The relationship between lens technology and the movie industry began in 1939 when two patients, Jerry Fairbanks and Bob Carlisle, who produced the Popular Science short film series for Paramount Pictures, asked our founder, Reuben Greenspoon O.D., to appear in a segment. The show featured the procedures of making eye molds and lenses, and how they could create the effect of blindness, redness, arcus senilis and color change from brown to blue. The show, entitled The Eyes Have It, was distributed worldwide by Paramount. As a result, it brought contact lenses, optometry and special effects with contact lenses to the public’s attention.

The first motion picture in which cosmetic contact lenses were used to create a special eye effect was Miracles for Sale, in 1939 . The story required the main character, played by Henry Hull, to have light blue eyes and his natural brown eyes at different times. He was fitted with glass, Zeiss trial lenses from Germany. The color was fused to the outside of the corneal section with a blue ceramic material. The fusing process was carried out in an oven at a Los Angeles bottle factory. The procedure and the effect were successful.

Dr. Morton Greenspoon’s first film project, Broken Arrow, utilized special effects for Debra Paget in 1951 . The producer, Darryl Zanuck, jokingly said to the actress that if she could change her eyes from blue to brown, she could have the part. She approached Dr. Greenspoon with the situation and went back to Zanuck with brown eyes. Miss Paget appeared in The Ten Commandments in 1956 opposite Charlton Heston and John Derek wearing the same brown lenses. By the late ‘60s, cosmetic lenses had become an established tool for makeup artists as the application continued to advance.

Having a contact lens technician on the set for the actors who were fit with the special lenses became a necessity after the filming of Wait Until Dark in 1967 . The studio viewed a contact lens technician as an unnecessary expense; however, Audrey Hepburn was apprehensive about the lenses she wore for her role as a blind person. At one point, when no one on set could insert her lenses, we received an urgent call demanding our presence. As a result, a policy was established with production companies stipulating that a technician be on the set at all times. Over the years, this policy has prevented many potentially serious contact lens related injuries.

Camelot was the first movie to ever use mirrored special effect contact lenses in 1967 . They opened a new world of possibilities for the cinematographer, who could use the perfect convex mirrors for a variety of lighting, close-up and wide-angle effects. The earliest, most complicated facial transformations that involved contact lenses were in the 1968 original Planet of the Apes . Every blue-eyed actor had to be transformed into a brown-eyed ape, including Roddy McDowell and James Whitmore.

Vampire and werewolves still demand the most common transformations, and special eye effects lend themselves naturally to these characters. The first vampire movie we worked on was Salem’s Lot in 1979 , staring James Mason and David Soul.

In 1988 Dr. Morton Greenspoon and Dr. Richard Silver joined as partners to form Professional VisionCare Associates. They worked in collaboration to create the technology for hand painted special effect soft contact lenses.

Dr. Stacey Sumner became a partner of Professional VisionCare Associates in 1995 . She coordinated the theatrical special effects portion of the practice, supervising the fitting, manufacture, and technician management of all special effect projects.

The newest member of Professional VisionCare Associates is Dr. Vasudha Bhutani. She is a contact lens specialist, who also helps with the fittings of special effect contact lenses.

Working together, this team of eye care specialists provides the most experience in special effects eye care; we are the major distributors of special effect contact lenses worldwide, to the motion picture and television industry.

Our goal is one of mutual satisfaction between production companies, makeup artist, and the actors themselves, in delivering the desired eye effect with safety and health in mind. We feel that as the most experienced eye group providing this service in the United States, we can offer the best contact lens option in conjunction with the utmost in service and professionalism. We are always available for consultation concerning current or upcoming projects.