Petro Vlahos

Petro Vlahos , was an engineer and inventor, considered to be one of the pioneering scientific and technical innovators of the motion picture and television industries. Vlahos consistently devised solutions that made the modern blockbuster possible he is remembered in particular for creating the Ultimatte process, which refined the colour process known as bluescreening or alternatively greenscreening to solve the transparency, edgesharpening and blue spill problems of simple chroma keying, and combining this with motion control camera technology to create the modern special effects shot. This technology allows film editors in postproduction to digitally remove an image of an actor working in front of a usually blue or green colored background and insert him into any computergenerated or other preexisting digital background. In recognition of his contributions he was awarded multiple Oscars, as well as an Emmy Award.

Vlahos was born in Raton, New Mexico, the son of Greek immigrants. He showed an early aptitude for electronics and ham radio and in 1941 he gained his Engineering degree from the University of California at Berkeley. He worked as a designer for Douglas Aircraft in World War II, and later as a radar engineer at Bell Laboratories. After the war, he moved to Hollywood and worked for MGM.

Source: Wikipedia