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Lawrence W. Butler
Lawrence W. Butler (July 30, 1908 – October 19, 1988) was an American special effects artist, best known as the inventor of the bluescreening process. He won an Academy Award for Best Special Effects and was nominated for three more in the same category. Career Butler's early career days were spent in the United States working for his father William Butler who worked in films as an optical effects director. He moved to England in the mid 1930s and landed his first independent job with the London Films working for the Hungarian-born producer/director Alexander Korda's chartbuster film '' Things to Come'' (1936). His first stint was to do films called '' The Man Who Could Work Miracles'' and '' Fire Over England''. What worked wonders for him was the innovative idea of introducing "blue-screen travelling matte process" in special effects, which he developed with his colleagues and implemented it in the Academy Award-winning film '' The Thief of Bagdad'' in 1940. He wen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Special Effect
Special effects (often abbreviated as F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the fictional events in a story or virtual world. It is sometimes abbreviated as SFX, but this may also refer to ''sound effects''. Special effects are traditionally divided into the categories of mechanical effects and optical effects. With the emergence of digital filmmaking a distinction between special effects and visual effects has grown, with the latter referring to digital post-production and optical effects, while "special effects" refers to mechanical effects. Mechanical effects (also called practical or physical effects) are usually accomplished during the live-action shooting. This includes the use of mechanised props, scenery, scale models, animatronics, pyrotechnics and atmospheric effects: creating physical wind, rain, fog, snow, clouds, making a car appear to drive by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Casablanca (film)
''Casablanca'' is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid. Filmed and set during World War II, it focuses on an American expatriate (Bogart) who must choose between his love for a woman (Bergman) and helping her husband (Henreid), a Czechoslovak resistance leader, escape from the Vichy-controlled city of Casablanca to continue his fight against the Nazis. The screenplay is based on '' Everybody Comes to Rick's'', an unproduced stage play by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison. The supporting cast features Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Dooley Wilson. Warner Bros. story editor Irene Diamond convinced producer Hal B. Wallis to purchase the film rights to the play in January 1942. Brothers Julius and Philip G. Epstein were initially assigned to write the script. However, despite studio resistance, they left to work on Frank Capra's ''Why We Fight'' ser ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Special Effects People
American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, people who self-identify their ancestry as "American" ** American English, the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States ** Native Americans in the United States, indigenous peoples of the United States * American, something of, from, or related to the Americas, also known as "America" ** Indigenous peoples of the Americas * American (word), for analysis and history of the meanings in various contexts Organizations * American Airlines, U.S.-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas * American Athletic Conference, an American college athletic conference * American Recordings (record label), a record label that was previously known as Def American * American University, in Washington, D.C. Sports teams S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1988 Deaths
1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United States (National Science Foundation Network) and Europe (Nordunet) as well as the first Internet-based chat protocol, Internet Relay Chat. The concept of the World Wide Web was first discussed at CERN in 1988. The Soviet Union began its major deconstructing towards a mixed economy at the beginning of 1988 and began its Dissolution of the Soviet Union, gradual dissolution. The Iron Curtain began to disintegrate in 1988 as People's Republic of Hungary, Hungary began allowing freer travel to the Western world. The first extrasolar planet, Gamma Cephei Ab (confirmed in 2003), was detected this year and the World Health Organization began its mission to Eradication of polio, eradicate polio. Global warming also began to emerge as a more significant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1908 Births
This is the longest year in either the Julian or Gregorian calendars, having a duration of 31622401.38 seconds of Terrestrial Time (or ephemeris time), measured according to the definition of mean solar time. Events January * January 1 – The British ''Nimrod'' Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the ''Nimrod'' for Antarctica. * January 3 – A total solar eclipse is visible in the Pacific Ocean and is the 46th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 130. * January 13 – A fire breaks out at the Rhoads Opera House in Boyertown, Pennsylvania, killing 171 people. * January 15 – Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first race inclusive sorority is founded on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C. * January 24 – Robert Baden-Powell's '' Scouting for Boys'' begins publication in London. The book eventually sells over 100 million copies, and effectively begins the worldwide Boy Scout movement. February * February 1 – Lisbon Regicide: Ki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Thousand And One Nights (1945 Film)
''A Thousand and One Nights'' is a 1945 tongue-in-cheek American adventure fantasy film set in the Baghdad of the ''One Thousand and One Nights'', directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Evelyn Keyes, Phil Silvers, Adele Jergens and Cornel Wilde. It was nominated for two Academy Awards, for Best Art Direction, Color ( Stephen Goosson, Rudolph Sternad, Frank Tuttle) and Best Special Effects ( Ray Bomba and Lawrence W. Butler). Plot Vagabond singer Aladdin has his hands full keeping his pickpocket friend, Abdullah, out of trouble. Abdullah is thought mad as he claims to have been born 1200 years too early, speaks in 1940s slang and knows about television. The beautiful Princess Armina, the daughter of the Sultan, is borne through the streets in a covered litter. Despite knowing the punishment is death for a commoner to see her face, Aladdin cannot resist. He distracts the guards and slips into the litter. He persuades Armina to let her veil be lifted and is delighted to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
That Hamilton Woman
''That Hamilton Woman'', also known as ''Lady Hamilton'', is a 1941 black-and-white historical film drama produced and directed by Alexander Korda for his British company during his exile in the United States. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, the film tells the story of the rise and fall of Emma Hamilton, dance-hall girl and courtesan, who married Sir William Hamilton, British ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples, and later became Admiral Horatio Nelson's mistress. The film was a critical and financial success, and while on the surface the plot is both a war story and a romance set in Napoleonic times, it was also intended to function as a film that would portray Britain positively within the context of World War II, which was being fought at that time. At the time it was released, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Denmark were all occupied by Germany and the Soviet Union was still officially allied with the Third Reich, so the British were fighting against the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charley Varrick
''Charley Varrick'' (a.k.a.''The Last of the Independents'' and ''Kill Charley Varrick'') is a 1973 American neo-noir crime film directed by Don Siegel and starring Walter Matthau, Andrew Robinson, Joe Don Baker and John Vernon. ''Charley Varrick'' is based on the novel ''The Looters'' by John H. Reese, and is the first of four consecutive films in which Matthau appeared that were not comedies (although his role in ''Earthquake'' is comedic). Plot Charley Varrick is a crop duster and former stunt pilot with knowledge about explosives. After his cropdusting business failed, Varrick has turned to a life of crime along with his wife Nadine. Along with two accomplices named Al Dutcher and Harman Sullivan, they rob small-town banks in rural New Mexico; they specifically select small local banks that aren't insured by the FDIC, in order to avoid the involvement of the FBI and other federal authorities. During the robbery of one such bank in the (fictional) small town of Tres Cruces ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Caine Mutiny (1954 Film)
''The Caine Mutiny'' is a 1954 American military trial film directed by Edward Dmytryk, produced by Stanley Kramer, and starring Humphrey Bogart, José Ferrer, Van Johnson, Robert Francis (actor), Robert Francis, and Fred MacMurray. It is based on Herman Wouk's Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Pulitzer Prize-winning 1951 The Caine Mutiny, novel of the same name. Set in the Pacific War, Pacific theatre of World War II, the film depicts the events on board a U.S. Navy destroyer-minesweeper and the subsequent court-martial of its executive officer for mutiny. The film was released by Columbia Pictures on June 24, 1954. It was well-received by critics and was the second highest-grossing film in the United States in 1954.'The Top Box-Office Hits of 1954', ''Variety Weekly'', January 5, 1955 At the 27th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for seven Oscars, including Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Picture, Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Adapted Screenplay, Academy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Lady From Shanghai
''The Lady from Shanghai'' is a 1947 American film noir produced and directed by Orson Welles and starring Rita Hayworth, Welles, Everett Sloane, and Glenn Anders. Welles's screenplay is based on the novel ''If I Die Before I Wake'' by Sherwood King. Although the Columbia Pictures film initially received mixed reviews, it has grown in stature over the years. In 2018, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Plot Irish sailor Michael O'Hara meets a woman named Elsa as she rides a horse-drawn coach (a hansom cab) in Central Park. When three hooligans waylay the coach, Michael rescues Elsa and escorts her home. Michael reveals he is a seaman and learns Elsa and her husband, disabled criminal defense attorney Arthur Bannister, are newly arrived in New York City from Shanghai. They are on their way to San Francisco via the Panama Canal. Michael, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gilda (film)
''Gilda'' is a 1946 American film noir directed by Charles Vidor and starring Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford. The film is known for cinematographer Rudolph Maté's lush photography, glamorous setting, costume designer Jean Louis's wardrobe for Hayworth (particularly for the dance numbers), and choreographer Jack Cole (choreographer), Jack Cole's staging of "Put the Blame on Mame" and "Amado Mio", sung by Anita Kert Ellis, Anita Ellis. Over the years ''Gilda'' has gained cult classic status. In 2013, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". Plot Johnny Farrell, an American newly arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, wins money from sailors at the city's docks by playing craps with weighted dice. He is rescued from a robbery attempt by a stranger, Ballin Mundson. Mundson tells Farrell about an illegal high-class casino in the city, but warns him not t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures, which is one of the Major film studios, "Big Five" film studios and a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation. On June 19, 1918, brothers Jack Cohn, Jack and Harry Cohn and their business partner Joe Brandt founded the studio as CBC Film Sales Corporation, Cohn-Brandt-Cohn (CBC) Film Sales Corporation. It adopted the Columbia Pictures name on January 10, 1924 (operating as Columbia Pictures Corporation until December 23, 1968), went public two years later, and eventually began to use the image of Columbia (personification), Columbia, the female personification of the United States, as its logo. In its early years, Columbia was a minor player in Hollywood, but ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
