Moses raises staff to part the sea

Annotated photograph used in the production process for the `Parting of the Red Sea' sequence from the film THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, 1955: Moses raises staff to part the sea, piece #492-3.

This is a combination of a blue-separation positive of the exact moment of the parting of the sea, plus hand-drawm art made by the art department at Paramount Pictures. Most of the "white" is painted on, but the white around the actors is the blue screen (blue looks clear through a blue filter, hence a "blue separation", another printing step for mattes). Blue screen photography took place on 29 September 1955, cloud photography on 28 September 1955. Actors present Charlton Heston, Olive Deering, Lawrence Dobkin and John Carradine.

The parting of the Read Sea sequence is one of the most impressive in The Ten Commandments. It was created thorugh a combination of rear projection and optical photography. The sequence took 6 months to create, with scenes shot on the banks of the Red Sea and at the Paramount backlot.

The wall of water was created at Paramount on 1/5th scale using a tilted ramp approximately 32 feet high and 80 feet long. The water was supplied by an elevated tank through 15 manually controlled hydraulically operated valves allowing the 360,000 gallons of water to cascade down in a thin sheet. Along the ramp were long wooden batons which caused the water to break up into choppy tides and undertow. This shot was then used in reverse to give the impression of the water going up and the sea parting. All elements were combined in an optical printer and matte paintings of rocks concealed the matte lines between the 'real' location shots and the special effects.