FILM

Silent Running (1972) was Douglas Trumbull's first directing experience. The box office success of the low budget Easy Rider, induced Universal to hand one million dollars to five "unsupervised" film projects, Silent Running was one of them.

The interiors were shot on board the actualValley Forge aircraft carrier, which was drydocked before being dismantled. Doorways were cut and minimal set dressing was applied. The cargo bay was actually the hanger on the carrier. A number of corporations donated parts and materials to the production (many of their logos can be seen on the cargo modules). Particularly, Dow Chemical donated lots of sheet plastic that was vacuumformed into everything from the cargo modules to the drones.

Photos:

Images from collections of Tom Seiler, Lee Gotcher, Mark Dowman