Greg Jein (born October 31, 1945, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, US; died May 22, 2022, in Los Angeles) was a

Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans have ancestors from mainland China, Hong Kong ...

model designer who created miniatures for use in the

special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the fictional events in a story or virtual world. ...

portions of many films and television series, beginning in the 1970s. Jein was nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Visual Effects The Academy Award for Best Visual Effects is presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the best achievement in visual effects. It has been handed to four members of the team directly responsible for creatin ...

for his work on the films ''

Close Encounters of the Third Kind ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' is a 1977 American science fiction film, science fiction drama film written and directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, Cary Guffey, and François ...

'' (1977) and ''

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

'' (1979), and also nominated for an Outstanding Special Visual Effects Emmy for his work on ''

Angels in America ''Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes'' is a 1991 American two-part Play (theatre), play by American playwright Tony Kushner. The two parts of the play, ''Millennium Approaches'' and ''Perestroika'', may be presented separate ...

''. Jein was a graduate of

Dorsey High School Susan Miller Dorsey High School, commonly referred to as Dorsey High School, is a secondary public school located in the Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles, California. It is a part of the Los Angeles Unified School District. History The school ...

in the

Crenshaw district Crenshaw, or the Crenshaw District, is a neighborhood in South Los Angeles, California. In the post–World War II era, a Japanese American community was established in Crenshaw. African Americans started migrating to the district in the mid ...

, and of

California State University, Los Angeles California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) is a public research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. Cal State LA offers 142 bachelor's degree programs, 122 m ...

Biography

One of Jein's first jobs was building models for the sex comedy spoof ''

Flesh Gordon ''Flesh Gordon'' is a 1974 American superhero sex comedy feature film which is a spoof of Universal Pictures first (of three) '' Flash Gordon'' serial films from the 1930s. The film was produced by Walter R. Cichy, Bill Osco, and Howard Z ...

;'' this was followed by work on a number of television series, commercials and movies including ''

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...

'' and ''

The UFO Incident ''The UFO Incident'' is a 1975 American made-for-television biographical film starring James Earl Jones and Estelle Parsons based on the alleged 1961 alien abduction of Barney and Betty Hill. Plot The film introduces us to Barney and Betty Hill ...

''. In 1975 he was contacted by

Douglas Trumbull Douglas Hunt Trumbull (; April 8, 1942 – February 7, 2022) was an American film director and visual effects supervisor, who pioneered innovative methods in special effects. He created scenes for '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'', '' Close Encounter ...

's office and asked to do some work on

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

's ''

''. For that film Jein contributed a number of models including miniature landscapes for UFOs to fly over, but most significantly he and his crew built the detailed mothership model that features heavily in the final sequence of the film after Spielberg decided he wanted "a more flamboyant design". For their work Jein, Trumbull,

Roy Arbogast Roy Howard Arbogast (born September 5, 1941) is an American special effects artist. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Visual Effects for the film ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind''. Selected filmography * ''Clos ...

Matthew Yuricich Matthew J. Yuricich (January 19, 1923 – May 28, 2012) was an American special effects artist. Biography He was born of Croatian immigrant parentage in Lorain, Ohio. His father immigated to America from his native Josipdol in Gorski Kotar. Yu ...

, and

Richard Yuricich Richard Yuricich (born December 1942) is a special visual effects artist. He is the brother of Matthew Yuricich, also a special effects artist. Yuricich is of Croatian descent. His father emigrated to America from his native Josipdol in Lika. ...

were nominated for an

at the

50th Academy Awards The 50th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 1977 and took place on April 3, 1978, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. During the ceremony, AMPAS ...

, but lost to the team who produced the effects for ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

''. Jein then went on to work on Spielberg's next film, ''

,'' where he and his team constructed a number of models including a twelve-foot model of the

Ferris wheel A Ferris wheel (also called a big wheel, giant wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondola ...

that's dislodged from its mount and rolls down the pier and into the water. For their work on ''1941'' Jein, William A. Fraker and A. D. Flowers were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects at the

52nd Academy Awards The 52nd Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 1979 and took place on April 14, 1980, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, beginning at 6:00 p ...

but lost this time to the team who provided the effects for

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English film director and producer. He directs films in the Science fiction film, science fiction, Crime film, crime, and historical drama, historical epic genres, with an atmospheric and highly co ...

's '' Alien''. After working on ''1941'', Jein was invited by Douglas Trumbull to work on '' Star Trek: The Motion Picture'' building planetary models for

Spock Spock is a fictional Character (arts), character in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. He first appeared in the Star Trek: The Original Series, original ''Star Trek'' series serving aboard the starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), USS ''Enterpri ...

's spacewalk scene and the interior of the V'Ger craft. Jein continued his association with ''Star Trek'' through a number of the movies, building alien weapons for '' Star Trek V: The Final Frontier'', and Starfleet helmets for the assassination scene in '' Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country''. In 1986 he and a team at

Industrial Light & Magic Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American Film, motion picture visual effects, computer animation and stereo conversion digital studio founded by George Lucas on May 26, 1975. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lu ...

built the original six-foot model of the designed by

Andrew Probert Andrew Probert (born 1946 in Independence, Missouri) is an American artist. He is known for his work with the ''Star Trek'' franchise, most notably the designs of the USS ''Enterprise'' for '' Star Trek: The Motion Picture'' and the ''Enterpris ...

for the pilot of '' Star Trek: The Next Generation''. He would go on to build a number of models for ''The Next Generation'' including the

Ferengi The Ferengi () are a fictional extraterrestrial species in the American science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''. They were devised in 1987 for the series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', played a prominent role in the following series '' Star ...

Marauder starship (also designed by Andrew Probert) during the first season of the show, and the

Klingon The Klingons ( ; Klingon language, Klingon: ''tlhIngan'' ) are a humanoid species of aliens in the science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''. Developed by screenwriter Gene L. Coon in 1967 for the Star Trek: The Original Series, original ''Star T ...

Vor'cha In the ''Star Trek'' franchise, the Klingon, Klingon Empire makes use of several ship class, classes of starships. As the Klingons are portrayed as a warrior culture, driven by the pursuit of honor and glory, the Empire is shown to use warships alm ...

(designed by

Rick Sternbach Richard Michael Sternbach (born July 6, 1951) is an illustrator who is best known for his space illustrations and his work on the ''Star Trek'' television series. Early years Born July 6, 1951, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1969 Sternbach enr ...

) for the fourth season.

References

External links

*
Gregory Jein
on

Memory Alpha Memory Alpha is a wiki encyclopedia for topics related to the ''Star Trek'' fictional universe. Created by Harry Doddema and Dan Carlson, it uses the wiki model and is hosted by Fandom on the MediaWiki software. , Memory Alpha contains over 56 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jein, Greg 1945 births 2022 deaths American special effects people Miniature model-makers Film people from Los Angeles Susan Miller Dorsey High School alumni California State University, Los Angeles alumni American people of Chinese descent

Biography

References

Further reading

External links