This article presents a revisionist account of Ealing Studios’ production practices by focusing on the role that special effects techniques played in the creation of the studio’s documentary-realist filmmaking aesthetic. Ealing is traditionally described as finding its wartime purpose by combining documentary-realist and mainstream film narrative techniques, a style claimed to echo through British cinema in decades to come. Yet at the heart of the studio’s ‘realistic’ wartime narratives such as San Demetrio, London (1943) and The Bells Go Down (1943) lies a complex set of ‘special effects’ techniques – understood here as an umbrella term that covers miniatures, matte paintings and back projection. A challenge to existing understanding of special effects, which are claimed to foreground generic enjoyment and visual spectacle, the article explores a series of case studies where realism and authenticity becomes the purported aim of such illusionistic activity.

中文翻译：

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现实主义奇观：Ealing Studios 的特效，1940-45

本文通过关注特效技术在该工作室纪录片现实主义电影制作美学创作中所起的作用，对 Ealing Studios 的制作实践进行了修正说明。Ealing 传统上被描述为通过结合纪录片现实主义和主流电影叙事技巧来找到其战时目的，这种风格声称在未来几十年在英国电影中回响。然而，在工作室的“现实主义”战时叙事的核心，如伦敦圣德米特里奥 (1943) 和钟声响起 (1943) 是一套复杂的“特效”技术——这里被理解为一个涵盖微缩模型的总称，哑光绘画和背投。对现有对特殊效果的理解的挑战，这些特殊效果声称突出了一般的享受和视觉奇观，