For their thriller, The Hunt for Red October, producer Mace Neufeld and director John McTiernan had to create not only realistic interiors for state-of-the-art Soviet and American nuclear submarines, but also convincing exterior footage of these high-tech warships in simulated underwater environments. Working with large-scale models, effects team members at Industrial Light & Magic - under visual effects supervisor Scott Squires - responded to the challenge by outfitting a cavernous new stage and employing single-pass motion control to record deep-sea submarine material in dense smoke.

Article by Mark Cotta Vaz

In Tremors - a Ron Underwood film from a script by S.S. Wilson and Brent Maddock - four subterranean predators invade a small desert town. Hired to design and build the creatures were Tom Woodruff, Jr. and Alec Gillis of Amalgamated Dynamics. Working with physical effects supervisor Art Brewer on set, the creature crew engineered footage of fearsome monsters erupting from the ground and striking out with powerful jaws and tentacles. Later they scaled down their creations and worked closely with Robert and Dennis Skotak in the production of intercutting miniature effects.

Article by Jody Duncan Shannon

With the fifth entry in the Star Trek feature series, first-time director William Shatner set about to transport the Enterprise and her crew beyond the final frontier to a place thought to be inhabited by God. Selected as visual effects supervisor for the project was Bran Ferren whose facility - Associates and Ferren - labored to produce the effects relating to the fabled God planet and the cosmic barrier surrounding it. Serving as subcontracter for the motion control model photography was Peter Wallach Enterprises and supplying most of the composite work was The Optical House.

Article by Paul Mandell