number for $10 a month. I put that number on all of my résumés and
mailed them out while I was still on the East Coast. Basically, I faked my
geography." Once he received enough job leads that he felt confident
about making a living in Los Angeles, Magliochetti relocated.
Thinking he was moving to work on Terminator 2: Judgment Day,
Magliochetti arrived in Los Angeles to discover that the production was
stalled for a few weeks. Stranded, he printed up résumés and began
taking them to production companies around town. "I had been out here
three weeks and a day, when I got a call from a company that needed
help on a film called The Dark Half, which became a complicated film to
complete." The company's other projects were pushed to the back burner
while everyone worked on The Dark Half. Magliochetti went in after
hours, on his own time, to work on the other movies, so that the
company would not get too far behind schedule. "The one I did the most
work on was The Addams Family."
Although Magliochetti created most of the visual effects for The
Addams Family himself, the film's success found many others taking credit
for his work. "I was shocked one night to turn on a documentary show
on special effects. One of the makeup artists for The Addams Family was
showing my footage of the hand running across the street and claiming it
was a robot hand that he built. I couldn't believe it!"
Eventually, Magliochetti did work on Terminator 2 for a couple of weeks,
but continued to devote his free time to The Addams Family. His next break
was being hired as supervisor of animation on Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered
Country. Although he was taking on more responsibility, the effects facility
he was working for did not give him a raise. "When I had the audacity to
ask for a raise, they let me go, saying they couldn't afford me."
The effects load for Star Trek VI was shared with another house,
Industrial Light and Magic (ILM)--the world's premiere effects facility.
When Magliochetti telephoned his colleagues at ILM to let them know he
was no longer involved with the project, they invited him to come work
with them. At ILM, he not only continued his work on Star Trek VI, but
worked on Hook, as well.
Having worked steadily for more than six months, Magliochetti
decided to permanently move from the East Coast to the West. "I threw all
my belongings in a truck and drove out to stay. Suddenly, all the effects
splurge dried up and I didn't have any work for the next six months."
Terminator 2 proved to be a groundbreaking film for computer gener-
ated visual effects. Once it hit screens, traditional animation was out-
dated. Up until this time, effects were created by traditional animation
and graphics; the only computers were motion control cameras.
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