Film Design: An Irwin Allen Panel Comes to Life

If you are familiar with the old Irwin Allen television shows Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964 - 1968), Lost in Space (1965 - 1968), or The Time Tunnel (1966 - 1967), you probably remember what I refer to as "The Irwin Allen Panel". There were lots of them. In the early 1960s the 20th Century Fox studios prop department bought surplus U.S. Air Force equipment and made some modifications, including taking the indicator lights and hooking them up to a series of chaser-boxes, thereby producing sequenced blinking lights.

The equipment was already "old" but that did not stop producer Irwin Allen from utilizing them for his futuristic television programs. (It makes sense: 1960s aliens in silver face paint no doubt would operate 1950s Earth equipment.)

By the way, the panels have appeared in many television series, including Lost (2004 - 2010). My guess is they are still available for rent.

When designing my (as of yet unfinished) short film Hyper-Reality, I used the panels in question as a guide. The story requires a retro look. I had a lot of fun conjuring up this piece of fanciful equipment, but credit must go to Dennis Pike for the hours of construction, and wiring the many light bulbs ― "blinky lights" necessary to sell this machine as coming from a 1960s Irwin Allen lowbrow television program. (The panels also made an appearance in the producer's 1974 blockbuster feature film, The Towering Inferno.)

The photo affixed above features a crew member operating a piece of projection equipment. He rotates a tinfoil-covered roller, which in turn reflects light onto the back of a translucent sheet.

I had a great crew.