Arthur Widmer
Encyclopedia
Arthur Widmer was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
special effect
Special effect
The illusions used in the film, television, theatre, or entertainment industries to simulate the imagined events in a story are traditionally called special effects ....
s pioneer. He invented the "Ultra Violet Travelling matte process", an early version of what would become known as bluescreen.
Career
Arthur Widmer began his career at Kodak in 1935, as a researcher in Rochester, New YorkRochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
. He learned much, and being seen as a creative thinker was attached on a three-year stint as one of the Kodak researchers assigned to the Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
, which led to the development of the atomic bomb
Post World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and having spent so much time at Los Alamos, New Mexico
Los Alamos, New Mexico
Los Alamos is a townsite and census-designated place in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, United States, built upon four mesas of the Pajarito Plateau and the adjoining White Rock Canyon. The population of the CDP was 12,019 at the 2010 Census. The townsite or "the hill" is one part of town while...
, in 1947 he sought warmer climes than Rochester and moved to Kodak's Hollywood office with the introduction of Kodak's color film processing. Widmer helped produce a multilayered colour motion picture film that changed the dynamics of power in the movie industry.
He left Kodak in 1950 and joined Warner Brothers and began his work with the Ultra Violet Travelling matte process. Widmer also developed and refined technologies for other motion picture processes including 3D
3-D film
A 3-D film or S3D film is a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception...
and widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
. He began developing Bluescreen techniques, with one of the first films to use the technique being the screen adaptation of the novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
by Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
written in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
in 1951, The Old Man and the Sea
The Old Man and the Sea
The Old Man and the Sea is a novel written by American author Ernest Hemingway in 1951 in Cuba, and published in 1952. It was the last major work of fiction to be produced by Hemingway and published in his lifetime. One of his most famous works, it centers upon Santiago, an aging fisherman who...
starring Spencer Tracy
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
in 1958
In 1964, Widmer joined Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
to design and build the optical department, where he continued his work on the blue screen technique and other visual effects until his retirement in 1979. The technique is commonly used in television broadcasting today, such as in weather forecast presentations.
On February 12, 2005, aged 90, at a gala black tie dinner at the Ritz-Carlton
Ritz-Carlton
The Ritz-Carlton is a brand of luxury hotels and resorts with 75 properties located in major cities and resorts in 24 countries worldwide...
Huntington Hotel in Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
, Widmer received a special Award of Commendation for technical contributions from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
. The Academy's Science and Technology committee honoured Widmer for helping develop methods for advancing the art of storytelling on film: Most notable: processes that make it seem as if actors are in faraway locations when in fact they are working on soundstages in Hollywood or elsewhere
Arthur Widmer died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in Hollywood, aged 91 .
Quotations
- "Compositing technology became key to creating magical illusions in movies because you could now shoot shots that couldn't be shot or wouldn't be shot because they were too expensive," Arthur Widmer, 2001 interview from his home in Hollywood
- "Art's pioneering work has had a profound impact on the film industry. Many of the films we hold dear would not have been possible without his contributions to image compositing technology." Richard Edlund of the Academy's Scientific and Technical Awards Committee when the Special Award Oscar award was announced in 2005
- "In my day, being digitally adept meant you could play the piccolo. Your award to me seems a little out of place because, with it, you have honoured analogue achievements made in an era devoid of acronyms.” Arthur Widmer, in his acceptance speech of his Academy Special Award