It began with something Stanley Kubrick once said. With 2001: A Space Odyssey, he felt he owed the audience an experience. He wanted to use Cinerama to show people what it was like to fly through space. This was ambitious for 1968, but it worked. The film has certainly stood the test of time, due in no small part to special effects provided by Douglas Trumbull, Wally Veevers, Con Pederson and Tom Howard.

Enter MAGI, a product of the digital age. Douglas Trumbull believes his 120 frames per second format, which trounces the 48 frames per second format that Peter Jackson and James Cameron are using on their latest films, is set to open a novel avenue of filmmaking potential. Could this be what gets people back in to the theater?

I visited Trumbull’s studio in western Massachusetts to see UFOTOG, the first short film shot in MAGI. Following the film, I sat down with him to discuss his new technology.

The full-length interview can be found on RogerEbert.com.