An Impossible Balancing Feat
About An Impossible Balancing Feat
A magician, played by Georges Méliès, sits in a chair in front of an ancient tower. Three more figures, each a copy of him, appear beside the chair. They climb and balance on him. The French title is L'Équilibre impossible.
Cast & crew
More about An Impossible Balancing Feat
Méliès directed and played the magician. Star Film released the short in 1902. The copies of himself are multiple exposures printed over the same stage. A listed running time is 2 minutes. Another English title is The Impossible Feat of Balancing.
Themes
Making
Méliès filmed himself several times against the same tower set and printed the takes together so the copies could stand on the original.
Look
The camera stays on one stage. Multiple exposures put three more Méliès figures into the chair shot.
Music
Silent.
Preservation
A print survives.
Notes
- The set is a painted tower with the chair in the center.
- He takes off a coat before the doubles appear.
- A review of the short counts three extra Méliès figures and a balancing act on his head.
- The trick is superimposition, not three other actors in matching makeup.
- A print survives under the French title.
Scenes
- Three copies of the magician appear beside his chair and climb onto him.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (L'Equilibre impossible (1902).webm)
