Frank Van der Veer
American optical and visual special effects artist
Frank Van der Veer | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1921-06-02)June 2, 1921 |
| Died | January 7, 1982(1982-01-07) (aged 60) |
| Occupation | Visual effects artist |
| Years active | 1950–1982 |
| Spouse | Velma "Val" Van der Veer (March 9, 1930 – Oct. 20, 2009) |
| Children | 3[1] |
Frank Willard Van der Veer (June 2, 1921 – January 7, 1982) was an American optical and visual special effects artist who won (and shared) a Special Achievement Academy Award at the 49th Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects for the film King Kong[2] (1976). His career spanned over three decades from the 1950s until his death in the early 1980s, having participated in the Hollywood special effects industry with such other films as The Towering Inferno[3] (1974), Killer Bees (1974), Logan's Run (1976), Star Wars (1977), 1941 (1979), Flash Gordon (1980), Clash of the Titans (1981) and Conan the Barbarian (1982).
Frank Van der Veer was the son of the American cinematographer Willard Van der Veer (1894–1963).
Biography
Frank Van der Veer was a veteran of World War II. After the war he began his career in the 1950s working for the Warner Brothers and 20th Century Fox special effects departments. Then, a few years later, on August 13, 1963,[4] he founded Van Der Veer Photo Effects with partner Bill Dorney, after having apprenticed with Bill Abbott from 1950 to 1957 in the 20th Century Fox studios.[5] In 1977, he won a Special Achievement Academy Award for King Kong (1976). This award was shared with Carlo Rambaldi and Glen Robinson.[6] Frank's father, Willard Van der Veer, had also won an Oscar, 47 years before. That was on November 5, 1930, at the 3rd Academy Awards, for Best Cinematography for the film With Byrd at the South Pole[7] with Joseph T. Rucker.[8]
In the time he ran his company, Van der Veer worked both for the television and film industries. For the television medium, he contributed in the effects of the original Star Trek series (1966) and, in 1978, he was nominated for an Emmy for his work on The Return of Captain Nemo.
Van Der Veer Photo Effects worked on lightsabres for the movie Star Wars (1977).[9]
Frank Van der Veer died on January 7, 1982. He was buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, Los Angeles County, California. His company, Van Der Veer Photo Effects, survived him for 15 years more until it was dissolved on October 4, 1997.[10]
Selected filmography
Credited as Frank Van der Veer
- Killer Bees (1974, TV movie, special optical effects)
- Logan's Run (1976, additional visuals)
- King Kong (1976, supervisor of photographic effects)
- Orca (1977, photographic effects supervisor)
- The Manitou (1978, photographic optical effects supervisor)
- Hurricane (1979, supervisor of photographic effects)
- 1941 (1979, blue screen consultant)
- Flash Gordon (1980, supervisor: special photographic effects)
- Clash of the Titans (1981, special opticals)
- Conan the Barbarian (1982, special visual effects)
Credited as Van der Veer Photo Effects
- Star Trek: The Original Series (in end credits)
- Star Wars (1977, additional optical effects – miniature and optical effects unit)
- The Empire Strikes Back (1980, additional optical effects)
Van Der Veer Photo Effects selected filmography (after Van Der Veer died)
- Tron (1982, additional animation compositing camera)
- Return of the Jedi (1983, additional optical effects)
- Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983, additional optical effects, segment 4, uncredited)
- The Man Who Wasn't There (1983, opticals)
- The Bounty (1984, opticals, credited as "Frank Van der Veer Labs")
- Conan the Destroyer (1984, titles and opticals)
- The Last Starfighter (1984, optical effects)
- Red Sonja (1985, titles and opticals)
- Raw Deal (1986, titles and opticals)
- Blue Velvet (1986, titles and opticals)
- Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987, opticals)
- Russkies (1987, titles and opticals)
- After Midnight (1989, additional optical effects)
- Catchfire (1990, titles and opticals)
- Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990, optical effects)
- The Dark Backward (1991, montage opticals)
- Love Crimes (1992, titles and opticals, credited as "Van der Veer Visual Effects")
References
- ^ Velma Van der Veer obituary (Legacy.com)
- ^ 49th Academy Awards Ceremony page (Oscars.org)
- ^ "Special Effects: Wire, Tape and Rubber Band Style", by L. B. Abbott
- ^ California Corporates: Van Der Veer Photo Effects' profile
- ^ Plastic Reality: Special Effects, Art and Technology in 1970s U.S. Filmmaking, Julie A. Turnock, ProQuest, 2008, p. 111
- ^ 49th Academy Awards Ceremony page (Oscars.org)
- ^ "Willard van der Veer | Movies and Filmography".
- ^ 3rd Academy Awards Ceremony page (Oscars.org)
- ^ "Five Star Wars myths you'll be arguing over this Christmas". South China Morning Post. 2019-12-25. Retrieved 2019-12-25.
- ^ Wysk B2B Data Hub: Van Der Veer Photo Effects' profile (archived link)
External links
- Frank Van der Veer at IMDb
- Van Der Veer Photo Effects at the Internet Movie Database
- v
- t
- e
- 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)
