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Douglas Trumbull

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Filmmaker

The Resume

    (April 8, 1942-February 7, 2022)
    Born in Los Angeles, California
    Special effects artist and director
    Directed ‘Silent Running’ (1972) and ‘Brainstorm’ (1983)
    Provided special effects for ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (1968), ‘The Andromeda Strain’ (1971), ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ (1977), ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’ (1979), ‘Blade Runner’ (1982), and ‘The Tree of Life’ (2011)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was often erroneously credited as being responsible for all the special effects in ‘2001,’ which usually resulted in an angry phone call from Stanley Kubrick.
    He noted that when he got the job to provide the effects for ‘The Andromeda Strain,’ ‘I seriously underbid the job – I had no idea what these things were supposed to cost. I nearly went bankrupt as a result.’
    He had to turn down an offer to work on ‘Star Wars’ due to other commitments.
    He developed ulcers working on ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’ and had to be hospitalized when he finished.
    ’Brainstorm’ was originally intended to showcase his Showscan process, which projected a 70-mm film at 60 frames per second (more than twice the normal movie speed), but exhibitors balked at the expense of installing the equipment needed.
    He largely abandoned Hollywood after his battles with the studio over ‘Brainstorm’: ‘The movie business is so totally screwed up that I just don't have the energy to invest three or four years in a feature film.’

Why he might not be annoying:

    He initially impressed Kubrick with his work on ‘To the Moon and Beyond,’ a film about spaceflight shown at the New York World’s Fair (1964).
    He made ‘Silent Running’ on a shoestring budget of $1 million.
    He was hired for ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’ after the original effects team proved incompetent, and had to work nearly around the clock for six months to complete the effects before the scheduled opening date.
    Although Natalie Wood had completed all her major scenes in ‘Brainstorm,’ MGM tried to use her death as an excuse to scrap the film and collect the insurance money on it.
    He received a Science and Engineering Academy Award for developing Showscan (1993).
    After nearly three decades away from Hollywood, he joined the special effects team for ‘The Tree of Life’ because director Terence Malick was a fan of his work and was interested in using practical effects instead of computer-generated ones.

Credit: C. Fishel


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Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 19 Votes: 0% Annoying