The technique of miniature ship visual effects.
Showing posts with label Sydney Pearson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sydney Pearson. Show all posts
Wednesday, 4 March 2015
The Maggie AKA High and Dry 1954
Another Alexander Mackendrick Ealing comedy, this time concerning a Clyde Puffer. Seen in miniature form in a couple of shots.
Whiskey galore 1949
This Alexander Mackendrick Ealing comedy has a few shots of a miniature ship and what looks to be a glass shot of the stranded ship stuck on the rocks. The first shot of the bow of the ship suffers greatly from too small a depth of field. Most of the shots do not show any interaction with water except the final sinking shot. Some of the shots combine the miniature with rear projected live action plates. Miniatures are likely the work of one of the two credited special effects personnel, Sydney (Syd) Pearson.
Sunday, 17 August 2014
Kind Hearts and Coronets 1949
A reader Ian Jopson put me onto this classic Ealing comedy which has a short sequence featuring the collision and sinking of two out of three miniature Victorian battleships. According to IMDB this story point could have been a reference to a real-life disaster in 1893 which involved the battleships HMS Victoria and HMS Camperdown.
The models seem rather small, with the camera running at an insufficient frame rate to appear at all convincing. Perhaps in a comedy this was thought part of the joke.
The models seem rather small, with the camera running at an insufficient frame rate to appear at all convincing. Perhaps in a comedy this was thought part of the joke.
Monday, 22 July 2013
In Search of the Castaways 1962
Another Disney family film from the early sixties, though not quite in the same league as Swiss family Robinson, as it tends to get very silly at times. This time Peter Ellenshaw is credited for Special Photographic Effects and there are a lot of matte paintings in the film, many of which are combined with miniatures. The film also has some model ship scenes which are reasonably effective. The model looks very much like it is the slightly modified and re-painted nitrate ship from Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea made in 1954.
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| The model in the tank. You can see the top of the backing through the mist. |
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| Peter Ellenshaw Matte painting. |
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| Matte painting above the deck houses, model below. |
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| Miniature cliff collapse, foreground painting. |
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| Miniature Ice bridge collapse. |
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