Syd Pearson - Special Effects (1950's - 1960's)

[J Pearson]

Syd Pearson was one of the pioneering Special Effects men of the 1950's and 60's. HE worked on many fantastic British films including (Amongst others):

Dracula
Brides of Dracula
Heroes of Telemark
The Gorgon
Campbells Kingdom
Scott of the Antartic
The Cruel Sea
Creatures the World Forgot
The Purple Plain
Kind Hearts and Coronets
The Lady Killers
The Titfield Thunderbolt
The Man in the White suit

He died about 20 years ago and left me a large suitcase full of fascinating photographs from the sets of various films he worked on. I am hoping to get them scanned and put up on the internet for all to see. If anyone can help me with this challenge (im not technically minded) I would greatly appreciate some help to get this little project off the ground.

Please contact me using the email address in my profile.

Many thanks.
Jon Pearson.

[Steve Crook]

J Pearson: Syd Pearson was one of the pioneering Special Effects men of the 1950's and 60's. HE worked on many fantastic British films including (Amongst others): Dracula Brides of Dracula Heroes of Telemark The Gorgon Campbells Kingdom Scott of the Antartic The Cruel Sea Creatures the World Forgot The Purple Plain Kind Hearts and Coronets The Lady Killers The Titfield Thunderbolt The Man in the White suit He died about 20 years ago and left me a large suitcase full of fascinating photographs from the sets of various films he worked on. I am hoping to get them scanned and put up on the internet for all to see. If anyone can help me with this challenge (im not technically minded) I would greatly appreciate some help to get this little project off the ground. Please contact me using the email address in my profile. Many thanks. Jon Pearson.

Anything from Black Narcissus (1947) ?
It was the first one he worked on according to the IMDb.
It looks like he was under the expert tutelage of Ivor Beddoes & W. Percy Day.

Steve

[J Pearson]

Yes - he did Black Narcissus... I have a scrap book of his with details of the movies he made or contributed to.

Not sure about the tutelage - although the names do ring a bell. At one time he started his own SFX firm with two partners - may have had somting to with that. The Company was called 'Studio & Location'.

Guess I'll have to sift through some of his stuff to find out more.

J.

[Steve Crook]

WARNING ** Contains Spoilers **

I have a file of examples of how they used the matte effect on various films. The films used as examples include Black Narcissus, The Thief of Bagdad, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp and various others.

The examples show the scene as it really was and then as it's seen on screen with the matte applied.

Black Narcissus used a lot of special effects in the form of mattes & hanging miniatures.

The bell tower with the vertiginous drop below it was really just 2 or 3 feet above the ground with a matte of a wonderful perspective painting by Peter Ellenshaw who went on to work for Disney.

They often used mattes where you'd least suspect them. The buildings of the "Palace of Mopu" are often seen from the outside and appear to be 2 or 3 stories high. Nearly all of them were just a single storey, the rest was a matte.

But even knowing all that I can still watch the film, especially on the big screen, and be totally convinced that it's in the himalayas rather than all in the back lot of Pinewood studio.

Steve