— Overview
The notes stay with that short story and with the claim that Méliès did more than point a camera, and they stop with the expedition as the notes first set it down.
— Contents and key concepts
A proposal, and five in a capsule
The notes take up Georges Méliès’s A Trip to the Moon — also called, in one wording they use, a voyage to the moon. They read it through story, plot, and narrative, not as a string of wonders only.
The story, as they set it down, begins with a group of astronomers who propose an expedition. Five brave astronomers then ride a space capsule set on a launch that looks like a cannonball, itself placed in a great cannon, and set out for the moon. The notes keep that opening, and they stop with that opening as the notes first set it down.
Story, plot, narrative, diegesis
Story, they write, is the structure of a tale in time, which a plot lets us imagine or infer. Plot is the order of events as they are shown, through image and sound, on the film.
Narrative is more than story or plot. It also takes in point of view, a narrator, and the relation of figures and events in the story-world — what they also call the diegesis. Point of view, they add, is the angle from which a figure in the play, or the camera’s lens, looks at what is there. The more a plot’s structure is twisted, they write, the more a film may feel new, or a little hard.
Not merely pointing a camera
When they turn from story to plot, what they mark as distinctive in Méliès is this: his film is not simply “pointing the camera and showing.” He directs by using filming technique.
The notes leave the analysis there, before later tables, having kept the five astronomers, the cannon, and that claim about staging. The same Korean notes, at fuller length, can be read on CampusDown.
Sources
- Student notes on Georges Méliès’s A Trip to the Moon, read through story, plot, and narrative.
Last updated 15 November 2026
Frequently asked questions
How do the notes tell the story of A Trip to the Moon?
A group of astronomers proposes a voyage to the moon. Five brave astronomers then set out in a space capsule placed on a launch that looks like a cannonball, itself set in a great cannon.
What distinction do they keep among story, plot, and narrative?
Story is the structure of events in time, which a plot lets us imagine or infer. Plot is the audiovisual order of events as the film shows them. Narrative, they add, also includes point of view, a narrator, and how figures and events in the story-world are related.
What do they mark as distinctive in Méliès?
His film, they write, is not simply a matter of “pointing the camera and showing.” He directs with filming technique. They stop before later scenes the notes do not develop.
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