Farciot Edouart

Alexander Farciot Edouard was for many decades one of Hollywood's foremost special effects technicians. Though of French descent, he was born and raised in California, the son of a portrait photographer. He joined the film industry early on, working in Hollywood for a subsidiary of Paramount, Realart, as an assistant cameraman. At the onset of World War I, Edouart enlisted in the Camouflage Division of the Corps of Engineers, rose to the rank of major and patented a technique for detecting camouflage through photographic means. He then had a stint in the Signals Corps and worked as a war photographer for the American Red Cross in Europe until 1921. In 1922, he joined the Lasky Organisation as special effects photographer. When this company was absorbed into Paramount, Edouart was made head of the Special Effects Department. He remained at the studio until 1974, during his career gathering a staggering ten major technical and scientific awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (including two outright Oscars). Other renowned FX technicians, who worked under his auspices included Gordon Jennings and John P. Fulton. In addition to being singularly adept at making back-projection look realistic and exotic locales appear authentic (especially via his engineering of the double frame, triple-headed background projector), Edouart also perfected the 'glass shot', which cleverly melded small models with full-sized sets. Among his most memorable work remains Dr. Cyclops (1940), for which he created a believable Peruvian jungle and used his back-projection to depict a group of human explorers reduced to one-fifth of their size (through the endeavours of the titular mad scientist), struggling against non-miniaturised 'monsters', such as cats and chickens. The formula has since been used numerous times (notably in the popular TV series Land of the Giants (1968)). Edouart and Jennings also created the futuristic effects for When Worlds Collide (1951), complete with erupting volcanoes and a tidal wave sweeping over Times Square. Other films which benefited from Edouart's expertise include Reap the Wild Wind (1942) and Vertigo (1958). Farciot Edouart served on the Research Council of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences during the Second World War, producing training films for the U.S. Signals Corps. He was a member of the American Society of Cinematographers.