Martian Landscape Portrayed in Film from 1910 to 2017 - Bach To (Description in Comments)
By tohuubach
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A Trip To Mars (1910). Perhaps the first American or even first ever film about Science Fiction and Mars. Produced by Thomas Edison for his Home Kinetoscope in 1910. This 4 minute short film is in silent form and black and white. It features clever montage to create the effects of the scientist walking on the surface of Mars and interacting with the gigantic Martians.
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We observe a big gap here (20 years) where we don’t see many films about Mars. Perhaps this is due to the lack of Science Fiction films during the period of World War 1, where people would have no interesting in funding arts and entertainment.
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Rocketship X-M (1950). The first film about Mars with sequences in color. Released 40 years after A Trip to Mars, and 10 years after the latest film about Mars. The story is about the Rocketship Expedition-Moon accidentally being hurtled beyond Luna on a trajectory towards Mars. The ship and crew touch down briefly on the Red Planet, where they encounter the survivors of a nuclear war.
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We observe a second big gap here in the timeline (32 years) where not many films about Mars are produced. This could be related to the lack of Science Fiction films or just films in general during the period of World War 2 and the Cold War. Although we must note that during the end of the Cold War there is an effort put into advertising for the space race in America and Russia.
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When observing how the Martian Landscape is portrayed in film, we can see that the Martian skyline has shifted over time from a bright red or orange color to a dimmer orange and brown hue. Perhaps this is due to scientific advancements allowing for a more accurate observation of the Martian skyline, which is in fact a yellow-brown “butterscotch” color during the day.
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