Roy Field (19 August 1932 – 23 May 2002) was a British special effects artist in the film industry. He worked on the first seven

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

films before joining the team of 1978's ''

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

''. He experimented with using animation to depict the flight of Superman and also used

optical printing An 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. The optical printer is used for making special effects for motio ...

techniques to depict bullets bouncing off his body. The team shared the 1978 Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and the 1978 Michael Balcon award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema. Field received two BAFTA nominations for visual effects on the

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, actor, inventor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notice as the creator of The Muppets and '' Fraggle Rock'' (1983–1987) and ...

films ''

The Dark Crystal ''The Dark Crystal'' is a 1982 dark fantasy film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. It stars the voices of Stephen Garlick, Lisa Maxwell, Billie Whitelaw, Percy Edwards, and Barry Dennen. The film was produced by ITC Entertainment and The ...

'' (1982) and ''

Labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by t ...

'' (1986).

Earlier works

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (2) (cropped)

Field was born on 19 August 1932 and was British. As a visual effects artist he worked on seven successive James Bond films for

Eon Productions Eon Productions Ltd. is a British film production company that primarily produces the ''James Bond'' film series. The company is based in London's Piccadilly and also operates from Pinewood Studios in the UK. ''Bond'' films Eon was started ...

, starting with the first '' Dr. No'' (1962) and continuing with '' From Russia with Love'' (1963), '' Goldfinger'' (1964), '' Thunderball'' (1965), '' You Only Live Twice'' (1967), '' On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' (1969) and '' Diamonds Are Forever'' (1971). He later returned for an eighth film (he missed 1973's '' Live and Let Die''): '' The Man with the Golden Gun'' (1974). Field also worked on ''

Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines ''Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines; Or, How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours and 11 Minutes'' is a 1965 British period comedy film that satirizes the early years of aviation. Directed and co-written by Ken Annakin, the film ...

'' (1965), '' Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' (1968) and ''

The Omen ''The Omen'' is a 1976 supernatural horror film directed by Richard Donner and written by David Seltzer. An international co-production of the United Kingdom and the United States, it stars Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Harvey Spen ...

'' (1976).

''Superman''

Field was part of the special effects team for ''

'' (1978). The team under supervisors

Les Bowie Les Bowie (November 10, 1913 – January 27, 1979) was a Canadian-born special effects artist working mainly in Britain. Bowie began his career as a matte painter in 1946. His work found places in classic films such as ''Great Expectations'', '' ...

and

Derek Meddings Derek Meddings (15 January 1931 – 10 September 1995) was a British film and television special effects designer. He was initially noted for his work on the " Supermarionation" TV puppet series produced by Gerry Anderson, and later for the ...

included

Colin Chilvers Colin Chilvers (born 1945) is an English film director and special effects coordinator. He is known for his work on ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' (1975), ''Superman'' (1978), '' Condorman'' (1981), and ''X-Men'' (2000). Chilvers directed the " ...

Denys Coop Denys Neil Coop (20 July 1920 – 16 August 1981) was an English camera operator and cinematographer. He was a president of the British Society of Cinematographers from 1973 to 1975. Coop was best known for his works on the film ''Superman'' ...

and Zoran Perisic. The size of the team reflected the difficulty in depicting realistic flying sequences for the title character. At one stage Field trialled the use of animation for this purpose but rejected it as not being photo-realistic enough. Another of Field's contributions to the film was to use

techniques to superimpose sparks on Superman's body to depict bullets bouncing off. The special effects team members named previously shared the 1978 Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. Bowie died in January 1979 before he could collect his Oscar. Field described him as fantastically inventive with "an ability to make do with string when other people used rope". The team also shared the Michael Balcon award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema at the 1978 British Academy Film Awards.

Later films

Field also worked with director

on ''

'' (1982) and ''

'' (1986), both of which received BAFTA nominations for visual effects. He received the inaugural

British Society of Cinematographers The British Society of Cinematographers (abbreviated B.S.C. or BSC) was formed in 1949 by Bert Easey (23 August 1901 – 28 February 1973), the then head of the Denham and Pinewood studio camera departments, to represent British cinematographers ...

Charles D. Staffell Award for Visual Effects in 2001. Field's last credit was for '' Mutiny'' (2002), an episode in the television film series '' Hornblower''. He died on 23 May 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Field, Roy 1932 births 2002 deaths Special effects people Special Achievement Academy Award winners BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award 20th-century British people