À la conquête de l'air is a 1901 French silent film directed by Ferdinand Zecca and distributed by Pathé Frères.
[1] Based on contemporary accounts of aviation developments, À la conquête de l'air stars Ferdinand Zecca as the pilot of a fantastic flying machine.
[4] With an emphasis on new topics, Zecca expanded into short films that explored everything from everyday events to fantastic flight of fancy.
Zecca had filmed himself in the strange contraption suspended from the studio roof with the camera having half the frame blocked.
The film was then rewound and the Belleville, Paris city landscape was shot in the previously blacked-out portion, creating the first split-screen effect.