George Pal is a director who became known for his stop motion techniques in the 1940s - techniques which got him nominated for awards nearly every year in that decade. He took his expertise in this area of filmmaking and applied it to The Time Machine. We see it throughout the film as it is the means by which George watches the world pass by him as he travels in his time machine into the future.
We watch as a mannequin is seen being changed from one outfit to the next as the years pass by; this visual shows us what era we are in by the simple means of women’s clothing. Pal also uses this in the creation of the passage of time through nature as we see the sun and moon change through the glass ceiling in George’s lab. The technique is jarring and can make those with a queasy stomach nauseas, which helps the viewer to understand the dangers of time travel simply through the feeling from his imagery.
Finally, Pal uses a miniature set in order to create the atomic bomb dropping on London and then the volcanic eruption which pours mounted lava through the city. Pal depicts a disaster in a major city without having to break his budget, and for the time the effect was considered top of the line. Indeed, the film won an Academy Award for Special Effects.
