Brian Johnson with Sylvia Anderson, Eagle transporters and Moon.
When Brian Johnson died in June 2026, Paul Franklin, another Oscar winning visual effects maestro and superfan, came on Front Row to help celebrate his life and art. Long before his Academy Award winning work on Alien and The Empire Strikes Back, we were both huge fans of his TV work, which we watched as children. I was lucky enough to interview Brian, via email, in 2019 for a feature I wrote for TV Years magazine about Space: 1999. We discussed his pioneering work on Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s groundbreaking TV series and I was touched at how he followed up with really detailed details about designs and models. I typed up his answers on a single document. Sharing it now with the many Brian Johnson fans and friends and former colleagues out there…Thanks to David Hilton for the suggestion.
EMAIL INTERVIEW MAY 24TH 2019
When I designed the Eagles and Hawks for Space 1999 etc there was no relevant Green Screen. I had to produce 5 to 6 complete shots every day. The only way that I felt was workable [Motion control required optical combinations and many passes on original individual negative] So I used a similar principle tat we used on 2001 back in1964. That was to have a rock steady 35 mm pin registered Mitchell and run one piece of negative through many passes using a frame punch to get synch and to do 2 or 3 separate takes and so we had a take to viewing two takes undeveloped as back up.
We used a special grid in the eyepiece divided into 5 squares across and down so we could plot each eagles path through the frame and had a word about 15 inches square with similar lines and used a chinagraph black pencil to copy the path then each time we made a pass we could plot a path to miss the previous Eagle flight.
The craft were suspended on black velvet poles against black velvet backings and the camera was on motor driven tracks.
The camera was on a Vinten Pathfinder dolly.
The Eagle design came from a doodle that I made when working with Doug Trumbull on the Moonbus flyby sequence.
I had been to Germany to get Faller and Volmer plastic kit parts at the Nuremberg Toy Fair [worlds largest]. As Airfix UK would not allow me to select suitable parts – they wanted to sell whole kits for just a few relevant items.
While Doug and I added tiny bits to the Moonbus I did a couple of sketches of a moons I liked which had a framework over the centre section like a spine. It had four spherical tanks at each corner. I threw the crude scribbles away when clearing my desk in 1967 the I was leaving.
When 1999 came up I remembered those scribblings and di some more and changed the spherical tanks into facetted ones as per the end result. These sketches I worked with Michael Lamont [no longer around sadly] and he being a superb draughtsman made a series of elevations which I copied on a photocopier and extended until the Eagle looked “right”. Mike then made the final 3 view drawings for the model makers to build a 12” and 22” and 48” version.
On 2001 I was given the job of setting up each model for Stanley to photograph in Polaroid Land High resolution B&W stock to allow prints to be made for the Wally Veevers “Sausage Factory”
All our 65mm Negative was for Ultra Panavision cameras and for Effects work they were not great as the depth of field was many times worse than 35 mm Spherical lenses. Not good when shooting large models like Discovery – 54 feet long.
I also had to devise a projection system for the Hibernaculum screens. Wally Veevers was given the same job – by Stanley – bit naughty as Wally didn’t like the idea that a ‘kid’ was doing the same job. Wally had the same Bell and Howell 16 mm FilmoSound projectors but he decided to use different lenses for each screen to avoid the Vickers girder work. I decided to use one lens size and to mound the projectors in pairs on a rig that had them upside down to each other. That meant same light output on the screens and some would be running forwards and some back as needed. The whole Hibernaculum rig rotated slowly but the projectors didn’t like being upside down so we only switched them on for takes and switched off before the rig stopped.
In an embarrassing morning Stanley viewed the two projection systems. Once running Stanley said “scrap Wally’s – we’ll use Brian’s! Wally was not amused! I also got involved with Doug Trumbull’s Slit Scan and I engineered the Star Child’s eyes.
I also “flew” the Aries 1B craft using high pressure nitrogen. MGM BorehamWood Studios were the best in Europe but were flattened by Kirk Kerkorian when he asset stripped MGM after 2001 bankrupted them!
SUPPLEMENTARY: email June 3rd 2019
Firstly Gerry gave little or no input.
The script gave more info. Gerry told me he wanted me to shoot 16mm not 35 as it saved 2% of the budget…. I told him I would only shoot in 35 mm with a pin registered Mitchel High Speed camera.
He went to USA to find his lead actors and bought a brand new 16mm Mitchell which we never used!
George and Gary visited when we shooting Into Infinity a kids science fact show.
Gerry had just got series 2 1999 signed so I did Empire after Alien – both Fox pictures. Obviously the more complex ones please me most – a lot to decide on.
Regards
Brian
Stunning detail! This is so valuable! Congratulations on an excellent interview. Is there more?
That’s everything!