Farciot Edouart
Farciot Edouart, ASC (born Alexander Farciot Edouart; November 5, 1894 – March 17, 1980) was a motion picture special effects artist and innovator, a recognized specialist and innovator in the area of "process photography", also known as rear projection.
In a career beginning in 1915, Edouart won a total of ten Academy Awards: two competitive (1942 and 1943), seven technical and scientific awards (1938, 1940, 2 in 1944, 1948, and 2 in 1956), and an honorary award for special effects (1939).
He worked on approximately 350 films, the last one being Rosemary's Baby in 1968. Leonard Maltin wrote "The master of process-screen photography is Farciot Edouart."[1]
Edouart was born in Northern California, the son of a portrait photographer, and began working as a cameraman while still a teenager at the production company of Hobart Bosworth. By way of mergers and acquisitions Edouart became an employee of Paramount Pictures where he started to specialise on optical effects in the mid-1920s.[2] He worked for Paramount until his department was closed on short notice in 1967.[3]
Academy Awards
- in 1939, Edouart shared a special Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, "For outstanding achievement in creating special photographic and sound effects," for the film Spawn of the North
- in 1940, nomination for Union Pacific[4]
- in 1940, he received an Academy Award for Technical Achievement together with Joseph E. Robbins and William Rudolph for "the design and construction of a quiet portable treadmill"[5]
- in 1941, nominations for Dr. Cyclops and Typhoon (both with Gordon Jennings)[6]
- in 1942, Edouart won for I Wanted Wings and was nominated for Aloma of the South Seas (both with Gordon Jennings)[7]
- in 1943, Edouart won for Reap the Wild Wind (with Jennings and William Pereira)[8]
- in 1944, nomination for So Proudly We Hail! (with Jennings)[9]
- in 1945, nomination for The Story of Dr. Wassell (with Jennings)[10]
- in 1948, nomination for Unconquered (with Devereux Jennings and Gordon Jennings)
References
- Maltin, Leonard, The art of the cinematographer: a survey and interviews with five masters, Dover Publications, p. 14, ISBN 0-486-23686-2
- Blanchard, Walter (June 1942). "Aces of the Camera XVIII: Farciot Edouart, ASC". American Cinematographer. 23 (6): 256, 269–70.
- "After 52 Years With Paramount: Edouart Given 4 1/2-Days Exit Notice". Variety. 13 October 1967. pp. 1, 4.
- "The 12th Academy Awards (1940) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2013-06-16.
- Academy Awards 1940
- "The 13th Academy Awards (1941) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
- "The 14th Academy Awards (1942) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
- "The 15th Academy Awards (1943) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2013-06-22.
- "The 16th Academy Awards (1944) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2013-06-22.
- "The 17th Academy Awards (1945) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2013-06-23.