tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post6763455565549122983..comments2024-03-27T23:55:17.673-07:00Comments on Flogging Babel: Murray Leinster's SubmarineMichael Swanwickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18389836784776252022noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-75760904765525166932013-09-10T13:50:12.132-07:002013-09-10T13:50:12.132-07:00Murray Leinster told this submarine story in his G...Murray Leinster told this submarine story in his Guest of Honor Speech at the Discon 1 World Science Fiction Convention in 1963. I was 19 & there. There is a transcription of it in the Proceedings book, which I still possess. At the Discon Auction, I bought the manuscript of the Med Ship novel "This World is Taboo". Leinster signed it for me afterwards and commented, "I'm surprised someone would pay $8 for my stuff." He appeared to me to be a unpretentious, likeable man especially as he was Guest of Honor at a World Convention of his field. The introduction to his Baen Books collection "A Logic Named Joe" is somewhat in error, as it exaggerates his avoidance of public appearances. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13031897834900865381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-18349269331477312652008-03-01T23:25:00.000-08:002008-03-01T23:25:00.000-08:00I would like to convey my sincere thanks for your ...I would like to convey my sincere thanks for your comments on my grandfather, Will F. Jenkins.Elizabeth Jenkins DeHardit Richardsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01172753834788562240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-65844899499233536052008-02-10T07:58:00.000-08:002008-02-10T07:58:00.000-08:00That's right, he invented "front projection." He w...That's right, he invented "front projection." <BR/><BR/>He was bothered by the fact that interior shots of spaceships on TV shows like "Captain Video" were so obviously cheap sets. Given the budgets, they were going to be cheap something. So he invented a method where you could project the "set" from the camera onto a screen behind the actors.<BR/><BR/>The secret was the screen. It was coated with tiny glass spheres, which reflect almost all the light that falls on them back to the source. (Paint containing tiny glass spheres is used on traffic signs and the like, so they show up brightly in your headlights.) The projected light that fell on the actors would be reflected in all directions, and the little reflected back to the camera would be washed out by the bright studio lights.<BR/><BR/>Front projection produced better results than matte painting, without the expense. Mission accomplished! Of course, CGI has largely replaced all such methods today.Bob Hawkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06384565746734984949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-47056962834038458082008-02-09T04:59:00.000-08:002008-02-09T04:59:00.000-08:00Jenkins worked in the film industry. IIRC, he inve...Jenkins worked in the film industry. IIRC, he invented the projection system which helped the special effects in the "Dawn of Man" sequence for "2001: A Space Odyssey" (as well as many non-SF films as well).<BR/><BR/>For anybody wanting to read some of Leinster's (split personality, anyone?) science fiction, check out Baen Books Free Library in their Webscrptions service. They've released a bunch of his books as free eBooks.Frederick Paul Kiesche IIIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17503079579685008728noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-84696850439289077952008-02-08T15:29:00.000-08:002008-02-08T15:29:00.000-08:00Heinlein talks a bit more about this group in his ...Heinlein talks a bit more about this group in his introduction to Ted Sturgeon's novel Godbody (which intro is also excerpted as the afterword in Volume III of Sturgeon's collected stories—Killdozer). He mentions that he was ordered to round up the "wildest minds" he could find. Heinlein names Sturgeon, George O. Smith, John Campbell, Leinster, Hubbard, de Camp, and Fletcher Pratt as other members of the group.<BR/><BR/>Bob CooperUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17257470646067782540noreply@blogger.com