Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Special Effects (2)

The sea was brought into the action courtesy of Seaview's herculite viewing ports. But rather than build a huge tank beyond the nose set and fill it with giant whales and other subsurface predators, the special effects department employed rear-screen projection which allowed them to incorporate previously filmed effects right into the episodes as they were being shot. This process was cheaper and more effective than matting the effects in during post-production and had the added benefit of giving the actors something (no matter how preposterous) to react to during filming. The two men standing at right in this photo are Richard Basehart stand-in Ray Didsbury (blue shirt) and David Hedison stand-in Scott McFadden (brown shirt).

Experts in the 20th Century-Fox camera department including department head Sol Halprin and of course special effects whiz L.B. Abbott and Academy Award winning photographer Winton Hoch looked after the extensive rear-screen projection work done, particularly in Voyage's first season. At right, note one of the translucent screens onto which a filmed shot was projected. The set was located on the opposite side of the screen as seen above and below. Most of the underwater footage used was shot in the Bahamas and along the California Coast.

Two-projector rear-screen projection system

A simple shift of perspective completes the illusion. What, in the top photo, was obviously a set, is now transformed into the observation nose of Submarine Seaview. To accomplish the illusion, the projected rear screen footage is kept synchronized with the recording camera and the result is a seamless blend of set and "undersea world" beyond. At top center of the photo at left, you can see where the set detail ends.

Taken from Voyage's pilot episode, here's a view of Seaview's nose set looking "in" through one of its viewing ports in "Eleven Days to Zero". The rear projection screens could be moved out of the way for rare shots like this. Note the dead-end platform at the top of Observation's familiar spiral staircase (behind Crane's head), where actors would stand before entering and after leaving scenes.