Biography  and pictures courtesy of  the artist.
 

"I graduated from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree and served honorably in the U.S. Marine Corps, before starting at Warner Bros. Studios in November of 1964 on Frank Sinatra's production of Marriage on the Rocks.  I've been a member of the Art Director's Branch of the Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1979.
I had been president of Local 790, I.A.T.S.E., The Illustrators and Matte Artists, since 1978.

Besides the various matte paintings I did on Flesh Gordon, I also painted the scenic backdrop landscape for the end monster sequence and animated the constellation sequence through which the Queen Amora swan ship flies.  The magazine, Cinefantastique, Vol. 5, No. 2, 1976, pp. 40-45, details who did what for the many effects sequences in Flesh Gordon and why so many of the crew went uncredited.

In addition to Flesh Gordon, I also executed matte paintings for Irwin Allen's When Time Ran Out and Richard Brooks' Wrong Is Right.  As a production illustrator, I do not only conceptual illustrations of the sets and storyboards of the film's sequences, but also when the occasion demands, designing the matte (now CGI) shots for the film productions.  Several films that immediately come to mind that I designed mattes for, include the various  Irwin Allen projects: The Towering Inferno, The Swarm, When Time Ran Out and Alice in Wonderland; as well as Alfred Hitchcock's The Torn Curtain, Tora! Tora! Tora!, The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox, Annie, Megaforce, Wrong Is Right, Volcano, Naked Gun 33 1/3, Escape from LA, Volcano, Star Trek: First Contact, Space Cowboys, Phantom of the Opera (2004), The Santa Clause 2 & 3 and Flags of Our Fathers.
 

On my spare time I do historical research, writing, collecting and painting.  I'm currently involved in two book projects on the Alamo defender, James Bowie, as well as the Mexican Army during the Texas Revolution of 1835-36.  I was made an honorary colonel by the Governor of Kentucky for going through 200 years of property deed records to discover where Jim Bowie was born.  A bit of Trivia is the fact that two original, antique bowie knives from my collection were used as the basis for Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett's knives in the 2004 The Alamo film.  I also own the movie prop knives that were used in John Wayne's The Alamo, Disney's Davy Crockett, The Last Command, The Iron Mistress, Comanche Territory, Man From the Alamo, The First Texan, the Jim Bowie TV Series, as well as a couple of Johnny Weissmuller's Tarzan knives.

I attached two pictures of myself--one shows me working on the multiplane celestial glass matte paintings for the Swan Ship sequence in Flesh Gordon, and another more recent picture taken at an exhibition of my collection."
 

You can see some samples of his storyboard for "Towering Inferno" at: http://emorysmemories.tripod.com/websale/original_artwork.htm#Joe%20Musso
 
 

Filmography:

- Stealth (2005) (storyboard artist)
- Be Cool (2005) (storyboard artist)
- The Phantom of the Opera (2004) (production illustrator)
- The Alamo Documentary (2004) (V) .... Himself
- Ladder 49 (2004) (storyboard artist)
- 13 Going On 30 (2004) (production illustrator)
- Hulk (2003) (storyboard artist)
- The Italian Job (2003) (storyboard artist)
- The Santa Clause 2 (2002) (storyboard artist)
- Vanilla Sky (2001) (illustrator) (uncredited)
- Life as a House (2001) (illustrator)
- Ghosts of Mars (2001) (illustrator)
- Little Nicky (2000) (storyboard artist)
- Space Cowboys (2000) (production illustrator)
- Light It Up (1999) (production illustrator)
- Goodbye Lover (1998) (production illustrator)
- The Newton Boys (1998) (production illustrator)
- Home Alone 3 (1997) (illustrator)
- Volcano (1997) (illustrator) (as Joe Musso)
- Escape from L.A. (1996) (production illustrator)
- Dragonheart (1996) (storyboard artist) (uncredited)
- Star Trek: First Contact (1996) (illustrator) ´
- 2 Days in the Valley (1996) (illustrator)
- Gordy (1995) (illustrator: map)
- The Scarlet Letter (1995) (storyboard artist)
- Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994) (illustrator)
- Judgment Night (1993) (production illustrator)
- Basic Instinct (1992) (production illustrator)
- American Me (1992) (production illustrator)
- Child's Play 3 (1991) (production illustrator)
- Out for Justice (1991) (production illustrator) (uncredited)
- Career Opportunities (1991) (production illustrator)
- Queens Logic (1991) (production illustrator)
- Almost an Angel (1990) (production illustrator)
- Dick Tracy (1990) (production illustrator)
- Side Out (1990) (production illustrator)
- Ghost Dad (1990) (illustrator)
- Listen to Me (1989) (production illustrator)
- Spellbinder (1988) (production illustrator)
- Clean and Sober (1988) (production illustrator)
- Phantasm II (1988) (production illustrator)
- Sunset (1988) (production illustrator)
- Three Amigos! (1986) (set illustrator)
- Playing for Keeps (1986) (production illustrator)
- Outrage! (1986) (TV) (production illustrator)
- Alice in Wonderland (1985) (TV) (production illustrator)
- Sheena (1984) (production illustrator)
- Streets of Fire (1984) (production illustrator)
- The Man Who Wasn't There (1983) (production illustrator)
- Megaforce (1982) (production illustrator)
- Annie (1982) (production illustrator) (uncredited)
- Wrong Is Right (1982) (production illustrator) (uncredited)
- Body Heat (1981) (production illustrator) (uncredited)
- Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen (1981) (production illustrator)
- When Time Ran Out... (1980) (production illustrator)
- Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979) (production illustrator)
- The Swarm (1978) (production illustrator)
- Viva Knievel! (1977) (production illustrator) (uncredited)
- The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox (1976) (production illustrator) (uncredited)
- The Towering Inferno (1974) (production illustrator)
- Flesh Gordon (1972) (illustrator /matte artist)

 A miniature with a glass painting by Joseph Musso, photography by James Aupperle..

Pirotecnic master Joe Viskocil measures a painting made by Joseph Musso.

- Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) (production illustrator) (uncredited)
- Up Tight! (1968) (production illustrator) (uncredited)
- In the Heat of the Night (1967) (production illustrator) (uncredited)
- Caprice (1967) (production illustrator) (uncredited)
- Torn Curtain (1966) (production illustrator) (uncredited)
- The Blue Max (1966) (production illustrator) (uncredited)
- Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) (production illustrator) (uncredited)
- A Big Hand for the Little Lady (1966) (production illustrator) (uncredited)
- Marriage on the Rocks (1965) (production illustrator) (uncredited)
- Brainstorm (1965) (production illustrator)
 
 
 

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