Bava cut his teeth as an assistant to his father, who was head of the special effects department at Mussolini???s Istituto LUCE, before becoming a cinematographer in 1939, directing two short films for Roberto Rossellini, and later working with directors such as Raoul Walsh and Jacques Tourneur. (Bava???s last film, as both cinematographer and F/X guru, was Inferno, directed by prot??g?? Dario Arg