Frank Van der Veer

Frank Van der Veer
Born	(1921-06-02)June 2, 1921 New York City, USA
Died	Los Angeles County, California, USA
Occupation	Visual effects artist
Years active	1950-1982
Spouse(s)	Velma "Val" Van der Veer (March 9, 1930 - Oct. 20, 2009)
Children	Jeff, Michael and Julie

Frank 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 (1976). His career spans over three decades from the 1950s until his death in the early 1980s, having participated in the Hollywood special effects industry with notable films such King Kong, as mentioned, but also The Towering Inferno (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 started 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, he founded Van Der Veer Photo Effects with partner Bill Dorney, after having apprenticed with Bill Abbott from 1950-1957 in the 20th Century Fox studios. In 1977 he won a Special Achievement Academy Award for King Kong (1976). This award was shared with Carlo Rambaldi and Glen Robinson. 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 with Joseph T. Rucker.

In the time he ruled his company, Van der Veer worked both for the television and film industries. For the television medium, for example, he had 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.

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.

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 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 Frank's death)

• 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")

External links

• Frank Van der Veer at the Internet Movie Database
• Van Der Veer Photo Effects at the Internet Movie Database