Grant McCune
Grant McCune | |
---|---|
Born | (1943-03-27)March 27, 1943 |
Died | December 27, 2010(2010-12-27) (aged 67) Hidden Hills, California |
Occupation | Special effects designer |
Grant McCune (March 27, 1943 – December 27, 2010) was an American special effects designer whose entry into Hollywood was the uncredited creation of the great white shark in the 1975 film Jaws. His efforts there led to work on a series of major films, including his design of the robots in the Star Wars films, winning an Oscar in 1977 for his efforts in the first film in the series.
Biography
McCune was born on March 27, 1943. He attended California State University, Northridge where he earned his undergraduate degree in biology and met his future wife.[1][2] McCune was able to use his scientific training when he and Bill Shourt were hired in 1975 to work on creating the iconic shark in the movie Jaws, marking his start in Hollywood, though he was uncredited.[1] He was subsequently hired to work on the Star Wars movies as the franchise's chief model maker, responsible for the design details of the robots (such as R2-D2[3]) and alien characters in the films. He and his team earned an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects at the 50th Academy Awards for Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.[1] He received a second Oscar nomination for his work on the 1979 film Star Trek: The Motion Picture. As a partner at Apogee Productions, McCune's work was featured in such films as Caddyshack before founding his own firm, which was hired to work on such movies as Speed and Spider-Man.[3]
Interviewed by Popular Mechanics magazine in 2009, McCune described how one uses a photographer's eye in designing miniatures, using perspective and surface details to make the objects appear as realistic as possible.[4]
A resident of Hidden Hills, California, McCune died at his home there of pancreatic cancer at the age of 67 on December 27, 2010. He was survived by his wife, Katherine, as well as by a daughter and a son.[1][3][5]
Filmography
- Star Wars (1977) - Death Star Gunner (uncredited)
References
- ^ a b c d Nordyke, Kimberly (December 29, 2010). "'Star Wars' Visual Effects Artist Grant McCune Dies". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
- ^ Staff. "PASSINGS: Grant McCune, Roger Milliken: Grant McCune, a special effects artist who shared an Oscar for 'Star Wars,' dies at 67; Roger Milliken, a textile magnate who was among the richest in the U.S., dies at 95", Los Angeles Times, December 31, 2010. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
- ^ a b c Staff. "R2-D2 creator Grant McCune dies", CBC News, December 30, 2010. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
- ^ Porges, Seth. "4 Questions for Star Wars Modelmaker Grant McCune", Popular Mechanics, October 1, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
- ^ Staff (December 29, 2010). "Star Wars visual effects artist dies". Variety. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
External links
- Grant McCune Design website
- Grant McCune at Memory Alpha
- Grant McCune at IMDb
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- Emil Kosa Jr. – Cleopatra (1963)
- Peter Ellenshaw, Eustace Lycett, and Hamilton Luske – Mary Poppins (1964)
- John Stears – Thunderball (1965)
- Art Cruickshank – Fantastic Voyage (1966)
- L. B. Abbott – Doctor Dolittle (1967)
- Stanley Kubrick – 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
- Robie Robertson – Marooned (1969)
- A. D. Flowers and L. B. Abbott – Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
- Alan Maley, Eustace Lycett, and Danny Lee – Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
- L. B. Abbott and A. D. Flowers – The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
- Frank Brendel, Glen Robinson, and Albert Whitlock – Earthquake (1974)
- Albert Whitlock and Glen Robinson – The Hindenburg (1975)
- Carlo Rambaldi, Glen Robinson, and Frank Van der Veer – King Kong (1976)
- John Stears, John Dykstra, Richard Edlund, Grant McCune, and Robert Blalack – Star Wars (1977)
- Les Bowie, Colin Chilvers, Denys Coop, Roy Field, Derek Meddings, and Zoran Perisic – Superman (1978)
- H. R. Giger, Carlo Rambaldi, Brian Johnson, Nick Allder, and Dennis Ayling – Alien (1979)
- Brian Johnson, Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, and Bruce Nicholson – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
- Richard Edlund, Kit West, Bruce Nicholson, and Joe Johnston – Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
- Carlo Rambaldi, Dennis Muren, and Kenneth F. Smith – E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
- Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, Ken Ralston, and Phil Tippett – Return of the Jedi (1983)
- Dennis Muren, Michael J. McAlister, Lorne Peterson, and George Gibbs – Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
- Ken Ralston, Ralph McQuarrie, Scott Farrar, and David Berry – Cocoon (1985)
- Robert Skotak, Stan Winston, John Richardson, and Suzanne M. Benson – Aliens (1986)
- Dennis Muren, Bill George, Harley Jessup, and Kenneth F. Smith - Innerspace (1987)
- Ken Ralston, Richard Williams, Edward Jones, and George Gibbs – Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
- John Bruno, Dennis Muren, Hoyt Yeatman, and Dennis Skotak – The Abyss (1989)
- Eric Brevig, Rob Bottin, Tim McGovern, and Alex Funke – Total Recall (1990)
- Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Gene Warren Jr., and Robert Skotak – Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
- Ken Ralston, Doug Chiang, Douglas Smythe, and Tom Woodruff Jr. – Death Becomes Her (1992)
- Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Phil Tippett, and Michael Lantieri – Jurassic Park (1993)
- Ken Ralston, George Murphy, Stephen Rosenbaum, and Allen Hall – Forrest Gump (1994)
- Scott E. Anderson, Charles Gibson, Neal Scanlan, and John Cox – Babe (1995)
- Volker Engel, Douglas Smith, Clay Pinney, and Joe Viskocil – Independence Day (1996)
- Robert Legato, Mark Lasoff, Thomas L. Fisher, and Michael Kanfer – Titanic (1997)
- Joel Hynek, Nicholas Brooks, Stuart Robertson, and Kevin Mack – What Dreams May Come (1998)
- John Gaeta, Janek Sirrs, Steve Courtley, and Jon Thum – The Matrix (1999)
- John Nelson, Neil Corbould, Tim Burke, and Rob Harvey – Gladiator (2000)
- Jim Rygiel, Randall William Cook, Richard Taylor, and Mark Stetson – The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
- Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook, and Alex Funke – The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
- Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook, and Alex Funke – The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
- John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara, and John Frazier – Spider-Man 2 (2004)
- Joe Letteri, Brian Van't Hul, Christian Rivers, and Richard Taylor – King Kong (2005)
- John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson, and Allen Hall – Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
- Michael L. Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris, and Trevor Wood – The Golden Compass (2007)
- Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, and Craig Barron – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
- Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, and Andrew R. Jones – Avatar (2009)
- Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley, and Peter Bebb – Inception (2010)
- Robert Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann, and Alex Henning – Hugo (2011)
- Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan de Boer, and Donald R. Elliott – Life of Pi (2012)
- Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk, and Neil Corbould – Gravity (2013)
- Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter, and Scott R. Fisher – Interstellar (2014)
- Mark Williams Ardington, Sara Bennett, Paul Norris, and Andrew Whitehurst – Ex Machina (2015)
- Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones, and Dan Lemmon – The Jungle Book (2016)
- John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert, and Richard R. Hoover – Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
- Paul Lambert, Ian Hunter, Tristan Myles, and J. D. Schwalm – First Man (2018)
- Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler, and Dominic Tuohy – 1917 (2019)
- Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley, and Scott R. Fisher – Tenet (2020)
- Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor, and Gerd Nefzer – Dune (2021)
- Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, and Daniel Barrett – Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
- Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi, and Tatsuji Nojima – Godzilla Minus One (2023)