American Cinematographer - December 2021 - 71

In Memoriam
William Taylor, ASC (1944-2021)
bluescreen shots properly. "
After nine years at Mercer,
Taylor began freelancing at
Dunn's company, Film Effects of
Hollywood. Then Whitlock offered
him a full-time position at Universal.
" That cold call changed my
life! " Taylor recalled. He was soon
promoted to director of photography
in the matte department.
The films to which he contributed
included Airport '77, The Wiz, Cat
People (1982) and Blade Runner.
" Eleven years with Al at Universal
taught me how to see, " Taylor
said.
In 1982, Taylor received an
" It was a matter
of self-defense to
figure out how to
light realistically and
expose bluescreen
shots properly. "
William " Bill " Taylor, ASC, who
had an award-winning career as
a visual-effects cinematographer,
died Aug. 28 at the age of 77.
His work included 11 years at the
legendary Universal Matte Department,
led by Albert Whitlock,
and 26 years at his own company,
Illusion Arts, Inc., which he founded
with Syd Dutton.
Born on July 5, 1944, in
Philadelphia, Penn., Taylor was
an avid moviegoer in his youth,
but he was more interested in
the art of magic. He bought a
Polaroid camera so he could
explore photography as a means
to create illusions. The filmmaking
bug didn't bite until he started
college in California. " I saw Jason
and the Argonauts [1963] and
was blown away, " he recalled.
" Ray Harryhausen's miraculous
combinations of animation and
real actors seemed like magic on
an enormous scale. "
Taylor dropped out of college
and introduced himself to visual-effects
master Linwood G.
Dunn, ASC, who advised him to
" take a job, any job - just get in, "
said Taylor. He landed at Ray Mercer
& Co., where he learned the
basics of the bluescreen process.
" Then Petro Vlahos, who invented
the Color-Difference Traveling
Matte system and Ultimatte,
taught me the rest in a couple of
classes at USC, " Taylor said.
Taylor cold-called Whitlock
" after I saw some spectacular examples
of his work in a middling
Universal comedy, That Funny
Feeling [1965], " he said. Whitlock
invited the young cameraperson
to the studio to chat - a meeting
that paid great dividends some
years later.
After Mercer & Co. moved Taylor
up to camera operator, he shot
optical effects, titles and product
inserts on thousands of projects.
" I eventually became an expert
in doing bluescreen composites
on the optical printer, [and]
I realized one of the biggest
problems with bluescreen composites
at the time was that they
weren't lit correctly, " Taylor told
AC in 2019. " So it was a matter of
self-defense to figure out ... how
to light realistically and expose
Academy Technical Achievement
Award for the concept and
specifications for a two-format
rotating-head aerial-image optical
printer, which allowed for the use
of VistaVision. In 1985, he shared
an Emmy with Whitlock and others
for the miniseries A.D.
When Whitlock retired, Taylor
and Dutton launched Illusion Arts,
Inc. Their projects included The
Age of Innocence, The Birdcage,
The Fast and the Furious, Casanova,
Milk, What Dreams May
Come, Bruce Almighty, Bicentennial
Man, Muppets From Space
and DragonHeart. The team
received two Emmy nominations
in 1991 for Star Trek: The Next
Generation.
Taylor became an ASC
member in 1987, and he was a
frequent instructor for the ASC
Master Class. With Vlahos, he
co-wrote chapters on bluescreen
and greenscreen compositing for
the American Cinematographer
Manual.
A longtime governor of the
AMPAS Visual Effects Branch,
Taylor was honored with the
AMPAS John A. Bonner Medal of
Commendation in 2013.
DECEMBER 2021 / 71
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ASC ARCHIVE.
American Cinematographer - December 2021

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