Georges Méliès, the famous French illusionist and director, is widely considered the father of special effects in cinema! Coming from the world of magic, he saw early films as the perfect way of continuing to perform his magic tricks to a wider audience. In the early 20th century, he reworked the old-fashioned rolls of film tape to make characters suddenly appear or create illusions and slights of hand on screen. The 2011 film Hugo Cabret paid tribute to the trailblazer.