Rear projection was a go-to special effect many Hollywood directors used during the Golden Age of Hollywood. The system made it easier to film actual location scenes inside the studio sets rather than going outside. Alfred Hitchcock was known for being a big proponent in rear projection. Even later directors such as Quentin Tarantino, despite the dazzling computer generate images existing today, will use the projection technique.
The first ever rear projection seen in film was October 1930's "Liliom." In the Frank Borzage-directed movie, Liliom (Charles Farrell), a merry-go-round barker and boyfriend to Julie (Rose Hobart), decides to kill himself one hour into the film rather than being arrested for being an accessory to a robbery. On his death bed, he has visions of Heaven's train approaching as he nears his final breath. The projection of the train appears on the left side of the screen while he and Julie are on the right. The train magically is seen bursting through the set and stops before the couple, collecting the deceased Liliom. Next stop: Heaven. The sequence is a dramatic construct of the new special effects in cinema.
"At its advent in the 1930s, rear projection was a game-changing technology," described writer Meg Shields on the process most viewers know when seeing actors filmed inside their car and the background is shown. "It gave filmmakers more control, consistency, and creative freedom to shoot what they wanted where they wanted. During its heyday, rear projection's major advantage over other compositing techniques was its efficiency. The process could be completed immediately on-set at the same time as principal photography. It could also be shot in the presence of the key filmmakers and performers and assessed promptly in the dailies."
Three developments in film technology in the late 1920's made rear projection possible. The synchronization between camera and projection motors, which was a by product of talking pictures syncing of sound and film, emerged. Kodak's sharper panchromatic film stock in 1928 gave the projected images a shaper focus than its predecessors. And stronger projection lamps were developed during that time.
Fox Films adapted the Hungarian playwright Ferenc Moinar's 1909 play 'Liliom.' The work was a popular theme in movies, including Fritz Lang's version in 1934 with Charles Boyer, and by Rogers and Hammerstein's 1945 play and 1956 movie "Carousel." The Borzage screenplay focuses on womanizer Liliom's encounter with blue-collar worker Julie at the carnival and falling in love. Actor Farrell, who amazingly made the transition to sound despite a pitchy voice, plays the tough guy who beats Julie on several occasions. Discovering she's pregnant, Liliom is persuaded by his corrupt friend to rob a bank casher. That's when things really go south.
"Liliom" was Borzage's second talkie. His first, featuring Irish tenor John McCormack and Margaret O'Sullivan's film debut, September 1930's 'Song o' My Heart,' introduced the director to microphones. In "Liliom" Borzage penciled in his favorite leads Farrell and Janet Gaynor. But the actress made demands that studio head William Fox didn't like. He yanked Gaynor out of the part and inserted rookie Rose Hobart in her place. Hobart's role coincidently began her acting career at age 15 playing Julie in an Atlantic City, New Jersey, performance of "Liliom." The movie launched an active life in front of the camera with over 40 movie appearances in 20 years. Hobart was caught up in the Congressional House Un-American Activities Committee looking for Communist subversives in the early 1950s, putting an end to her screen appearances.
The first ever rear projection seen in film was October 1930's "Liliom." In the Frank Borzage-directed movie, Liliom (Charles Farrell), a merry-go-round barker and boyfriend to Julie (Rose Hobart), decides to kill himself one hour into the film rather than being arrested for being an accessory to a robbery. On his death bed, he has visions of Heaven's train approaching as he nears his final breath. The projection of the train appears on the left side of the screen while he and Julie are on the right. The train magically is seen bursting through the set and stops before the couple, collecting the deceased Liliom. Next stop: Heaven. The sequence is a dramatic construct of the new special effects in cinema.
"At its advent in the 1930s, rear projection was a game-changing technology," described writer Meg Shields on the process most viewers know when seeing actors filmed inside their car and the background is shown. "It gave filmmakers more control, consistency, and creative freedom to shoot what they wanted where they wanted. During its heyday, rear projection's major advantage over other compositing techniques was its efficiency. The process could be completed immediately on-set at the same time as principal photography. It could also be shot in the presence of the key filmmakers and performers and assessed promptly in the dailies."
Three developments in film technology in the late 1920's made rear projection possible. The synchronization between camera and projection motors, which was a by product of talking pictures syncing of sound and film, emerged. Kodak's sharper panchromatic film stock in 1928 gave the projected images a shaper focus than its predecessors. And stronger projection lamps were developed during that time.
Fox Films adapted the Hungarian playwright Ferenc Moinar's 1909 play 'Liliom.' The work was a popular theme in movies, including Fritz Lang's version in 1934 with Charles Boyer, and by Rogers and Hammerstein's 1945 play and 1956 movie "Carousel." The Borzage screenplay focuses on womanizer Liliom's encounter with blue-collar worker Julie at the carnival and falling in love. Actor Farrell, who amazingly made the transition to sound despite a pitchy voice, plays the tough guy who beats Julie on several occasions. Discovering she's pregnant, Liliom is persuaded by his corrupt friend to rob a bank casher. That's when things really go south.
"Liliom" was Borzage's second talkie. His first, featuring Irish tenor John McCormack and Margaret O'Sullivan's film debut, September 1930's 'Song o' My Heart,' introduced the director to microphones. In "Liliom" Borzage penciled in his favorite leads Farrell and Janet Gaynor. But the actress made demands that studio head William Fox didn't like. He yanked Gaynor out of the part and inserted rookie Rose Hobart in her place. Hobart's role coincidently began her acting career at age 15 playing Julie in an Atlantic City, New Jersey, performance of "Liliom." The movie launched an active life in front of the camera with over 40 movie appearances in 20 years. Hobart was caught up in the Congressional House Un-American Activities Committee looking for Communist subversives in the early 1950s, putting an end to her screen appearances.