Friday, May 17, 2019
What a fascinating set of activities launched Robert Hackborn's life. Clearly he was a man who relished the prospect of new experiences, at home and overseas. His start made a perfect match for a career at the dawn of television, when the only colour was grey -- challenging the visions of this artist, illustrator, and a man with set design and lighting skills.
His obituary tells us, "Bob pioneered a visual effect called the ‘glass-matte shot’, which involved painting an image on glass and placing it in front of a lens over a ‘real world’ live action shot." Bob pioneered more than that. His ‘glass-matte shot’ evolved in time, turning from optics to pure electronics, as producers adopted green-screens to cut away background, (chroma key). Visual techniques that once appeared exotic are now routine, with a bit of help from Bob.
Robert, Carol and Will Fripp
