The
Lookout Mountain Air Force Station (LMAFS) located on Wonderland Avenue,
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
,
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
, provided in-service production of classified motion picture and still photographs to the
U.S. Department of DefenseThe United States Department of Defense is the federal department charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and the military...
and the
Atomic Energy CommissionThe United States Atomic Energy Commission was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by Congress to foster and control the peace time development of atomic science and technology. President Harry S...
from 1947-1969.
The facility is built on of land and was originally built in 1941 as a
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
air defense center to coordinate radar installations. The studio was established in 1947 and its purpose kept secret. The studio consisted of a complete stage, 2 screening rooms, a helicopter landing pad, a bomb shelter and 17 climate controlled film vaults as well as two underground parking garages. With the latest equipment the studio could process both
35 mmThe term 135 was introduced by Kodak in 1934 as a designation for cartridge film wide, specifically for still photography. It quickly grew in popularity, surpassing 120 film by the late 1960s to become the most popular photographic film format...
and
16 mm motion pictures16 mm film refers to a popular, economical gauge of film used for motion pictures and non-theatrical film making. 16 mm refers to the width of the film. Other common film gauges include 8 mm and 35 mm.- History :...
as well as
optical printsAn optical printer is a device consisting of one or more film projectors mechanically linked to a movie camera. It allows filmmakers to re-photograph one or more strips of film...
and still photographs. The
nuclear testsNuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the effectiveness, yield and explosive capability of nuclear weapons. Throughout the twentieth century, most nations that have developed nuclear weapons have tested them...
at
Nevada Test SiteThe Nevada Test Site is a United States Department of Energy reservation located in southeastern Nye County, Nevada, about northwest of the city of Las Vegas. Formerly known as the Nevada Proving Ground, the site, established on January 11, 1951, for the testing of nuclear devices, is composed of...
were filmed in various formats including
CinemaScopeCinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used from 1953 to 1967 for shooting widescreen movies created by the president of 20th Century Fox from 1953, and marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection...
,
stereophonic soundStereophonic sound, commonly called stereo, is the reproduction of sound using two or more independent audio channels through a symmetrical configuration of loudspeakers in such a way as to create the impression of sound heard from various directions, as in natural hearing...
,
VistaVisionVistaVision is a higher resolution, widescreen variant of the 35 mm motion picture film format which was created by engineers at Paramount Pictures in 1954....
and
3-D photographyStereoscopy, stereoscopic imaging or 3-D imaging is any technique capable of recording three-dimensional visual information or creating the illusion of depth in an image. The illusion of depth in a photograph, movie, or other two-dimensional image is created by presenting a slightly different...
.
Personnel
The studio contained staff from many prominent studios alongside its military staff. Civilian personnel from Warner Brothers, Metro-Goldwyn Mayer and
RKO PicturesRKO Pictures is an American film production and distribution company. As Radio Pictures Inc. and then RKO Radio Pictures Inc., it was one of the so-called Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chains and Joseph P...
worked at the studio in functions such as producers, cameramen and directors. W. Donn Hayes (1893-1973), coiner of the
American Cinema Editors (ACE)Founded in 1950, American Cinema Editors is an honorary society of film editors that are voted in based on the qualities of professional achievements, their education of others, and their dedication to editing itself. The society is not to be confused with an industry union, such as the I.A.T.S.E...
title and past president of the
Motion Picture Editors GuildThe Motion Picture Editors Guild is the guild that represents freelance and staff motion picture film and television editors and other post-production professionals and story analysts throughout the United States...
, worked at Lookout Mountain as his last career assignment; he had been in the film and television industries since 1916. Peter G. Kuran worked at Lookout Mountain before going on to an award-winning career involving both directing and visual effects work. In some cases, Kuran has brought footage of atomic tests developed at Lookout Mountain directly to his later work.
Field staff included photographers who were airmen assigned to the USAF 1352d Photographic Squadron, formed out of the 4881st Motion Picture Squadron in 1952. In the mid-1960s, Michael R. Potochick was the group commander.
Films
- A New Look at the H-bomb (H-bomb and Other Smash Hits). Part 1: A New look at the H-bomb; Part 2: Operation Cue; Part 3: United States Civil Defense
United States civil defense refers to the use of civil defense in the history of the United States, which is the organized non-military effort to prepare Americans for military attack...
in action; Part 4: Let's face it (produced by United States Air Force Lookout Mountain Laboratory Air Photographic and Charting Service); Part 5: What you should know about biological warfare (produced in cooperation with the Federal Civil Defense Administration). Produced by Reid H. Ray Film Industries, Inc.
- Hollywood's Top Secret Film Studio (Atomic Filmmakers) (VHS) updated and rereleased on DVD in 1999 as Hollywood's Top Secret Film Studio - The Atomic Filmmakers. Directed by Peter Kuran. DVD includes the documentary Atomic Filmakers: Behind The Scenes.
- Trinity and Beyond
Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie is a 1995 American documentary film directed by Peter Kuran. It is narrated by William Shatner. Using restored archive footage, the film traces the development of nuclear weapons and their testing, from America's Trinity test of 1945 to the first Chinese...
, (1995) documentary directed by Peter Kuran.
- Nukes In Space (1999). The development of the military intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Directed by Peter Kuran.
- Atomic Journeys: Welcome to Ground Zero (1999). A tour of U.S. atomic test sites in Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Mississippi, and Alaska. Directed by Peter Kuran.
- Nuclear Rescue 911: Broken Arrows & Incidents (2001). Documentary directed by Peter Kuran.
External links