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May 3 (UPI) -- Google honored French illusionist and filmmaker Georges Melies Thursday with an interactive Doodle that presents an animated video in virtual reality. The video can be played from Google's homepage and viewed in VR, using the Google Cardboard or Google Daydream View on a smartphone or as a 360 video on YouTube.
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It was released on the anniversary of Melies' classic 1912 film, The Conquest of the Pole.
The animated short, created by Google Spotlight Stories, Google Arts & Culture and Paris' Cinematheque Francaise, pays homage to Melies' career and features tributes to his films, like A Trip to the Moon, and his signature filmmaking techniques.
"Over a hundred years later, we can thank the pioneering mind of Georges Melies for much of the cinematographic wonder and special effects we see today," said Director of Heritage at The Cinematheque Francaise Laurent Manonni in a statement about Melies' impact on the world of cinema."
"The magic of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg today could not have been possible without Melies' development of techniques across theatrical machinery, pyrotechnics, optical effects, horizontal and vertical dropouts, camera stops, crossfades, overprints, conjuring, editing effects, and color effects on film," he continued. "Melies was fascinated by new technologies and was constantly on the lookout for new inventions. I imagine he would have been delighted to live in our era, which is so rich with immersive cinema, digital effects, and spectacular images on screen."
