Trip to the Moon (George Méliès, 1902) gives the idea of the potential cinema had. There was a story to tell, but there was no characterization. There was no personality and investigation of identity. The process of showing something through moving pictures seemed attractive enough perhaps meaning the content did not matter as much. Film was all about attraction before the early 1900s.
It is not that there is a story to tell but that there is a picture to see. Tom Gunning illustrates the "cinema of attractions" as an act of exhibition. And today we still see it through the primarily made narrative film. Through the use of effects, which can seem like anything. Editing effects, cinematography effects, sound effects, special effects etc.
When thinking about effects as a tame form of attraction, as Gunning mentions, I think about the current movies that I don't particularly like. They are chock-full of fast-paced events and effects that I feel they distract from sound and mise en scene.
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