Douglas Trumbull It was initially Trumbull ' s company , Future General Corporation ( FGC ) , that was offered the job of providing the VFX for " Star Trek : The Motion Picture " in 1978 , but was turned down by Trumbull as he and his company were then deeply committed to the production of . Incidentally , the pre - production on this feature had Trumbull also turn down George Lucas ' overtures in 1975 to have him work on the original " Star Wars " movie , though he directed Lucas to his former apprentice John Dykstra , thereby catapulting him into fame . Yet , one year later in March 1979 , FGC was again approached to do the effects , as the production ran into troubles after Robert Abel & Associates ( RA & A ) were pulled from the project . By that time relations between Trumbull and the Paramount Pictures management had deteriorated considerably due to the fact that , " " Paramount had no vision at all and going through a big management change . The guy that I did the deal with was ousted , and Michael Eisner and Barry Diller came in and they couldn ' t see what I was trying to do and wanted to get rid of it . I don ' t know , there ' s just a whole train of disillusionment that accompanies my history in movies . " " Trumbull used the problems the studio were in as leverage to secure a proviso that he would be released from his contractual obligations if he accepted , as well as the permission to establish a subsidiary studio model shop , the Entertainment Effects Group ( EEG ) . Actually , Trumbull had already been brought in earlier from Christmas 1978 onward , as an unpaid consultant , when conflicts between the studio and RA & A were beginning to spiral out of control . Trumbull only agreed to do so as a courtesy to his old friend Robert Wise , the director of the feature , with whom he had worked on " The Andromeda Strain " ( " " , pp . 202 - 205 ) The troublesome and stressful production of " The Motion Picture " strained Trumbull to precarious exhaustion , and he was hospitalized for ten days upon completion of the project . He acted upon his proviso , and immediately left FCG , though maintaining ownership of EEG . Incidentally , while working on " The Motion Picture " , Trumbull ' s father , Don Trumbull ( who was a VFX specialist in his own right with two Academy Awards to boot ) , also worked on the movie as mechanical designer at Apogee , Inc . , the company of former protégé Dykstra , Trumbull had to bring in to help out with the VFX production in order to meet the 6 December deadline . His strained working relationship with the studio notwithstanding , Trumbull ' s VFX work on " Star Trek : The Motion Picture " , did win him a Saturn Award , as well as an Academy Award nomination . Years later , in 2001 , this was augmented with a Video Premiere Award nomination on the occasion of the DVD release for which he provided audio commentary . Trumbull ' s cooperation to the DVD audio commentary track notwithstanding , belied the fact that he has rarely mentioned " The Motion Picture " in interviews upon its completion ( the 1980 one given to " Cinefex " magazine , the only in - depth one , known to date ) , preferring to focus on his other work instead and only commenting as briefly as possible on the movie when he is specifically asked to do so . Career outside " Star Trek " . Douglas Trumbull had served in the same capacity for the science fiction films " Close Encounters of the Third Kind " ( 1979 , starring Teri Garr and together with father Don ) and ( 1982 , starring Joanna Cassidy ) , each of them considered signature classics of the genre . He shared Academy Award nominations with the rest of his VFX team for all three films . In 2012 he received the Gordon E . Sawyer Award at the 84th Annual Academy Awards for his contribution in film making . He first served as a visual effects director on the 1968 science fiction classic ( 1968 , starring Gary Lockwood , and which started his long association with colleague and friend Richard Yuricich , who would continue to contribute to most of Trumbull ' s projects ) after having worked for NASA . In 1971 , Trumbull directed the film ( for which he brought back his father into the motion picture industry ) which built upon a number of special effects techniques developed for " 2001 " . It was on this feature that Trumbull hired a young John Dykstra for his very first professional VFX job . One of the techniques was , which he himself would later try in vain to apply for the " going - to - warp " sequence of the refit - in " The Motion Picture " . His technique was later successfully used by John Knoll for a likewise conceived sequence of the in . " Silent Running " , though a critical success , was not a success at the box office ostensibly due to poor advertising . The plot line reflected the emerging ecology movement of the early 1970s , and is today regarded as a science fiction classic . The same year he provided the VFX for science fiction movie " The Andromeda Strain " , where he met and befriended its director , Robert Wise . Following " Silent Running " , he was a developing partner in the Canadian science fiction series devised by writer Harlan Ellison , but eventually bowed out before the project went into production . In the mid 1970s he also served as a VFX supervisor for ( 1974 , with a cast that included Gregory Sierra , Elizabeth Rogers , Paul Comi , George D . Wallace , and John Crawford ) . Trumbull ' s preferred method of working was not as an employee but as a ( semi - ) independent contractor , and to this end he has founded over the span of his career no less than eight companies . One of these was FGC , he founded in 1975 with Yuricich , with full funding by Paramount Pictures , which , in the process , became sole shareholder . Purpose of the company was further development and exploitation of filming techniques Trumbull had invented by that time , most notably , an early filming technique . As such the company was set up as a research / VFX house . When Trumbull left FGC upon completion of " The Motion Picture " , he maintained ownership of of " Showscan " . In 1993 , he won a Scientific and Engineering Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his concept of the first modern 65mm camera developed in 25 years , the CP - 65 Showcase Camera System . He shared the award with three engineers . Trumbull ' s motion picture technical achievements has not gone unnoticed amongst his peers , as it has netted him a further slew of , mostly individual , awards ; a Special Achievement Award ( 1983 for " Blade Runner " , London Critics Circle Film Awards ) , an individual President ' s Award ( 1996 , American Society of Cinematographers ) , an individual Time - Machine Honorary Award ( 1997 , Sitges – Catalonian International Film Festival ) , an individual Technical Achievement Award ( 2009 , Society of Camera Operators ) , an individual Georges Méliès Award ( 2012 , Visual Effects Society ) an individual Vision Award ( 2013 , Locarno International Film Festival ) as well as the honorary individual Academy Award , the 2012 Gordon E . Sawyer Award . He also produced and directed a few films , most notably the 1983 science fiction thriller , starring actress Louise Fletcher , the aforementioned " Silent Running " , as well as a few episodes of the television series " The Starlost " ( 1973 ) . " Brainstorm " was his last major movie project , and Trumbull has afterwards , until 1996 , directed or produced predominantly shorts , " Luxor Live " , the last recorded one . In 2011 , he shortly returned to the motion picture industry as a VFX consultant for Terrence Malick ' s " Tree of Life " . " Brainstorm " proved to be yet another of Trumbull ' s " train of disillusionment that accompanies my history in movies " , when that movie ' s principal cast member , Natalie Wood , drowned in an accident . Mired down in insurance claims , law suits and other unpleasantries , it turned out to be for Trumbull the straw that broke the camel ' s back , " " That was a terrible time , really awful . The studio used that as an excuse to try not to complete the film and claim on the insurance . My frustration at that time was unbelievable and that ’ s why I left Hollywood altogether . It was the worst professional experience I had and ever hope to have . It was completely reprehensible from the studio ’ s standpoint to take that position , because they clearly had no interest in finishing the film and had no interest in finding out that Natalie Woods ’ role was complete and that I had no problem editing the film without requiring any further footage , they simply didn ’ t want to know that . It seemed they had already decided not to complete the film . The studio was just about bankrupt , they may not have had enough money to keep the studio operating and desperately wanted this insurance claim . I was the only person standing between their $ 15 million and getting the movie made , which was an extremely uncomfortable position to be in , working at a studio that hates my guts and getting it distributed by a studio that hates my guts . It was really horrible . I ’ m glad I got the movie finished ; otherwise it would have been a worst tragedy with it languishing in a vault somewhere . " " Though Trumbull withdrew entirely from feature film production proper for the time being , he remained active in the fringe activities of the industry , most notably for the so - called theme park immersive " rides " , which were making a rapid entry in the studio ' s theme parks at the time , and which incidentally , gave a new lease of life to Trumbull ' s " Show - Scan " technique , that , while not adopted by the studios for theatrical features , was singularly well suited for such attractions . A very notable one , Trumbull has worked upon , was the " Back to the Future : The Ride " for Steven Spielberg and Universal Studios Theme Parks . For this ride , he and his " Show - Scan " were prominently featured in the 1994 Season 1 , " Ride Films : Riding the Movies " , episode 6 of the documentary series , " Movie Magic . While Trumbull ' s body of work is relatively small , it has been of significant importance , as it has redefined the way science fiction in particular is depicted visually on screen , with " 2001 : A Space Odyssey " and " Blade Runner " elevated to cult status . More recently , Trumbull has lent his talents to " The Overview Institute " , an non - profit organization , founded in 2008 and made up of real world space specialists like astronauts , scientists and authors , dedicated to " research and educate both the space community and the general public on the nature and psycho / social impact of directly experiencing space " . As senior consultant he is member of " The Overview Effect " team , the part of the organization responsible for visualizing the work of the institute by producing documentaries and the like . In the team he has been joined by former " Star Trek " alumni Dan Curry and John Eaves . " Star Trek " awards . Trumbull has received the following award and nominations in the various Special / Visual Effects categories : Trumbull received the following Academy Award nomination in the category Best Effects , Visual Effects Trumbull received the following Saturn Award in the category Best Special Effects Trumbull received the following DVD Exclusive Award ( at the time called Video Premiere Award ) nomination in the category Best Audio Commentary