Alex Funke (born October 12, 1944 in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...

) is a special effects photographer.

Career

He worked with

Charles and Ray Eames Charles Eames ( Charles Eames, Jr) and Ray Eames ( Ray-Bernice Eames) were an American married couple of industrial designers who made significant historical contributions to the development of modern architecture and furniture through the work of ...

for eleven years, a period he deemed important to his career success. His first Oscar was a shared one for '' Total Recall''. Funke became noted as an expert on miniatures and was brought to New Zealand for work on ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy.The Frodo Franchise: The Lord of the Rings and Modern Hollywood by Kristin Thompson, pg 306
/ref> At the 75th and

76th Academy Awards The 76th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best 2003 in film, films of 2003 and took place on February 29, 2004, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood ...

, he won Best Visual Effects for his work on '' The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers'' and '' The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'', respectively. He shared both wins with Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri and Randall William Cook.

Selected filmography

* 1977 – Powers of Ten * 1978 –

Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series) ''Battlestar Galactica'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction television series created by Glen A. Larson that aired on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC network from September 17, 1978, to April 29, 1979. It stars ...

* 1979 –

Buck Rogers Buck Rogers is a science fiction adventure hero and feature comic strip created by Philip Francis Nowlan first appearing in daily American newspapers on January 7, 1929, and subsequently appearing in Sunday newspapers, international newspapers, b ...

* 1981 – Heavy Metal * 1988 – The Blob * 1989 –

The Abyss ''The Abyss'' is a 1989 American science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron and starring Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Michael Biehn. When an American submarine sinks in the Caribbean, a US search and recovery tea ...

* 1990 – Total Recall - Shared an Academy Special Achievement Award for this. * 1991 –

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a mile (). The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon Nati ...

* 1992 – Freejack * 1992 – The Lawnmower Man * 1995 –

The Indian in the Cupboard ''The Indian in the Cupboard'' is a low fantasy children's novel by the British writer Lynne Reid Banks. It was published in 1980 with illustrations by Robin Jacques (UK) and Brock Cole (US). It was later adapted as a 1995 children's film ...

* 1995 –

Waterworld ''WaterWorld'', also known as ''WaterWorld: A Live Sea War Spectacular'', is a stunt show attraction based on the 1995 film '' Waterworld'' found at Universal Studios Hollywood (1995), Universal Studios Japan (2001), Universal Studios Singap ...

* 1996 –

Executive Decision ''Executive Decision'' is a 1996 American action thriller film directed by Stuart Baird (in his directorial debut) and written by Jim Thomas and John Thomas, who also produced the film with Joel Silver. It stars Kurt Russell, Steven Seagal, ...

* 1996 – The Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace * 1997 –

Starship Troopers ''Starship Troopers'' is a military science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. Written in a few weeks in reaction to the US suspending nuclear tests, the story was first published as a two-part serial in ''The Magazine of ...

* 1998 – Snake Eyes * 1998 – Mighty Joe Young * 1999 –

Mystery Men ''Mystery Men'' is a 1999 American superhero comedy film directed by Kinka Usher (in his feature-length directorial debut), written by Neil Cuthbert, loosely based on Bob Burden's '' Flaming Carrot Comics'', starring Ben Stiller, Hank Azaria, ...

* 2001 – The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring * 2002 – The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers * 2003 – The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King * 2005 –

King Kong King Kong, also referred to simply as Kong, is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. The character has since become an international pop culture icon,Erb, Cynthia, 1998, ''Tracking Kin ...

* 2008 – The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian * 2015 – Fast & Furious 7 * 2017 –

Blade Runner 2049 ''Blade Runner 2049'' is a 2017 American Epic film, epic neo-noir science fiction film directed by Denis Villeneuve from a screenplay by Hampton Fancher and Michael Green (writer), Michael Green, based on a story by Fancher. A sequel to ''Blade ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Funke, Alex American special effects people People from Santa Barbara, California 1944 births Living people Special Achievement Academy Award winners Best Visual Effects Academy Award winners Best Visual Effects BAFTA Award winners