American Cinematographer - November 1991 - 70

each take, George was framed tightly as the camera
whipped backward and tilted on the rig as he filled the
center of the frame. The shot culminated with Super¬
man as a tiny figure against the sky.
What made the shot was the cloud plate filmed
high in the stratosphere. As Superman receded into the
distance, the cumulus formations moved realistically
in concert. The shot flows so naturally, it almost looks
like

actual free-fall.

Filming Reeves as a separate element allowed
Rabin to combine him with whatever background was
dictated by the story. For the finale of "The Stolen

Costume," Reeves' "free-fall" shot was matted onto a
spectacular Arctic vista. Background-switching was a
trick the show depended on.
The first season was touch and go. Twentysix "$15,000 wonders" were crammed into a ten-week
shoot with no time to finesse the opticals. Some were

lousy, having only been tests. For Superman's mid-air
catch of Jimmy Olsen in "The Human Bomb," the
urban background remained static, destroying the il¬
lusion completely. Apparently a moving background
plate was unavailable, and with the dollars given to
Rabin, whatever looked passable was sutured quickly
Above: On the
set

of episode

#77, "The
Phantom

Ring,"

Howard
Schwartz, Joe

are

Biroc, George
Reeves and Bob

Underwood.

Right: Reeves
braces himself

for another

super-landing.

into the pro¬

take. The composites were made on
his old Bell & Howell printer.
"From an optical stand¬

duction nega¬
tives.

Traveling

point it was tricky/' Rabin ex¬
plained, "because George's face
and parts of his costume were light.
Those

areas

mattes weren't

always right for
closeups, so for
a medium
fly¬
ing shot, the ac¬

blended with the

backing. So what we did was un¬
derexpose him during the original
photography. That separated him

tor

was an

pro¬

the

pan,

Reeves flew in

front of an aerial
view of Los An¬

artifact of the

geles. The shot

backing." The problem still exists in
special effects today.
In filming Reeves, diffused
sidelight was used to suggest a
solar aura around his body. This

was

used

good effect in
"Double
Trouble" and

worked well for Rabin, as the effect

"Superman

tended to blend with and obscure
the unwanted matte lines.
The flying shot cut into the
1951 title opener was the most spectacular in scope.
The camera on Reeves trucked back to the rear of the

Earth," with the

stage, achieving a whopping illusion of distance.
Unwanted areas beyond the backing were eliminated
on the
printer by a series of rectangular garbage mattes,
which were made on a separate roll of film. This matte
roll was sandwiched with Reeves' negative during the
printing process. Thus the actor remained visible
through the clear "window" areas of the rectangles,
while

everything else on the neg was obscured.
Several versions of this shot

filmed

rear

jection on Pathe
Stage 15. Lying

velopment. So we often got an out¬
line, which

was

with

from it. Later, when we burned in
the normal print of Reeves, we ac¬
celerated his exposure to the proper
level. The problem with the mattes
was that
they shrank during de¬

American

Cinematographer

were

done. In

Metropolis logo
superimposed.
Rear projection was used intriguingly in "The
Human Bomb." To give the illusion that Phyllis Coates,
Trevor Bardette and Jack Larson were struggling on
the Daily Planet ledge, the set was built on the floor and
the actors performed lying down. In front of them was
the street scene, projected in from the rear. The effect
was entirely believable.
Cable work abounded in the '51 shows, but it
was

hardly convincing. "The Mind Machine"

virtual wirefest for Reeves' stunt

man.

was a

In "Ghost

Wolf," however, Reeves gave it a try for a full-frontal

November 1991

American Cinematographer - November 1991

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