Lookout Mountain Air Force Station

The Lookout Mountain Air Force Station (LMAFS) located on Wonderland Avenue, Los Angeles, California, provided in-service production of classified motion picture and still photographs to the U.S. Department of Defense and the Atomic Energy Commission from 1947-1969. [http://www.nv.doe.gov/library/factsheets/DOENV_1142.pdf US Department of Energy, Nevada Ofice. "The Nevada Test Site's Secret Film Studio: Lookout Mountain" (July 2006)] ]

The convert|100000|sqft|m2|-4|sing=on facility is built on convert|2|acre|m2 of land and was originally built in 1941 as a World War II air defense center to coordinate radar installations. The studio was established in 1947 and its purpose kept secret. The studio consisted of a complete stage, 2 screening rooms, a helicopter landing pad, a bomb shelter and 17 climate controlled film vaults as well as, two underground parking garages. With the latest equipment the studio could process both 35 mm and 16 mm motion pictures as well as optical prints and still photographs. The nuclear tests at Nevada Test Site were filmed in various formats including CinemaScope, stereophonic sound, VistaVision and 3-D photography.

Personnel

The studio contained staff from many prominent studios alongside its military staff. Civilian personnel from Warner Brothers, Metro-Goldwyn Mayer and RKO Pictures worked at the studio in functions such as producers, cameramen and directors. W. Donn Hayes (1893-1973), coiner of the American Cinema Editors (ACE) title and past president of the Motion Picture Editors Guild, worked at Lookout Mountain as his last career assignment; he had been in the film and television industries since 1916. [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0371277/bio IMDb. "Biography for W. Donn Hayes"] ] Peter G. Kuran worked at Lookout Mountain [http://www.combatcamera.org/roster/iccaroster.php International Combat Camera Association. "ICCA Membership Roster"] ] before going on to an award-winning career involving both directing and visual effects work. In some cases, Kuran has brought footage of atomic tests developed at Lookout Mountain directly to his later work.

Field staff included photographers who were airmen assigned to the USAF 1352d Photographic Squadron, [ [http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/propaganda.html University of California, Berkeley. Media Resources Center, Moffett Library. "Propaganda and Disinformation"] ] formed out of the 4881st Motion Picture Squadron in 1952. [ [http://airforcehistoryindex.org/data/000/426/492.xml USAF History. 1352nd Sq.] ] In the mid-1960s, Michael R. Potochick was the group commander.

Films

*"A New Look at the H-bomb (H-bomb and Other Smash Hits)". Part 1: A New look at the H-bomb; Part 2: Operation Cue; Part 3: United States Civil Defense in action; Part 4: Let's face it (produced by United States Air Force Lookout Mountain Laboratory Air Photographic and Charting Service); Part 5: What you should know about biological warfare (produced in cooperation with the Federal Civil Defense Administration). Produced by Reid H. Ray Film Industries, Inc.

*"Hollywood's Top Secret Film Studio (Atomic Filmmakers)" (VHS) updated and rereleased on DVD in 1999 as "Hollywood's Top Secret Film Studio - The Atomic Filmmakers". Directed by Peter Kuran. DVD includes the documentary "Atomic Filmakers: Behind The Scenes".

*"Trinity and Beyond", (1995) documentary directed by Peter Kuran.

*"Nukes In Space" (1999). The development of the military intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Directed by Peter Kuran. [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0206179/ IMDb. "Nukes In Space" (1999)] ]

*"Atomic Journeys: Welcome to Ground Zero" (1999). A tour of U.S. atomic test sites in Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Mississippi, and Alaska. Directed by Peter Kuran. [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0205754/ IMDb. "Atomic Journeys: Welcome to Ground Zero" (1999)] ]

*"Nuclear Rescue 911: Broken Arrows & Incidents" (2001). Documentary directed by Peter Kuran. [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0330707/ IMDb. "Nuclear Rescue 911: Broken Arrows & Incidents" (2001)] ]

Residence

Since its deactivation it has become part of the residential neighborhood which has surrounded it, and is presently the residence of a Municipal Court Commissioner and an artist. [ [http://ludb.clui.org/ex/i/CA6081/ The Center For Land Use Interpretation. "Lookout Mountain"] ]

ee also

*First Motion Picture Unit

References

External links

* [http://ludb.clui.org/ex/i/CA6081 The Center For Land Use Interpretation. Map coordinates of Lookout Mountain.]
* [http://calitreview.com/273 California Literary Review. Peter Kuran. Images from "How To Photograph An Atomic Bomb"] ; some images of Lookout Mountain photographers at work