Alex Funke - Wikipedia

Alex Funke (born October 12, 1944 in Santa Barbara, California) is a special effects photographer.

Career[edit]

He worked with Charles and Ray Eames for eleven years, a period he deemed important to his career success. His first Oscar was a shared one for Total Recall.^[1] Funke became noted as an expert on miniatures^[2] and was brought to New Zealand for work on The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.^[3] At the 75th and 76th Academy Awards, 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[edit]

1977 – Powers of Ten
1978 – Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series)
1979 – Buck Rogers
1981 – Heavy Metal
1988 – The Blob
1989 – The Abyss
1990 – Total Recall - Shared an Academy Special Achievement Award for this.
1991 – Grand Canyon
1992 – Freejack
1992 – The Lawnmower Man
1995 – The Indian in the Cupboard
1995 – Waterworld
1996 – Executive Decision
1996 – The Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace
1997 – Starship Troopers
1998 – Snake Eyes
1998 – Mighty Joe Young
1999 – Mystery Men
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
2008 – The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
2015 – Fast & Furious 7
2017 – Blade Runner 2049

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Alex Funke at IMDb

Awards for Alex Funke

Special Achievement Academy Award

L. B. Abbott, A. D. Flowers (1972)
Frank Brendel, Glen Robinson, Albert Whitlock (1974)
Peter Berkos / Albert Whitlock, Glen Robinson (1975)
Carlo Rambaldi, Glen Robinson, Frank Van der Veer / L. B. Abbott, Glen Robinson, Matthew Yuricich (1976)
Ben Burtt / Frank Warner (1977)
Les Bowie, Colin Chilvers, Denys Coop, Roy Field, Derek Meddings, Zoran Perisic (1978)
Alan Splet (1979)
Brian Johnson, Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, Bruce Nicholson (1980)
Ben Burtt, Richard L. Anderson (1981)
Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, Ken Ralston, Phil Tippett (1983)
Kay Rose (1984)
Stephen Hunter Flick, John Pospisil (1987)
Richard Williams (1988)
Eric Brevig, Rob Bottin, Tim McGovern, Alex Funke (1990)
John Lasseter (1995)
Alejandro González Iñárritu (2017)

v t e Academy Award for Best Visual Effects
1963–1980	Emil Kosa Jr. – Cleopatra (1963) Peter Ellenshaw, Eustace Lycett, and Hamilton Luske – Mary Poppins (1964) John Stears – Thunderball (1965) Art Cruickshank – Fantastic Voyage (1966) L. B. Abbott – Doctor Dolittle (1967) Stanley Kubrick – 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Robie Robertson – Marooned (1969) A. D. Flowers and L. B. Abbott – Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) Alan Maley, Eustace Lycett, and Danny Lee – Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) L. B. Abbott and A. D. Flowers – The Poseidon Adventure (1972) Frank Brendel, Glen Robinson, and Albert Whitlock – Earthquake (1974) Albert Whitlock and Glen Robinson – The Hindenburg (1975) Carlo Rambaldi, Glen Robinson, and Frank Van der Veer – King Kong (1976) John Stears, John Dykstra, Richard Edlund, Grant McCune, and Robert Blalack – Star Wars (1977) Les Bowie, Colin Chilvers, Denys Coop, Roy Field, Derek Meddings, and Zoran Perisic – Superman (1978) H. R. Giger, Carlo Rambaldi, Brian Johnson, Nick Allder, and Dennis Ayling – Alien (1979) Brian Johnson, Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, and Bruce Nicholson – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
1981–2000	Richard Edlund, Kit West, Bruce Nicholson, and Joe Johnston – Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Carlo Rambaldi, Dennis Muren, and Kenneth F. Smith – E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, Ken Ralston, and Phil Tippett – Return of the Jedi (1983) Dennis Muren, Michael J. McAlister, Lorne Peterson, and George Gibbs – Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) Ken Ralston, Ralph McQuarrie, Scott Farrar, and David Berry – Cocoon (1985) Robert Skotak, Stan Winston, John Richardson, and Suzanne M. Benson – Aliens (1986) Dennis Muren, Bill George, Harley Jessup, and Kenneth F. Smith - Innerspace (1987) Ken Ralston, Richard Williams, Edward Jones, and George Gibbs – Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) John Bruno, Dennis Muren, Hoyt Yeatman, and Dennis Skotak – The Abyss (1989) Eric Brevig, Rob Bottin, Tim McGovern, and Alex Funke – Total Recall (1990) Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Gene Warren Jr., and Robert Skotak – Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) Ken Ralston, Doug Chiang, Douglas Smythe, and Tom Woodruff Jr. – Death Becomes Her (1992) Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Phil Tippett, and Michael Lantieri – Jurassic Park (1993) Ken Ralston, George Murphy, Stephen Rosenbaum, and Allen Hall – Forrest Gump (1994) Scott E. Anderson, Charles Gibson, Neal Scanlan, and John Cox – Babe (1995) Volker Engel, Douglas Smith, Clay Pinney, and Joe Viskocil – Independence Day (1996) Robert Legato, Mark Lasoff, Thomas L. Fisher, and Michael Kanfer – Titanic (1997) Joel Hynek, Nicholas Brooks, Stuart Robertson, and Kevin Mack – What Dreams May Come (1998) John Gaeta, Janek Sirrs, Steve Courtley, and Jon Thum – The Matrix (1999) John Nelson, Neil Corbould, Tim Burke, and Rob Harvey – Gladiator (2000)
2001–2020	Jim Rygiel, Randall William Cook, Richard Taylor, and Mark Stetson – The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook, and Alex Funke – The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook, and Alex Funke – The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara, and John Frazier – Spider-Man 2 (2004) Joe Letteri, Brian Van't Hul, Christian Rivers, and Richard Taylor – King Kong (2005) John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson, and Allen Hall – Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) Michael L. Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris, and Trevor Wood – The Golden Compass (2007) Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, and Craig Barron – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, and Andrew R. Jones – Avatar (2009) Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley, and Peter Bebb – Inception (2010) Robert Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann, and Alex Henning – Hugo (2011) Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan de Boer, and Donald R. Elliott – Life of Pi (2012) Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk, and Neil Corbould – Gravity (2013) Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter, and Scott R. Fisher – Interstellar (2014) Mark Williams Ardington, Sara Bennett, Paul Norris, and Andrew Whitehurst – Ex Machina (2015) Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones, and Dan Lemmon – The Jungle Book (2016) John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert, and Richard R. Hoover – Blade Runner 2049 (2017) Paul Lambert, Ian Hunter, Tristan Myles, and J. D. Schwalm – First Man (2018) Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler, and Dominic Tuohy – 1917 (2019) Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley, and Scott R. Fisher – Tenet (2020)
2021–present	Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor, and Gerd Nefzer – Dune (2021) Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, and Daniel Barrett – Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi, and Tatsuji Nojima – Godzilla Minus One (2023)

BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects

1982–2000

Richard Edlund - Poltergeist (1982)
Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, Ken Ralston, and Kit West - Return of the Jedi (1983)
Dennis Muren, George Gibbs, Michael J. McAlister, and Lorne Peterson - Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
George Gibbs and Richard Conway - Brazil (1985)
Robert Skotak, Brian Johnson, Suzanne M. Benson, John Richardson, and Stan Winston - Aliens (1986)
Michael Lantieri, Michael Owens, Edward Jones, and Bruce Walters - The Witches of Eastwick (1987)
George Gibbs, Richard Williams, Ken Ralston, and Edward Jones - Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
Ken Ralston, Michael Lantieri, John Bell, and Steve Gawley - Back to the Future Part II (1989)
The production team of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1990)
Stan Winston, Dennis Muren, Gene Warren Jr., and Robert Skotak - Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Michael Lantieri, Ken Ralston, Alec Gillis, Tom Woodruff Jr., Doug Chiang, and Douglas Smythe - Death Becomes Her (1992)
Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Phil Tippett, and Michael Lantieri - Jurassic Park (1993)
Ken Ralston, George Murphy, Stephen Rosenbaum, Doug Chiang, and Allen Hall - Forrest Gump (1994)
Robert Legato, Michael Kanfer, Matt Sweeney, and Leslie Ekker - Apollo 13 (1995)
Stefen Fangmeier, John Frazier, Henry LaBounta, and Habib Zargarpour - Twister (1996)
Mark Stetson, Karen Goulekas, Nick Allder, Neil Corbould, and Nick Dudman - The Fifth Element (1997)
Stefen Fangmeier, Roger Guyett, and Neil Corbould - Saving Private Ryan (1998)
John Gaeta, Steve Courtley, Janek Sirrs, and Jon Thum - The Matrix (1999)
Stefen Fangmeier, John Frazier, Walt Conti, Habib Zargarpour, and Tim Alexander - The Perfect Storm (2000)

2001–present

Jim Rygiel, Richard Taylor, Alex Funke, Randall William Cook, and Mark Stetson - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook, and Alex Funke - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
Joe Letteri, Jim Rygiel, Randall William Cook, and Alex Funke - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Karen Goulekas, Neil Corbould, Greg Strause, and Remo Balcells - The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
Joe Letteri, Christian Rivers, Brian Van't Hul, and Richard Taylor - King Kong (2005)
John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson, and Allen Hall - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
Michael L. Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris, and Trevor Wood - The Golden Compass (2007)
Eric Barba, Craig Barron, Nathan McGuinness, and Edson Williams - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, and Andrew R. Jones - Avatar (2009)
Chris Corbould, Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, and Peter Bebb - Inception (2010)
Tim Burke, John Richardson, Greg Butler, and David Vickery - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011)
Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, and Erik-Jan de Boer - Life of Pi (2012)
Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk, Neil Corbould, and Nikki Penny - Gravity (2013)
Paul Franklin, Scott R. Fisher, Andrew Lockley, and Ian Hunter - Interstellar (2014)
Chris Corbould, Roger Guyett, Paul Kavanagh, and Neal Scanlan - Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
Robert Legato, Dan Lemmon, Andrew R. Jones, and Adam Valdez - The Jungle Book (2016)
Richard R. Hoover, Paul Lambert, Gerd Nefzer, and John Nelson - Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Geoffrey Baumann, Jesse James Chisholm, Craig Hammack, and Dan Sudick - Black Panther (2018)
Greg Butler, Guillaume Rocheron, and Dominic Tuohy - 1917 (2019)
Scott R. Fisher, Andrew Jackson, and Andrew Lockley - Tenet (2020)
Brian Connor, Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, and Gerd Nefzer - Dune (2021)
Richard Baneham, Daniel Barrett, Joe Letteri and Eric Saindon - Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
Simon Hughes - Poor Things (2023)

v t e Satellite Award for Best Visual Effects
1990s	Volker Engel and Douglas Smith (1996) Ken Ralston (1997) Ellen Somers (1998) Jerome Chen, John Dykstra, Henry F. Anderson III, and Eric Allard (1999)
2000s	John Nelson (2000) Chris Godfrey (2001) Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook, and Alex Funke (2002) Stefen Fangmeier, Nathan McGuinness, Robert Stromberg, and Dan Sudick (2003) Andy Brown and Kirsty Millar / Robert Legato, Peter G. Travers, Matthew Gratzner, and R. Bruce Steinheimer (2004) John Knoll and Hal Hickel (2005) John Knoll and Hal Hickel (2006) Chris Watts, Grant Freckelton, Derek Wentworth, and Daniel Leduc (2007) Chris Godfrey, James E. Price, and Diana Giorgiutti (2008) Volker Engel, Marc Weigert, and Mike Vézina (2009)
2010s	Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas, and Sean Phillips (2010) Robert Legato, Ben Grossmann, Alex Henning, and Adam Watkins (2011) Jim Gibbs, Kevin Baillie, Michael Lantieri, and Ryan Tudhope (2012) Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk, and Neil Corbould (2013) Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, and Matt Kutcher (2014) Jim Gibbs, Kevin Baillie, Viktor Muller, and Sébastien Moreau (2015) Robert Legato, Dan Lemmon, Andrew R. Jones, and Adam Valdez (2016) John Nelson, Paul Lambert, Richard R. Hoover, and Gerd Nefzer (2017) Geoffrey Baumann, Jesse James Chisholm, Craig Hammack, and Dan Sudick (2018) Joe Letteri and Eric Saindon (2019)
2020s	Scott R. Fisher and Andrew Jackson (2020) Brian Connor, Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, and Gerd Nefzer (2021) Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, Richie Baneham, and Daniel Barrett (2022) Simone Coco, Neil Corbould, Jeff Sutherland, and Alex Wuttke (2023)