Douglas Trumbull
Douglas Trumbull, Effects Wizard Behind 2001: A Space Odyssey and Blade Runner, Has Died, Gizmodo
“Science fiction cinema would not be what it is today without the work of Douglas Trumbull. Trumbull helped drive effects on films like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, each time changing the field in ways that would resonate for decades. After an incredible life and career, Trumbull lost a two year battle with cancer this week and passed away at the age of 79.”
Keith’s note: In 2011 I was attending the “100 Year Starship” symposium in Florida. My friend June Scobee Rodgers and I had lunch with Douglas Trumbull. At one point I pulled out my phone and showed him a picture of the Arthur Clarke Greenhouse that Marc Boucher and I funded and built on Devon Island. I told Trumbull where my inspiration had come from: the film “Silent Running” which I saw in High School. I saw it as a teen during the height of the environmental awakening that led to “Earth Day”, so its overt environmental themes rang true with me. They still do.
I was, of course, already awed by having seen “2001 A Space Odyssey”, Trumbull’s SFX magnum opus. But it was Silent Running, a “little ” film, that left an even deeper impression on me and led to me to eventually becoming a space biologist. I showed Trumbull a picture of the greenhouse after it had been initially constructed and then reminded him of the giant greenhouse domes and little robots that epitomized Silent Running. It was these memes that led me to suggest building this greenhouse. He smiled. Years later when I was taking suborbital astronaut centrifuge training at NASTAR I got to experience the simulation of going past the Karman line and the large image that the compartment’s screen showed me at apogee. I told Trumbull that at that moment I said it was “like being inside of 2001”. Trumbull smiled again.
Few people have had more of an impact on how we expected the future to look like – so much so that we often make the future look like he imagined it because that is the way it is supposed to look.
Ad Astra Douglas Trumbull.
Mr Trumbull changed my life. He was an artist with few, true peers.
So many accomplishments to admire; but like Keith, Silent Running holds a special place in my memories.
Same for me with Silent Running. I was always happy when they ran it as the movie of the week.
I spent hours trying to figure out the geometry of the Valley Forge.
As a child, I was very aware of Trumbull’s name and his central role in creating the science fiction films that I admired. All these years later, I continue to be fascinated by the intersection they occupied between physically-produced art (models and paintings) and the alien worlds that inhabited these films. I was too young to be allowed to see Silent Running, but I well remember seeing posters for it in theater lobbies. It’s time to go back and finally watch it. If you want to hear Trumbull describing his work and the process of creating it, I recommend this recording of a fascinating presentation he gave in 2010: https://www.youtube.com/wat…
And don’t forget his contribution to Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which earned him an Academy Award nomination, and 42 years later is still a gold standard for practical model special effects:
https://youtu.be/vdBmYcMMHJw
I ended up spending the entire last period of my 3-wk Winter Term ‘Exploring Space Through Art’ class this year showing clips from the 2001 Jupiter Mission act. Nothing was more telling than one student’s observation: “This was made in the 60s?! It doesn’t look like it.”
Robert blalack (cofounder of ILM and one of the VFX leads for star wars) also passed the same day. Two pioneers who inspired a generation like myself to join NASA with their movie magic.
I was devastated to here the news of Mr Trumbull I met him on the set of silent running on the aircraft carrier set my dad was a carpenter for 5 days on the film I was eleven and was very excited about the drones after seeing them Mr Trumbull asked me what I thought about everything I was awestruck he invited me to come to the efx studio to see the model ships but never got the chance followed his career to this day up to his tree of life to his ufo research will miss him very much