photographed in the "smoke room" – a sealed room specially constructed to provide a smoky atmosphere – was burning fiercely. Thinking this was just another effect, he mentioned it in passing to a supervisor, who immediately grabbed an extinguisher and ran to put out the fire. The plastic and fiberglass model had been mounted too close to a powerful light which eventually set it ablaze.) Trumbull did not complete Blade Runner, (David Dryer took over as special effects supervisor) leaving the film as agreed about halfway through to concentrate on pre-production for his next directing effort, Brainstorm, a story of two brilliant scientists who develop a revolutionary device to record and vicariously experience other people's feelings and perceptions, a device the military tries to steal for its own purposes. Brainstorm was to be a showcase for Trumbull's "Showscan" process, which used special cameras and projectors to capture and project 70 mm film at 60 frames per second. At the last minute the Showscan process was not used, because theatre owners balked at the idea of installing expensive new projection equipment. The film was shot conventionally at 24 frames per second on 35 mm film, though Trumbull continued his process of shooting effects work in 70 mm. "In movies people often do flashbacks and point-of-view shots as a gauzy, mysterious, distant kind of image", Trumbull recalled, "And I wanted to do just the opposite, which was to make the material of the mind even more real and high-impact than 'reality'". The film was nearly scuttled by the mysterious drowning death of Natalie Wood during a break in production. MGM immediately shut down production and initially wanted to dump Brainstorm (and collect the insurance on the unfinished film). Trumbull argued that the film could easily be finished – Natalie Wood's performance was already "in the can" and only a few scenes would have to be reshot. Lawyers and insurance companies battled over whether to even complete the film. The movie was finally finished two years later when the insurance company supplied the money to finish production. Trumbull had pushed all the while for the studio to finish and release his movie. "I can do this", Trumbull recalled in an interview with GreenCine, "I've got all the coverage ... All you need to do is let me in the editing room and I'll show you. They said, 'No, you can't come back, we