The art form of film and television simply would not exist without cinematography— and some stand above others when it comes to this inspiring art form. So please, join us in sharing your favorite moments of cinematic beauty!
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First Men in the Moon is a 1964 British science fiction film, produced by Charles H. Schneer, directed by Nathan Juran. The film, distributed by Columbia Pictures, is an adaptation by screenwriter Nigel Kneale of H. G. Wells' 1901 novel The First Men in the Moon.
The film was released five years prior to men first landing on the Moon and four years prior to 2001: A Space Odyssey
A couple of the capsule shots look very similar to the escape capsule falling to Tatooine the opening of Star Wars (1977) (image 9 in the album)
Jump to “Lunar landing” on r/cinescenes
Some of the other films that I was reminded of while watching it: John Carter (Princess of Mars), Buckaroo Banzai, 2001, Total Recall, Explorers, Moon
Ray Harryhausen provided the stop-motion animation effects, which include the Selenites, giant caterpillar-like "Moon Cows" and the large-brained Grand Lunar. Harryhausen used NASA blueprints as inspiration for the UN's lunar lander when he was designing the film's sets.
Harryhausen was planning on following Jason and the Argonauts (1963) with a version of H.G. Wells' 1904 novel The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth when he met with writer Nigel Kneale. Harryhausen had long wanted to film Wells' First Men in the Moon but producer Charles Schneer was not enthusiastic, in part due to worries about the film's period setting. Kneale thought it was an excellent idea, however, and he and Harryhausen managed to persuade Schneer to make it.
Most of the live-action cinematography took place at Shepperton Studios where a full-sized section of the moon's surface was constructed on a sound stage for the framing sequence and for the arrival and departure of Cavor's sphere from the lunar surface.
The spacesuit type worn by the film's UN Astronauts is the Windak high-altitude pressure suit, developed for the Royal Air Force. Each was fitted with a 1960s-type aqualung cylinder worn as a backpack. These pressure suits would also be used in two Doctor Who stories: William Hartnell's final story "The Tenth Planet" (1966) and the Patrick Troughton-era "The Wheel in Space" (1968). They also appear in the original Star Wars trilogy as the costumes for Bossk and Bo Shek
Charles Schneer, Nathan Juran, and Harryhausen did not appear to get along during filming and following the film Harryhausen and Schneer did not work together for five years.
The wiki article states: Schneer says that when the real Moon landing happened, NASA "had no footage showing the space capsule separating from the 'mother ship' and landing on the Moon's surface. All they had were shots of Neil Armstrong walking around". NASA went to Columbia Pictures and used the opening sequence of First Men in the Moon. "They used those portions of it which were applicable to their needs," said the producer.
However, this citation on the article is no longer available on archive.org. Apparently the quote comes from Issue 151 of Starlog magazine 1990. I would love to know more about this.
There have been several versions of this film over the last 100+ years: The First Men in the Moon (1919 film) – This film is thought to have been lost and is and is listed on the British Film Institute's "75 Most Wanted" list of lost films. Stills from the production and a plot synopsis exist.
The First Men in the Moon (2010 film) - The crew mention spacesuits (called "suits") being on board the sphere, but these spacesuits are never seen, described or used, unlike in the 1964 film. Because the Moon has a breathable atmosphere, no spacesuits are needed.
A Trip to the Moon (French: Le voyage dans la lune) is a 1902 French science-fiction adventure trick film directed by Georges Méliès. Since the book by H. G. Wells was published the year before release, some felt it had too many similarities to be a coincidence, but Méliès maintained it was actually inspired by Jules Verne's 1865 novel From the Earth to the Moon and its 1870 sequel Around the Moon.*
One of the smallest GIF albums I’ve made, about 190MB with the 7th image the largest at 31MB
Some notes from Wikipedia and this great article