To think of the idea of using layers with images in Photoshop or for video in Final Cut to create composite images or footage is rather easy in today's terms with all of the available technology from the cameras we shoot with to the programs with which we complete the composite. Now to image performing these tasks over a hundred years ago by only using the film on which the footage is captured (and I promise it was not digital) just as Georges Méliès was able to do before the turn of the century. Using many techniques in splicing and cutting of film Méliès was able to add advanced special effects to his films; the most famous being the space pod hitting the man on the moon. He also learned that painting directly onto the filmstrip frame by frame would provide color when shown in the theater or viewed in the newly invented kinetophone.
So you won't find Méliès' name on the developer list for today's most popular programs but we must keep him in the back of our minds to credit his brave ability to try something no one has ever done and in doing so set the ground work for a hundred years of advancement in film and photography.
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