John P. Fulton

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John Phipps Fulton (born November 4, 1902 in Beatrice , Nebraska , USA , † October 1, 1965 in London , England ) was an American special effects expert and cameraman . In his four decades of activity he was involved in over 260 film productions, including The Invisible , Frankenstein and The Ten Commandments . He received the Oscar for the best special effects three times.

life and work

Born in Nebraska, John P. Fulton moved to California with his family in 1914. His father, Fitch Fulton, a matte painter , insisted that instead of working in the film industry, he studied electrical engineering . So Fulton began his career in 1920 with the Southern California Edison Company . Despite this resistance, he began his film career at Universal in 1923 , first as a camera assistant , then as a cameraman and later as technical director.

At the beginning of the 1930s Fulton drew attention to himself with some impressive works, especially the outstanding special effects for The Invisible , in which a forerunner of the blue screen technique was used - the invisible parts of the picture were covered with black velvet.

In addition to the films mentioned above, he took part in numerous other productions in the following decades, for example The Wonder Man (with Danny Kaye ) or in four sequels of the Invisible , whose special effects were continuously improved over the years, e.g. B. the very first scene in which an “invisible person” acts in front of a moving camera. The scene in The Ten Commandments , in which the Red Sea is divided, should also be mentioned, which was implemented with very high technical effort .

While filming the Battle of Britain in Spain , John P. Fulton fell ill with aplastic anemia , a very rare occurrence , from which he died in 1965.

Filmography (selection)

Awards

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Fulton, John P.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Fulton, John Phipps (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American special effects expert and cameraman
DATE OF BIRTH November 4, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH Beatrice , Nebraska , USA
DATE OF DEATH October 1, 1965
Place of death London , England