I was very interested in the lecture where we discussed George Melies. Him being the "father of special effects" made him very instrumental in the advancement of special effects into what they are today as seen in the avengers. And the amazing thing to me is that he discovered it all by accident. His infamous carriage into a hearse shot started it all.
The above video displays Melies' skills and techniques he developed over the years like dissolve, multiple exposure, and time-lapse. Many movies today still use these techniques even with the advancement of CGI and VFX. It just goes to show how influential Melies was on the movie industry.