock down their cameras to provide maximum stability and control for visual effects.
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