science

Gordon Jennings

Gordon Jennings is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Gordon Jennings rather than just read about it. In short: Gordon Jennings, A.S.C. (1896 – January 11, 1953) was an American special effects artist.

Key takeaways

Gordon Jennings belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Gordon Jennings to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Gordon Jennings from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Gordon Jennings, A.S.C. (1896 – January 11, 1953) was an American special effects artist. He received seven Academy Awards (mainly for Best Special Effects) and was nominated for eight more in the same category. After starting 1919 in Hollywood as camera assistant he worked from 1932 until 1953 on the visual and special effects of more than 180 films. His older brother was cinematographer Devereaux Jennings (1884-1952), who filmed, for instance, Buster Keaton's monumental The General in 1926.

Awards and nominations

Jennings received seven Academy Awards (mainly for "Best Special Effects") and was nominated for eight more. In 1942, he beat himself winning the Academy Award for his work in 1941 on I Wanted Wings with Farciot Edouart against his second nomination for Aloma of the South Seas with Louis Mesenkop. In 1952, he was decorated twice for When Worlds Collide and with an "Award for Technical Achievement". His last receipt of an Academy Award was posthumous, when The War of the Worlds was decorated during the 1954 ceremony. Won or decorated

1938: Spawn of the North, Academy Honorary Award "for outstanding achievement in creating Special Photographic and Sound Effects in the Paramount production, Spawn of the North" 1941: I Wanted Wings 1942: Reap the Wild Wind 1944: Scientific or Technical Award (Class III) "for the design and construction of the Paramount nodal point tripod" 1951: When Worlds Collide, Category "Special Effects", not competitively but as Special Achievement Academy Award 1951: Scientific or Technical Award (Class II) "for the design, construction and application of a servo-operated recording and repeating device" 1953: The War of the Worlds, Category "Special Effects", not competitively but as Special Achievement Academy Award (posthumous) Nominated

1939: Union Pacific 1940: Typhoon 1940: Dr. Cyclops 1941: Aloma of the South Seas 1943: So Proudly We Hail! 1944: The Story of Dr. Wassell 1947: Unconquered 1950: Samson and Delilah

Filmography

References

External links Gordon Jennings at IMDb

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Gordon Jennings

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Gordon Jennings claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Gordon Jennings before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Gordon Jennings ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Gordon Jennings

In research: Gordon Jennings appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Gordon Jennings in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Gordon Jennings is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1896 births, 1953 deaths, 20th-century American people, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Gordon Jennings outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Gordon Jennings in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Gordon Jennings means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Gordon Jennings out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gordon Jennings in simple terms?

Gordon Jennings, A.S.C. (1896 – January 11, 1953) was an American special effects artist.

Why does Gordon Jennings matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Gordon Jennings?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Gordon Jennings.