They looked like computer graphics, but they were created by photographing and animating reproductions of charts and graphs from technical publications. Trumbull initially created the shots using a number of Rube Goldberg-like contraptions he built with gears and motors ordered from a scientific equipment supply house. Kubrick gave the young effects technician creative freedom and encouragement: "He would say ... 'What do you need to do it?' and I would have complete carte blanche, which was wild as a young guy", Trumbull recalled. "I was 23–24 when I started the movie, and was 25 by the time I was doing the Star Gate. He would say, 'What do you need?' and I'd say, 'Well, I need to go into town and buy some weird bearings and some stuff' and he would send me off to town in his Bentley, with a driver, into London. It was great!" Trumbull's responsibilities and talents grew as the production continued, and he became one of four special effects supervisors on the film (the others were fellow Graphic Films alumnus Con Pederson, along with Tom Howard and Wally Veevers.) Trumbull's most memorable contribution was the development of the slit-scan photography process, used in the "Stargate" sequence. "... I just happened to be in the right place at the right time ... We were struggling with the Star Gate. Nobody knew what a Star Gate was; but, I came up with some ideas that I didn't even know at the time were based on some things I was learning as a young guy about street photography and weird photographic techniques ...". He created the Stargate by building a 6ft-tall sheet of rotatable metal and cut a narrow slit in it. The sheet was placed in front of a 12ft-long backlit glass panel, through which lighting patterns were shone. With a long camera exposure, the kaleidoscope of lights appeared to be darting towards the camera from a single point. Trumbull and Kubrick wanted the audience to feel like they were on the adventure themselves, and immersed in the film by participating. This approach eventually led to the Imax system of high resolution projection, which Trumbull helped to develop. Working on 2001 hooked Trumbull on the concept of producing immersive film experiences on huge screens — ironically, at a time when the industry was moving towards the multiplexing of theatres with smaller screens. Although Trumbull's association with Kubrick