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Apogee Productions, Inc., originally known as Apogee, Inc., was a full service visual effects company (at the time still called "special effects" company), created by John Dykstra in 1978, after he left ILM, and had its office located in Van Nuys, CA. [1] It was formed after the Battlestar Galactica movie (which became the series pilot) moved to Universal Studios. Apogee was primarily formed out of ILM employees working on the project before the move.
The first major movie project for the company was models and miniatures manufacturing as well as designing, shooting, and editing key visual effects scenes for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, as the company was brought in by Douglas Trumbull to help out with the troublesome production of that film. For the production, Apogee rented a facility in the San Fernando Valley. The scenes Apogee was entrusted with were the opening Klingon scene, the digitizing of Epsilon IX station scene, the wormhole mishap sequence, and the V'Ger approach scenes.
Michael Lawler preparing the Epsilon IX model for filming
Part of their responsibility was, supervised by Grant McCune, having their model shop build a number of studio models for the film, including a two-foot articulated thruster suit puppet, three models of the Epsilon IX station, interior and exterior sections of V'Ger (for which Gregory Jein was brought in), as well as extensively modifying Magicam's D7 class model for it to become the K't'inga-class model.
The company nearly ceased its existence in the fall of 1982, when Dykstra dismantled the company due to the lack of commercial projects. However business picked up shortly afterwards, beginning with Clint Eastwood's movie Firefox (1982), and the company was revitalized (as Apogee Productions, Inc. from 1989 onward). [2] Ten years later, however, in late 1992, Dykstra closed down the company permanently when he left to join Los Angeles-based Eggers Films. [3]
Grant McCune took possession of some of the equipment as well as the lease on the property, and restarted the company as his own under the name "Grant McCune Design". (Star Trek: The Next Generation Sketchbook: The Movies, p. 79)
Staff
People employed at Apogee, Inc. at the time of the production of The Motion Picture included:
- Staff
- Dick Alexander
- Chuck Barbee - Effects Camera Man
- David Bartholomew
- Deborah Baxter
- David Beasley
- Mat Beck
- Cosmos Bolger
- Mark Cane
- Angela Diamos
- Roger Dorney - Director of Optical Photography
- Dennis Dorney
- Janet Dykstra
- Robert Elswit
- Chuck Embrey - Effects Gaffer
- Jon Erland
- Joe Garlington
- Bruno George
- Pete Gerard - Model Maker
- Rick Gilligan
- Philip Golden
- Phil Gonzales
- Richie Helmer
- Gregory Jein (sub-contractor)
- Phil Joanou
- Jack Johnson
- Paul Johnson
- Proctor Jones - Assistant Effects Camera Man
- Michael Joyce - Model Maker
- Denny Kelly
- Deborah Kendall
- Greg Kimble - Effects Camera Man
- Steve Klein
- Mark Kline
- Martin Kline
- Don Kurtz
- Michael Lawler - Effects Camera Man
- Steve Mark
- Pat McClung
- Grant McCune - Model Shop Supervisor
- Syd Mead - Concept Production Illustrator
- Mike Middleton
- Alvah J. Miller - Electronics Supervisor
- John Millerburg
- Harry Moreau
- Erik Nash
- Ron Nathan
- Debbi Nikkel - Production Accountant
- Jerry Pooler
- John Ramsay
- Gary Rhodaback
- Steve Sass
- Dennis Schultz
- David Scott - Model Maker
- Robert Shepherd
- Bill Shourt
- John Shourt
- Tutt Shurtleff
- Dick Singleton
- Richard Smiley - Model Maker
- Doug Smith - Effects Camera Man
- David Sosalla - Model Sculptor/Maker
- John Sullivan - Effects Camera Man
- Michael Sweeney
- Don Trumbull
- Susan Turner
- Don Webber
- Gary Weeks
- Diane E. Wooten
Further reading
- "Star Trekking at Apogee with John Dykstra", Don Shay, Cinefex, issue 2, August 1980, pp. 50-71
- "Behind the Scenes: Visual Effects-1979", Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 2, Issue 8, December 2001, pp. 63-69
External links
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