In the 1941 film “Sergeant York,” directed by Howard Hawks, Gary Cooper played the role of Sergeant Alvin C. York, a US Army soldier who won the Medal of Honor – the US Army’s highest military decoration – for acts of valour in World War I. Cooper’s performance earned him the Oscar for Best Actor … Continue reading Moving Mountains for Sergeant York
Welcome to 2024
Happy New Year! I'm starting 2024 with a full desk and a busy slate. Top of the list is my current work-in-progress. What can I tell you about it? Well, it's a new novel, completely unrelated to anything else I've written, and I'm about halfway through the first draft. Apart from that, sorry, my lips … Continue reading Welcome to 2024
Animation Time Machine Visits January 1924
Celebrate the New Year with the latest news from the world of animation ... from a century in the past! Visit the Animation Magazine website now to read my latest Animation Time Machine column. Here's an extract to whet your appetite: The Animation Time Machine sped across the Atlantic to Europe, where it discovered a … Continue reading Animation Time Machine Visits January 1924
Miniature Effects Unleash Deluge on New York in 1933
If you’re looking for an early example of spectacular disaster movie effects, look no further than “Deluge.” Released in 1933, this apocalyptic RKO feature trashed New York City with a double whammy of earthquake and tsunami. In an article from the August 1933 edition of “International Photographer,” special effects director Ned Mann explains how he … Continue reading Miniature Effects Unleash Deluge on New York in 1933
Animation Time Machine Visits December 1923
Want to read the news from the world of animation ... from 100 years ago? Visit the Animation Magazine website and read my latest Animation Time Machine column! Here's an extract to whet your appetite, with all the headlines from December 1923: It’s fair to assume that, through the final months of 1923, Walt and … Continue reading Animation Time Machine Visits December 1923
If Only They’d Had Digital Horses in 1940
We live in an era when movie studios would have you believe that all the big stunts you see on screen were achieved practically on set. No CG! No VFX! It was all real! It’s nonsense, but I’m not going to argue the point here. However, I do want to illuminate it, by transporting you … Continue reading If Only They’d Had Digital Horses in 1940
Trick Photography Delivered Fake News of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake
In the final years of the 19th century, audiences first discovered the thrill of seeing the latest news stories presented in the form of moving pictures. All they had to do was visit a Kinetoscope parlour and peep through the eyepiece of a state-of-the-art viewing machine. By 1905, the commercial deployment of movie projectors meant … Continue reading Trick Photography Delivered Fake News of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake
Movie Tricks of 1934
What kind of visual effects were available to filmmakers in the 1930s? In his article “In the Realm of Tricks and Illusions,” published in “The International Photographer” in June 1934, Earl Thiesen enlightens readers of the day with a shopping list of techniques in use at the time. Thiesen, a lecturer in cinematography at USC … Continue reading Movie Tricks of 1934
Early Projection Screens
Da-Lite Screen & Scenic Co. advertisement, 1926 Projection screens. They're something we all take for granted. These days, projection screen manufacture is a high-tech business, with cinemas boasting screens coated with anything from aluminium to tiny reflective beads. But what was it like in the old days? Easy enough to find the answer, you might … Continue reading Early Projection Screens
“Catacombia” Fantasy Trilogy for Young Readers Flies High at Amazon
I was delighted to see that my fantasy adventure trilogy for young readers, Catacombia, written under the pseudonym R.L. Ferguson, has been amassing 5-star reviews on Amazon. In the first book, Catacombia: Descent into the Deep, teenager Sam is unexpectedly transported deep beneath the surface of the earth. Here he discovers Catacombia, a city both … Continue reading “Catacombia” Fantasy Trilogy for Young Readers Flies High at Amazon
Graham Edwards – Author & Journalist 