Lawrence W. Butler

Lawrence W. Butler was an American special effects artist, best known as the inventor of the bluescreening process. He won an Academy Award for Best Special Effects for his work on The Thief of Baghdad. Butler invented the blue screen and traveling matte technique in order to achieve the visual effects which were unprecedented in 1940. He was also the first special effects innovator to have created these effects in Technicolor, which was in its infancy at the time. His filmography includes special effects for The Caine Mutiny, Casablanca, 20 Million Miles to Earth and Oscar-nominated work on That Hamilton Woman, Jungle Book and A Thousand and One Nights. Butler also received a Scientific and Technical Award from the Academy for the concept of applying low inertia and stepping electric motors to film transport systems and optical printers for motion picture production.