Changes: Grant McCune

Revision as of 01:42, 30 December 2010

Template:Realworld Grant McCune (27 March 1943 – 27 December 2010; age 67) was a special and visual effects artist who worked as miniature supervisor for Apogee, Inc. on Star Trek: The Motion Picture. For this work he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects in 1980, shared with Douglas Trumbull, John Dykstra, Richard Yuricich, Robert Swarthe, and David K. Stewart.

McCune previously won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 1978 for his work on George Lucas' science fiction film Star Wars: Episode I - A New Hope which he also shared with John Dykstra. In addition to his work as chief model maker for this film, he also appeared as a Death Star Gunner.

Early career

McCune graduated from California State University in Northridge with a bachelor's in biology. His career in special effects began when he and Bill Shourt were hired to create a giant, realistic shark model for Steven Spielberg's acclaimed 1975 horror-suspense film Jaws.

McCune and Shourt were subsequently hired onto the miniature and optical effects unit of the first Star Wars film, where they worked under the supervision of ILM's John Dykstra. In 1978, Dykstra left ILM to form Apogee, Inc., and many others who worked on Star Wars joined him, including McCune and Shourt, who became partners at the fledgling studio.

Work for Apogee

Specializing in models and minatures, McCune worked on many film productions at Apogee, including several of the sci-fi/fantasy genre. One of his earliest jobs with the company was as chief model maker on the pilot for the cult sci-fi television series Battlestar Galactica. The pilot was produced by John Dykstra, directed by Richard Colla, and featured Ed Begley, Jr. and John Colicos.

Later, McCune was chief model maker on Clint Eastwood's sci-fi thriller Firefox, which featured Ward Costello and Richard Derr. He was also miniature supervisor on the 1985 sci-fi film Lifeforce, in which Star Trek: The Next Generation star Patrick Stewart had a major supporting role.

McCune's other credits at Apogee included the action thriller Avalanache Express (working with David Beasley, John Dykstra, Jon Erland, Bruce Logan, David Scott, Robert Shepherd, and David Sosalla), the popular golf comedy Chaddyshack, and genre comedies Spaceballs (featuring Tim Russ, Brenda Strong, and Dey Young), My Stepmother Is an Alien (featuring Earl Boen, Tony Jay, and Susie Plakson), and Ghostbusters II (featuring Aaron Lustig and Harris Yulin). He also did uncredited work on such films as Die Hard and Big.

Grant McCune Design and later career

In the 1990s, McCune departed Apogee to form his own special effects studio, Grant McCune Design, located in Van Nuys, California. Under his company's banner, McCune supervised miniature effects on such films as Speed (1994), Ri¢hie Ri¢h (1994, starring John Larroquette), Batman Forever (1995, featuring Rene Auberjonois), and the Stuart Baird-directed thrillers Executive Decision (1996) and U.S. Marshals (1998).

McCune was also special effects supervisor on the historical drama Thirteen Days, which featured a cast that included Jack Blessing, Len Cariou, Kevin Conway, Steven Culp, Charles Esten, Bruce Greenwood, Tim Kelleher, Boris Lee Krutonog, Ed Lauter, Dakin Matthews, and Bil Smitrovich. More recently, McCune worked on such films as 2002's Spider-Man and 2005's Serenity, the feature follow-up to the cult sci-fi series Firefly. His last known film was 2008's Rambo, for which he was miniature supervisor.

Death

On 27 December 2010, McCune died of pancreatic cancer at his home in at his home in Hidden Hills, California. He was 67 years old.[1]

External links

Template:IMDb-link
Template:IMDb-link
GMDFX.com - official company site

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-{{inuse}}
 '''Grant McCune''' {{born|27|March|1943|died|27|December|2010}} was a special and visual effects artist who worked as miniature supervisor for [[Apogee, Inc.]] on {{film|1}}. For this work he received an [[Academy Award]] nomination for Best Visual Effects in {{y|1980}}, shared with [[Douglas Trumbull]], [[John Dykstra]], [[Richard Yuricich]], [[Robert Swarthe]], and [[David K. Stewart]].
 McCune previously won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 1978 for his work on {{w|George Lucas}}' science fiction film ''Star Wars: Episode I - A New Hope'' which he also shared with John Dykstra. In addition to his work as chief model maker for this film, he also appeared as a Death Star Gunner.
+== Early career ==
-Specializing in models and miniatures and worked with Apogee on several productions, McCune worked on many other sci-fi/fantasy productions. He was chief model maker on the pilot for the cult sci-fi television series ''Battlestar Galactica'' and again worked with Apogee as chief model maker on the sci-fi thriller ''Firefox''. The former was produced by John Dykstra, directed by [[Richard Colla]], featured [[Ed Begley, Jr.]] and [[John Colicos]]; the latter featured [[Ward Costello]] and [[Richard Derr]].
+McCune graduated from California State University in Northridge with a bachelor's in biology. His career in special effects began when he and [[Bill Shourt]] were hired to create a giant, realistic shark model for Steven Spielberg's acclaimed 1975 horror-suspense film ''Jaws''.
+McCune and Shourt were subsequently hired onto the miniature and optical effects unit of the first ''Star Wars'' film, where they worked under the supervision of [[ILM]]'s John Dykstra. In 1978, Dykstra left ILM to form Apogee, Inc., and many others who worked on ''Star Wars'' joined him, including McCune and Shourt, who became partners at the fledgling studio.
-His other credits include the television science fiction pilot ''Battlestar Galactica'' (1978), the action thriller ''Avalanache Express'' (1979, with [[David Beasley]], John Dykstra, [[Jon Erland]], [[Bruce Logan]], [[David Scott]], [[Robert Shepherd]], and [[David Sosalla]]), the comedy ''Caddyshack'' (1980), the science fiction thriller ''Firefox'' (1982), the television thriller ''Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land'' (1983, with John Dykstra, Robert Shepherd, [[Roger Dorney]], and [[Michael Douglas Middleton]]), the science fiction thriller ''Lifeforce'' (1985), the crime drama ''Jackals'' (1986), the science fiction comedy ''Spaceballs'' (1987), the science fiction comedy ''My Stepmother Is an Alien'' (1988), and the fantasy sequel ''Ghostbusters II'' (1989).
+== Work for Apogee ==
-Since the early '90s, he worked as miniature supervisor for his own company Grant McCune Design, located in Van Nuys, California, on the action thriller ''Speed'' (1994), the comedy ''Ri¢hie Ri¢h'' (1994), the comic adaptation ''Batman Forever'' (1995), [[Stuart Baird]]'s thriller ''Executive Decision'' (1996), the action thriller ''Daylight'' (1996), and the science fiction thriller ''Sphere'' (1998). He also worked as special effects supervisor on the history drama ''Thirteen Days'' in 2000 and more recently as miniature effects supervisor on {{w|Sylvester Stallone}}'s action sequel ''Rambo'' (2008).
+Specializing in models and minatures, McCune worked on many film productions at Apogee, including several of the sci-fi/fantasy genre. One of his earliest jobs with the company was as chief model maker on the pilot for the cult sci-fi television series ''Battlestar Galactica''. The pilot was produced by John Dykstra, directed by [[Richard Colla]], and featured [[Ed Begley, Jr.]] and [[John Colicos]].
+Later, McCune was chief model maker on Clint Eastwood's sci-fi thriller ''Firefox'', which featured [[Ward Costello]] and [[Richard Derr]]. He was also miniature supervisor on the 1985 sci-fi film ''Lifeforce'', in which ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' star [[Patrick Stewart]] had a major supporting role.
+McCune's other credits at Apogee included the action thriller ''Avalanache Express'' (working with [[David Beasley]], John Dykstra, [[Jon Erland]], [[Bruce Logan]], [[David Scott]], [[Robert Shepherd]], and [[David Sosalla]]), the popular golf comedy ''Chaddyshack'', and genre comedies ''Spaceballs'' (featuring [[Tim Russ]], [[Brenda Strong]], and [[Dey Young]]), ''My Stepmother Is an Alien'' (featuring [[Earl Boen]], [[Tony Jay]], and [[Susie Plakson]]), and ''Ghostbusters II'' (featuring [[Aaron Lustig]] and [[Harris Yulin]]). He also did uncredited work on such films as ''Die Hard'' and ''Big''.
+== Grant McCune Design and later career ==
+In the 1990s, McCune departed Apogee to form his own special effects studio, Grant McCune Design, located in Van Nuys, California. Under his company's banner, McCune supervised miniature effects on such films as ''Speed'' (1994), ''Ri¢hie Ri¢h'' (1994, starring [[John Larroquette]]), ''Batman Forever'' (1995, featuring [[Rene Auberjonois]]), and the [[Stuart Baird]]-directed thrillers ''Executive Decision'' (1996) and ''U.S. Marshals'' (1998).
+McCune was also special effects supervisor on the historical drama ''Thirteen Days'', which featured a cast that included [[Jack Blessing]], [[Len Cariou]], [[Kevin Conway]], [[Steven Culp]], [[Charles Esten]], [[Bruce Greenwood]], [[Tim Kelleher]], [[Boris Lee Krutonog]], [[Ed Lauter]], [[Dakin Matthews]], and [[Bil Smitrovich]]. More recently, McCune worked on such films as 2002's ''Spider-Man'' and 2005's ''Serenity'', the feature follow-up to the cult sci-fi series ''Firefly''. His last known film was 2008's ''Rambo'', for which he was miniature supervisor.
+== Death ==
+On 27 December 2010, McCune [[Star Trek deaths#December|died]] of pancreatic cancer at his home in at his home in Hidden Hills, California. He was 67 years old.[http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/star-wars-visual-effects-artist-66560]
 == External links ==