Not quite on topic, and it's post-RYAN, but dirt/debris on the lens also appears in BLADE 2 following a grenade explosion in an underground fight (2002). On the commentary track, director Guillermo del Toro mentions that the debris is in fact a digital element, added in post-production, and that his aesthetic strategy with CGI often involves unexpected, nonobvious placement within the frame -- on the lens, but also tucked away in a corner of the screen, or left out of focus.

Bob Rehak
Assistant Professor
Film and Media Studies Program
Swarthmore College

On leave 2010-2011

----- Original Message -----
> I just saw The Three Stooges in Pardon My Backfire (1953) at Film
> Forum in NYC, part of their classic 3D series; oil is sprayed
> directly onto the lens. And the technique is not uncommon in nature/
> wildlife films set in oceans, lakes, rivers.
> 
> Cynthia Chris, Associate Professor
> Department of Media Culture
> College of Staten Island, CUNY
> 
> On Aug 12, 2010, at 9:48 AM, Kendrick, Jim wrote:
> 
> > I immediately thought of the sequence in Stanley Kubrick's "The
> > Shining" in which the torrent of blood comes pouring out of the
> > elevator. We see it several times, but it is only the last time
> > that the blood actually washes up over the camera and we see
> > everything for several seconds bathed in red.
> > _________________
> >
> > James Kendrick, Ph.D.
> > Assistant Professor
> > Dept. of Communication Studies
> > Film and Digital Media Division
> > Baylor University
> > http://homepages.baylor.edu/james_kendrick
> >
> > ________________________________________
> > From: Film and TV Studies Discussion List [[log in to unmask]] On
> > Behalf Of Miriam Ross [[log in to unmask]]
> > Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 2010 4:45 AM
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: [SCREEN-L] Saving Private Ryan's blood on the camera
> > technique
> >
> > Does anyone know of instances prior to Saving Private Ryan where
> > blood or
> > other liquids have splattered onto the camera lens and have been
> > left in the
> > shot (thus suggesting the fourth wall).
> > Following this enquiry, does anyone know of any 3D films that have
> > used the
> > same effect. Step Up 3D allows water to remain on the lens but I
> > haven't seen this in any other previous stereoscopic films.
> >
> > many thanks
> > Miriam Ross
> >
> > --
> > http://glasgow.academia.edu/MiriamRoss
> >
> > ----
> > For past messages, visit the Screen-L Archives:
> > http://bama.ua.edu/archives/screen-l.html
> >
> > ---- To sign off Screen-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put
> > SIGNOFF Screen-L
> > in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]
> 
> ---- Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the
> University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu

----
Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite
http://www.ScreenSite.org