Tuesday, February 8, 2022

The Late Great Douglas Trumbull

Legendary special effects artist Douglas Trumbull died yesterday, February 7 2022, at the age of 79. The past two years he had cancer, a brain tumour, and a stroke. Mr. Trumbull had worked on such movies as 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Silent Running (1972), and Blade Runner (1982).

Douglas Trumbull was born on April 8 1942 in Los Angeles. His father was Don Trumbull, who had been a special effects artist on The Wizard of Oz (1939). Growing up he enjoyed building crystal radio sets. He was also a fan of science fiction movies and serials. Initially planned to become an architect. He worked at an electronics contracting firm while attending El Camino Junior College where he was studying technical illustration. He was eventually hired by Graphic Films to provide art for a spiralling galaxy for their New York Worlds Fair film "To the Moon and Beyond." The film caught the attention of director Stanley Kubrick and author Arthur C. Clarke. Stanley Kubrick then hired both Douglas Trumbull and Graphic Films director Con Pederson to provide preliminary designs for 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).

Stanley Kubrick decided to move production of 2001: A Space Odyssey to England and cancelled his contract with Graphic Films. In the interim Douglas Trumbull worked for a furniture company. Determined to work on the film, he asked Con Pederson for Stanley Kubrick's phone number and called the director. Douglas Trumbull's initial work on 2001: A Space Odyssey was designing the computer screen readouts on the monitors of the spaceship Discovery One. As he continued to work on the film, he received more and more responsibility.

Following 2001 Douglas Trumbull created the opening and closing sequences for the movie Candy (1968). He provided special effects for the movies The Andromeda Strain (1971), Silent Running (1972, which he also directed), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), and Blade Runner (1982). He was also a visual effects consultant on the movie The Tree of Life (2011). His final visual effects credit was The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot (2018), on which he also served as an executive producer. He also provided special effects for the debut episode of the TV series The Starlost. He also served as an executive producer on the show.

Douglas Trumbull also directed the films Silent Running (1972), Brainstorm (1983), and Luxor Live (1993).

In 1974 Douglas Trumbull co-founded the research/visual effects house Future General Corp., which was based at Paramount. It was also that year that he founded Magicam, Inc. at Paramount. In 1994 Douglas Trumbull was Vice Chairman of Imax Corporation and President of its subsidiary Ridefilm for a time.

Douglas Trumbull also animated the opening sequence for ABC's movie anthology ABC Movie of the Week. The sequence was designed by Harry Marks. He also created the Showscan process, which was introduced with his film Brainstorm.

Douglas Trumbull brought movie special effects into the late 20th Century and his influence has been seen ever since. He was capable of creating effects that looked real, something that can be seen in both 2001 and Blade Runner. What is more, he could even do it on a low budget. Silent Running was made for only $1,350,000, but looked better than more expensive films. The opening sequence to The Tree of Life, portraying the creation of life, was simply mind boggling. If Douglas Trumbull was not the greatest special effects artists thus far, he certain numbered among the absolute greatest.

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