This documentary celebrates the technical achievements of “Forrest Gump.” We fly through the history of composite cinematography and break down the method, using a few signature Gump scenes while referring back to classic films, with John Knoll of ILM as our VFX historian. We keep the explanations non-technical but will provide graphic animations and text to satisfy the technically curious photographers and amateur filmmakers. We pay homage to Linwood Dunn, father of modern special effects. Visual Effects wizards will illustrate how early movie magic led to the next step in VFX using computers 55 years later. We will emphasize both the aesthetic and the poetic, highlighting effects that serve the narrative without drawing attention to themselves— “invisible” effects. The piece features interviews with long-time Zemeckis collaborators and VFX magicians Ken Ralston and Doug Chiang. SELECTED VFX PROFILES: Gump meets JFK, Nathan Bedford Forrest, Legless Dan and The Washington Mall.