Eureka! moment in 1977 showing how Superman was made to fly, unearthed in attic clear out and put on display in exhibition of “cultural breakthroughs”.
A re-discovered sketch by Andrew Ainsworth in 1977 that depicts the way Superman would fly in his first film outing is being put on show for the first time to the public.
The image will be on display to the public alongside other breakthroughs in O2’s Eureka! Gallery at Proud Archivist until 5 December 2014. It forms part of an exhibition where ideas that have changed industries and culture are being displayed on Samsung Galaxy Note 4 tablets.
The pencil sketch was made by Ainsworth as he struggled to work out how to make Christopher Reeve look like he was flying through the skies in “Superman: The Movie” eventually released in 1978.
In the sketch, Christopher Reeve is depicted suspended from a rail which he was pulled along. In front of him a small fan was mounted to give the illusion of movement in his hair and to create a billowing effect in his cape.
The breakthrough came after a series of failed test shoots which included attempts to fire dummies from cannons to bring a flying man of steel to screens, while another technique had a remote control cast of Superman flying around the studios.
The image was unearthed from the attic where it was found buried in a suitcase of paperwork by its creator. It has now joined a series of 20 breakthrough moments – including the original sketches for Hello Kitty, original depictions of Star Wars’ Stormtroopers and the first pictures of Dennis the Menace drawn, quite literally, on the back of a fag packet.
Andrew Ainsworth, owner of Shepperton Design Studios who made it possible for Superman to fly on screen said: “Back then I only had pencil and paper to work out how the vision in my head could be made a reality on the screen. Today, filmmakers have the wonders of technology to be able to play with and see whole scenes come to life before a frame has been shot.
“We came up with the idea of creating a huge front projection screen and designed lightweight composite wind machines, which together made it possible for Christopher Reeve to fly as Superman.
“I put this picture away in a drawer at the time and then it must have been filed away with some papers and lain unseen for years. When I was approached to take part in this exhibition I felt that it was time to look it up, and after days of looking and being convinced it would be forever lost, I finally got my hands on it again.
The Eureka! Gallery at Proud Archivist in London’s Shoreditch, created by O2 in which all the images are displayed on Samsung Galaxy Note 4 tablets, has brought together a series of original popular culture moments to show how inspiration can strike.
The Superman images form the centrepiece of the exhibition because they have not been seen since they were first created.
Mark Champkins, Inventor in Residence at London’s Science Museum, has worked with O2 on the project: “We were blown away when Andrew said he’d rediscovered this image and we knew we had to include it. Superman: The Movie was an iconic piece of film-making and so much of today’s superhero cinema – the likes of X-Men, Thor, the Avengers – can still trace a direct line of descent back to it.
“This sketch – which shows the Eureka! moment when the film-makers worked out how to make superhuman powers appear real on film – is an important and breakthrough moment in cinema in a pre-digital age. Somehow, displaying this image on the latest and greatest digital technology is a sign of how far we’ve come when it comes to the tools of invention.”
The other “firsts” in the “pop culture quarter of the Eureka! Gallery are the early drawings of Hello Kitty, the cat that is now available on over 50,000 products available in over 130 countries worldwide. There is also an image of the very first sketch of Dennis the Menace was quite literally drawn on the back of a fag packet by Ian “Chiz” Chisholm, in the autumn of 1950 in a meeting with Beano staff in a Dundee village pub.
Ben Bevins, Head of Portfolio and Launch for O2 in the UK, concluded: “The tools of the modern creative and inventor are now as likely to be digital as they are to be a pencil and paper.
“So putting these classic Eureka! moments – that capture the flashes of inspiration when ideas that went on to influence culture around the world first struck – on display on the latest technology inspiring today’s creative minds seemed somehow appropriate. And the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is certainly a stunning way of showing them off.”
The Eureka Moment Gallery opened its doors on Tuesday 25th November and runs until 7th December. There are also several events throughout the exhibition's two week run called The Eureka Sessions.
Upcoming events are:
December 4th at 7.30pm: The Eureka Cocktail Night & Mark Champkins event "Seven ways to come up with a good idea"
December 5th at 9am: Inspiration for Creative Start-Ups
See www.theproudarchivist.co.uk for more details.