Douglas Trumbull, Who Pioneered VFX on ‘2001,’ ‘Blade Runner’ and ‘Close Encounters,’ Dies at 79

variety.com:

Carmel Dagan Staff WriterVisual effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull, one of the masterminds behind the visual effects on some of the most visually audacious science fiction films of all time, including “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “Blade Runner,” died Monday.

His daughter Amy wrote on Facebook. that he had cancer, a brain tumor and a stroke. He was 79.“My sister Andromed and I got to see him on Saturday and tell him that he love him and we got to tell him to enjoy and embrace his journey into the Great Beyond,” she wrote.Trumbull also oversaw the visual effects on “Silent Running,” “The Andromeda Strain” and “Star Trek: The Motion Picture,” and he directed eco-sci-fi film “Silent Running” and Natalie Wood-starring “Brainstorm.” He shared Oscar nominations for best visual effects for “Close Encounters,” “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” and “Blade Runner.”Trumbull also created Universal Studios’ “Back to the Future: The Ride” simulator and helped bring Imax into the entertainment marketplace.In addition to doing effects work on the classic sci-fi films for which he’s known, Trumbull also invented and patenting dozens of film tools and techniques, from motion-control photography to miniature compositing.In 1993 he shared an Academy Scientific and Engineering Award “for concept (Trumbull), the movement design (Williamson), the electronic design (Auguste) and the camera system (DiGuilio) of the CP-65 Showscan Camera System for 65mm motion picture photography, the first modern 65mm camera developed in 25 years.” In 2012 he won the Academy’s Gordon E.