Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea--Special Effects Models

Even in later years, when Voyage had turned into pretty much a rubber-suit monster-of the-week-program, you still tuned in to watch a delightful cast led by the outstanding Richard Basehart and the very capable David Hedison. There were still Seaview's fabulous interior sets and of course, the miniature effects, which, although used repeatedly in later seasons, were wonderful. If lucky, even in the third and fourth season shows, every couple of weeks you'd get a new miniature effects sequence--one could always hope.

I'm hiding down here behind this rock. You're not supposed to be able to see me.

Photo courtesy Bobbie Boeve.

Shot in 20th's back lot Green Tank, the photo at left reveals the true source of the flying sub's power. Note the lower right-hand corner, where, not quite hidden behind that conveniently located rock, a special effects technician has "launched" FS-1. For obvious reasons, this sequence never made it to the screen. As cheap as some of Voyage's later-season rubber-suit monsters were, the miniature work was always top-notch.

Preparing the 8 foot model for an underwater shot for the Voyage movie.

Effects technicians prepares the eight-foot model of Seaview for underwater action--these photos taken from an effects session conducted for the original 1961 film. The size of the model is not nearly as critical for underwater shots as it is for "surface" shots, which is why the eight-footer was employed here. Aside from being ungainly to work with underwater, it simply wasn't necessary to use the larger (eighteen-foot) version for such sequences.

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