(...)The visual effects industry has paid tribute to Petro Vlahos - the pioneer of blue- and green-screen systems.
The techniques allow filmmakers to superimpose actors and other objects against separately filmed backgrounds.
He developed the procedure for 1959's Ben-Hur and then went on to win an Oscar in 1964 after creating a related process for Disney's Mary Poppins.
The death of the 96-year-old was announced by the company he founded, Ultimatte.
His innovations continue to be used and developed by the television, film, computer games and advertising industries.
"Our industry has lost a giant," Everett Burrell, senior visual effects supervisor at Los Angeles-based studio Look Effects. told the BBC.
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