Pioneer of blue and green screen effects Petro Vlahos dies

The pioneer of blue and screen effects Petro Vlahos has died. He was 96. The announcement was made by his company Ultimatte.

He first perfected the now widely used effect for the movie Ben-hur and five years later won an Oscar for his work on Mary Poppins. The effect went on to be used throughout the movie and TV industry including the Star Wars movies.

Vlahos is credited with perfecting the blue screen as the technique has been used previously in films such as The Ten Commandments. However Vlahos was able to improve the technique so the outer glow that was so often visible in early blue screen effects was no longer visible. He called his invention the colour-difference travelling matte scheme.

He is survived by his wife Virginia, son Paul, with whom he co-founded Ultimatte, daughter Jennie and two step-children, plus several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

There's an interesting article over on the BBC website that goes deeper into the process of creating a blue/green effect.

Rob Wainfur
@welshslider

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