Gerald Finnerman was born on December 17, 1931, in Los Angeles, California.[1] He attended Hollywood High School,[2] and afterwards went to Loyola Marymount University where he majored in abnormal psychology.[3] Finnerman was a combat photographer before joining his father, Perry Finnerman, at Warner Bros., where Perry was contracted as a camera operator (and, later, a cinematographer). After Perry's death at the age of 56, Finnerman began to work with Harry Stradling at Warner. Stradling promoted Finnerman from focus puller to camera operator, and in 1964 the two left Warner to become freelancers.[1]
He was subsequently hired, and, at the age of 32, was one of the youngest cinematographers in Hollywood.[1] He later said, "On a show like Star Trek, you have to push the envelope, the result of playing it safe is a diet of pabulum."[1] He used light placements and colored gels as mood lighting. Employing lighting techniques and changing background wall colors, he discovered that a range of effects could be seen on a single set.[1] One enhancement he made was the effects for the transporter; he explained, "I put fixtures in the bottom and fixtures in the top, and [the actors] would stand on them. Then I would have somebody on a dimmer work the visual, the special effect of light going on and off, and then they would zap them."[4]
He worked on Star Trek through most of the three-year run of the series, and afterwards moved on to Mission: Impossible, another Paramount (and former Desilu) production. He worked on The Lost Man starring Sidney Poitier. In 1969 he was on board a small Piper Pacer airplane with other crew, to scout out locations in Colorado. The plane crashed,[5] and Finnerman was the sole survivor. The injuries he suffered in the crash resulted in him being required to wear a metal full body brace for the following six years.[1] He joined the American Society of Cinematographers in 1970 after being nominated by Stradling. He went on to become vice president of the society.[1]
