Q1: The credits of SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE list Olsen, Lane & White as the premier effects facility on the film. Where was this effects facility located?

A: Olsen, Lane and White was an effects facility located in Burbank, California. It was created "from scratch" specifically to do the effects for only SUPERMAN IV. One of the production coordinators, Clete Keith came up with the name, based on the last names of Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane and Perry White. [If there had been a SUPERMAN V, we might have renamed it Jim, Lois and Perry Ltd.] As you know, SUPERMAN IV had a much smaller budget than any of the first three films and so I decided that having our own effects facility would be more efficient and much less costly than going to a high overhead established facility like ILM. We employed about 30 people, mostly effects animators. The cost of the effects for SM IV was about $4 million, a relatively small amount for a show with over 600 hundred effects shots -- a huge number for the time. OLW was mainly concerned with the effects animation on the film, which was extensive. OLW also subcontracted most of the compositing and blue screen work on the film; but still maintained close creative supervision on these opticals. So, I guess you could say any bad comps were OLW's [and my] responsibility.

 

Q2: Yes, the quality of the effects shots seemed inconsistent.

A: Unfortunately, out of the thirteen optical houses that started doing opticals, only about four did acceptable work. With such a heavy workload, eventually we just flat ran out of time for redos.

 

Q3. Did you consider using yellow screen sodium vapour traveling matte work [from your Disney roots] to remove the problem of matting superman's blue tights?

A. Absolutely it was considered. Two big limitations prevented us:
Reason #1: The widest lens available for the sodium camera is a 40mm, which is pretty long actually. This is because wider focal length lenses don't fit. They hit the prism that is placed right behind the lens mount.
Reason #2: There were no anamorphic lenses for the sodium camera, so it meant we would have to shoot Super35, which yields a pathetically small negative area for 2.40:1 [the aspect ratio for all the SUPERMAN movies]. Especially considering you have to dupe the shots because they are opticals.

 

Q4: What about wire removal?

A: In 1986, we weren't blessed with digital image manipulation and hence any attempts at wire removal had to be done on an optical printer, a very difficult situation at best. There was very little wire removal needed on the first three SUPERMAN films, because those films were shot with diffusion filters and so the wires weren't visible. We decided to shoot SUPERMAN IV "clean," hence you can see everything! A decision I came to regret.

 

Q5: One of the only Salkind regulars to work on part IV was flying unit director David Lane. He was responsible for directing not only the aerial plate photography, but also the perfomances of those actors "flying" on the front projection stages. What can you tell us about him, his involvement, his way of working and any "rules" he laid down concerning the flying sequences?

A: Yes, David was a big asset, a talented guy. I really don't remember if he had any "rules" concerning the flying sequences. I know he's directed quite a number of commercials.

 

Q6: The most beautiful of all of the SUPERMAN IV lensing was actually the work of the Stateside aerial unit. David Lane and yourself directed the aerial plates, but the Gyrosphere cinematographers were Michael Kelem and David B.Nowell of Top Gun fame [replacing Wescam/Gyrosphere and Spacecam creator Ron Goodman, who had shot all of the Salkind film's aerial plates]. Like Ron Goodman, Nowell and Kelem are considered the finest aerial operators in their field and their SUPERMAN IV work was so good that it was recycled for the films Delirious and Gremlins 2.

A: Yes, I agree they did a fabulous job, and we were lucky to have them on the show. They also shot the ground background plates in New York. We drove around the city with the VistaVision camera under a tarp in the back of a pickup truck and when we found a spot to shoot, we would take off the tarp and just start shooting film. A lot of the establishing shots of the Empire State Building were done this way. It saved a lot of effort not having to block off streets and divert traffic.

 

 

 

 

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"Richard Conway's model unit setting up a complex rig for the volcano cork shot."


"Richard Conway's volcano miniature was so big that it required scaffold support. It should also be noted that one of Conway's crew members, Christine Overs, is documented as being the first ever female special effects technician!"


"Harrison Ellenshaw videotapes from Richard Conway's enormous volcano miniature while Godfrey Godar BSC looks on"


"Second Unit Cameraman Godfrey Godar BSC looks on as he prepares to shoot the Volcano miniature."


Harrison Ellenshaw surveys the volcano miniature while second unit cinematographer Godfrey Godar BSC consults with camera operator Malcolm Vinson.


"Bloomin' Blighty: The matte department at Elstree - from left to right, matte cameraman Peter Hammond BSC (who worked on the first two Superman movies), matte supervisor Peter Ellenshaw and storyboard extraordinaire turned matte artist Martin Asbury."