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A spaceship model miniature with a VFX slate and visual effects supervisor Mark Stetson's chairback from the production of Walter Hill's Supernova. The Nightingale 229 encountered several damaged buildings and ships in deep space while investigating a distress signal on the ice moon Titan 37. The planet's surface was brought to life with a combination of model miniature sets and live-action photography.

The production of Supernova was famously troubled, with MGM replacing director Hill during editing by Jack Sholder and Francis Ford Coppola. Under each director, a number of scenes were shot, added, or removed from the final cut, including several featuring Nick Vanzant (James Spader) more thoroughly investigating the Titan 37 mining colony.

This lot originated from Stetson's collection. It consists of a styrene plastic and resin spaceship model created for background shots but ultimately unconfirmed to appear in the final cut; an acrylic slate used for effects inserts with a wooden clapper and decals noting the roll, scene, and take that the slate was last used for; and a black canvas chairback with the film's title on one side and Stetson's name on the other. The ship features such ornate detailing as exterior orange mesh shell, 12 fuel containers around the body, and three landing gears. It is intentionally distressed by production to appear aged and grimy from exposure to space. Dimensions: (largest) 18" x 8.5" x 3" (46 cm x 21.5 cm x 7.5 cm)

About Mark Stetson

Visual effects maestro Mark Stetson's singular run in Hollywood began in 1978. After graduating from the prestigious Art Center College of Design, he immediately began a position as an effects props and miniatures artist for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, for which his responsibilities included building such memorable vessels as the workbee, the Constitution-class shuttlebay, and a studio model of the Enterprise itself. After filming concluded, Stetson continued working as a modelmaker, and later model shop supervisor, for Entertainment Effects Group (EEG), hand-making miniatures and other groundbreaking optical effects for acclaimed productions like Blade Runner, Ghostbusters, and Brainstorm under founder Douglas Trumbull.

By 1989, following a stint as model shop supervisor for Richard Edlund's Boss Film Corporation - including positions on such blockbuster productions as Die Hard and Poltergeist II, among numerous others - Stetson had founded his own effects company, Stetson Visual Services, Inc. Over the next 35-plus years SVSI became known for producing pioneering effects sequences for dozens of hit films, running the gamut from action classics like Total Recall, Waterworld, and The Fifth Element to acclaimed franchise installments like The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, and Superman Returns to cult comedies like Coneheads and The Hudsucker Proxy. Stetson's work in this period earned him three Academy Award nominations (and one win), two BAFTAs, and the Visual Effects Society Awards' Founders Award for innovations in the field.

Today, Propstore is proud to offer a hand-picked selection of memorabilia from the personal collection of this once-in-a-generation talent. Accumulated over nearly five decades in cinema, these lots represent a wide range of production materials, including ornately detailed model miniatures, hand-drawn artwork, and rare behind-the-scenes photographs, as well as Stetson's own production paperwork and crew gifts. Stretching across different eras, genres, and styles of production, the Mark Stetson Collection is nothing short of a testament to one of the world's most successful and imitated living visual effects artists.