Contents Star Trek - The Motion Picture: Into the V'ger Maw with Douglas Trumbull: With only nine months remaining before its world premiere, Douglas Trumbull stepped in as director of special effects for Star Trek - The Motion Picture. Five hundred effects shots later, the multimillion dollar space epic was completed - on schedule. Trumbull discusses with candor the organizational and technical shortcomings which led to the dismissal of the original effects unit, and his own subsequent efforts to salvage the beleaguered production. In addition to his personal redesign of the effects sequences, Trumbull details the extensive research and development effort, the crushing workload, and the specific techniques employed in achieving many of Star Trek's most spectacular moments. Interview by Don Shay

Alien: Creating an Alien Ambience: As had no other film before, Alien was utterly successful in attaining a convincing depiction of alien lifeforms, artifacts and environs. Conceived first in the mind of screenwriter Dan O'Bannon, and then translated into visual terms by surrealist painter H.R. Giger, Alien was not only a consummate shocker, but also a work of great aesthetic virtuosity. Particularly demanding was the alien polymorph - from its earliest forms constructed by Roger Dicken to the full-size monstrosity sculpted by H.R.Giger and activated by Carlo Rambaldi. Equally of note were the complex otherworld sets built under the supervision of production designer Michael Seymour, and the extensive special effects engineered by Brian Johnson and Nick Allder. These and other craftsmen discuss in detail the collaborative effort behind Alien's pervasive atmosphere of eerie realism. Article by Don Shay

Contents The Empire Strikes Back: Of Ice Planets, Bog Planets and Cities in the Sky: As special effects supervisor for The Empire Strikes Back, Richard Edlund was responsible for reestablishing the Star Wars effects facility and presiding over the production of some four hundred optical effects shots. A seasoned veteran of the original Lucasfilm epic, Edlund discusses how three years of advancing technology, coupled with a top notch technical crew enabled Industrial Light & Magic to segue into an even more complex project - and with better results ... Article by Don Shay

Greg Jein - Miniature Giant: From less than auspicious beginnings sculpting spacecraft models for porno parodies and student films, two-time Oscar nominee Greg Jein has become - in five years - one of the giants in the field of movie miniatures. In addition to detailing his early work, accounts are provided of his landscapes and mothership for Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the remarkable detailed settings of 1941, the V'ger interior and spacewalks props for Star Trek - The Motion Picture, and the add-on work for Close Encounters reissue. Article by Brad Munson

Star Trek - The Motion Picture: Star Trekking at Apogee with John Dykstra: Approximately one third of the optical work in Star Trek - The Motion Picture was produced under the supervision of John Dykstra at his Apogee effects facility. Covering Apogee's involvement from stem to stern, Dykstra discusses in detail the Klingon and Epsilon 9 sequences and the exterior V'ger passage. He further elaborates on Apogee's approach to the digitization and energy probe effects, as well as some old standards such as the transporter beams and photon torpedos. Article by Don Shay

Contents The Empire Strikes Back: Tauntauns, Walkers and Probots: Employing a variety of techniques, ranging from vintage Willis O'brien-type steps to modern motion control technology, the special effects wizards at Industrial Light & Magic produced a dazzling array of stop motion wonders for The Empire Strikes Back. Effects director of photography Dennis Muren, stop motion animator Phil Tippett, art director Joe Johnston and other key members of the ILM effects unit discuss the complex animation sequences from start to finish. Article by Paul Mandell

Walter Murch - Making Beaches Out of Grains of Sand: Some of the most significant recent developments in motion pictures involve not what is seen, but rather what is heard. Academy Awardwinner Walter Murch, the virtuoso whose work figures prominently in some of the pivotal films of our time, discusses the subtle, psychological, mostly invisible art of sound - from the recording of a single isolated audio track to the monumental mixing of a hundred or more at once. Article by Jordan Fox

The Microcosmic World of Ken Middleham: Phase IV was anything but a typical science fiction film. No spaceships, no alien invaders, no unleashed technological horrors - just ants. But not ordinary ants. Ants with geometric patterns emblazoned on their foreheads; ants unafraid to engage a praying mantis in battle; ants that bestow ceremonial honors on their fallen dead; and ants that transport crystals of posionous material in a suicidal death march. Ace macro cinematographer Ken Middleham discusses the creation and photography of these uncharacteristic ant behaviors. Article by Don Shay

Contents Outland: Outland is the first motion picture produced by the Ladd Company, whose management - formerly of 20th Century-Fox - inaugurated the current science fiction boom by giving George Lucas a chance to launch his Star Wars saga. It also marks the first major employment of Introvision - a new real-time matting system by which actors can be placed into front-projected plates. Writer-director Peter Hyams discusses his concept for the film and details some of the challenges involved in bringing the project to fruition. Providing added commentary are ditector of photography Stephen Goldblatt, special effects supervisor John Stears, modelmaker Bill Pearson, plate photographer Douglas Dawson, and Introvision team members John Eppolito, Tom Naud, William Mesa and Tim Donahue. Article by Don Shay

The Altered States of 'Altered States': After barely surviving the trauma of going through two major film studios, two directors, two production designers, and two special effects units - not to mention an array of ever-changing concepts and a writer who disowned the project - Altered States emerged from near-oblivion in remarkably healthy condition. Production designer Joe Alves and special effects supervisor John Dykstra discuss their involvement in the aborted Arthur Penn production. Then, visual effects coordinator Bran Ferren, director of photography Jordan Cronenweth, production designer Richard McDonald, and optical effects expert Robbie Blalack elaborate upon the regenerated Ken Russell version. Tying the narrative together is special makeup artist Dick Smith, and his assistant Carl Fullerton, who rode out the production maelstrom from beginning to end. Article by Paul Mandell