American visual effects pioneer (1904–1998), developer of the optical printer, whose company Film Effects of Hollywood photographed the Enterprise model for the original Star Trek.
Linwood G. Dunn was one of the founders of modern optical effects. At RKO he worked on King Kong and Citizen Kane, and he helped to develop the commercially manufactured optical printer, for which he received Academy recognition.
His company, Film Effects of Hollywood, was one of several effects houses hired for the original Star Trek when the volume of work proved too great for the Howard Anderson Company alone. Dunn's team photographed the eleven-foot model of the Enterprise and produced composite shots for many episodes of the series.
Much of the stock footage of the starship in orbit and at warp, reused throughout the three seasons, came from the sessions shot by Dunn's company and by Anderson's.