Wah Ming Chang
郑华明

24 September 2019
Book Wah Ming Chang:Artist and Master of Special Effects & Magazine Life, October 1961, Courtesy of Alex Jay, Museum
of Chinese in America (MOCA) Collection
有关郑华明的书《郑华明:特效艺术家和大师》和《生活》杂志,1961年10月刊,Alex Jay捐赠,美国华人博物馆(MOCA)馆藏

Wah Ming Chang (1917-2003) was an artist, animator, and sculptor whose special effects shaped dozens of Hollywood’s most classic productions. Born in 1917 in Honolulu, Chang was an artistic prodigy: he displayed his early drawings in his family’s San Francisco tea room and by age 9 was enjoying local celebrity after hanging his first solo show at a downtown gallery. Regular customer and famed artist Blanding Sloan became young Chang’s mentor and legal guardian after the death of Chang’s mother. By 16, Chang was designing sets for the Hollywood Bowl and became the youngest member of Disney’s Effects & Model Department at age 21.

While Chang’s name never once appeared in Star Trek’s credits, he created some of the show’s most iconic effects, including the tricorder, the communicator, the Romulan bird-of-prey, and the final prototype of the phaser. In 1961, the work of Chang’s firm on The Time Machine – for which Chang designed the titular device – won the Academy Award for Special Effects, though he was never credited among the recipients. Chang’s other creations include the dinosaurs from Land of the Lost, Elizabeth Taylor’s headdress in Cleopatra, the head of the first Pillsbury Doughboy, the puppet model used by Pinocchio’s animators, and more effects for The Outer Limits, Spartacus, and Planet of the Apes.


郑华明(Wah Ming Chang 1917-2003)是一位艺术家、动画家和雕塑家,他的特效塑造了数十部好莱坞最经典的作品。1917年出生于檀香山的郑先生是一位艺术奇才:他在家族的位于旧金山的茶室中展出了自己早期的画作,9岁时,他在市中心的一家画廊举办了自己的首场个展,之后便成为了当地的名人。郑先生的母亲去世后,他的老顾客、著名艺术家Blanding Sloan成了郑先生的导师和法定监护人。16岁时,郑先生开始为好莱坞露天剧场(Hollywood Bowl)设计布景,21岁时他成为迪士尼特效模型部门最年轻的成员。

尽管郑华明的名字从未出现在《星际迷航》(Star Trek)的演职员名单中,但他创造了该剧中一些最具标志性的特效,包括三录仪(tricorder)、通讯器(communicator)、罗慕兰猛禽战舰(Romulan bird-of-prey)以及相位器(phaser)的最终原型。1961年,郑先生的公司设计的时光机(The Time Machine)——也就是郑先生设计的设备——获得了奥斯卡最佳特效奖,尽管在获奖名单中从没有他的名字。郑先生的其他作品包括《失落的大陆》(Land of the Lost)中的恐龙、《埃及艳后》(Cleopatra)中伊丽莎白·泰勒的头饰、第一个Pillsbury Doughboy的头、《皮诺曹》(Pinocchio)的动画师使用的木偶模型,以及《外星界限》(The Outer Limits)、《斯巴达克斯》(Spartacus)和《猩球崛起》(Planet of the Apes)中的更多特效。

Countdown to the TCS NYC Marathon on November 3, 2019: 216 Days.

2019年是美国第一条横贯大陆铁路建成150周年,为了纪念第一批华人来美建设这条铁路所做出的巨大贡献, MOCA将其2019 TCS NYC Marathon的活动命名为 MOCA Spike 150 – Running Forward With Our Stories! 鼓励大家通过马拉松公益跑,全国线上接力,以及一天一个故事的方式讲述150个华人的历史故事,敬请大家持续关注, 讲出华人自己的故事,回顾过去,立足现在,展望未来,共同书写美国历史,使之更加充实完整。

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