SIKESTON MAN HAD HAND IN `APOLLO 13'

Maybe his relatives were thrilled when they saw the name Marty Garner roll across the screen after "Apollo 13," but Garner only felt satisfaction.

For the 25-year-old Sikeston native, the excitement came during the film, when he looked at his own work on the big screen.

He wasn't an actor, not even an extra. But Garner's work was on the screen every time the scene changed to NASA Mission Control in Houston. Garner, with painstaking attention to detail, helped create the realistic graphics that popped up on NASA computer screens.

"We decided from the beginning to make it so that the guys who really work in Mission Control would look at the screen and not laugh," he said. "Nobody else would know the difference."

Garner began pursuing his dream of working on a feature film early, enrolling in Sikeston High School's television production class and producing short films as a teen-ager. He graduated from high school in 1988 and from Memphis State University in 1992 with a degree in film and video production.

During his last year at Memphis State, crews were in Memphis filming "The Firm," starring Tom Cruise. As a film major, Garner was selected to help in production.

He worked in casting, then on the set as an assistant, finally landing in John Monsour's graphics department. Monsour's job was to design the computer screens for the movie. He is also an expert in eliminating the lines that show up on computer screens when they are filmed, a common problem in 1970s movies.

Garner and Monsour spent 20-hour days together, designing screens so that Cruise could touch the keyboard and have the appropriate graphics pop up.

Garner's name didn't show up on the credits for "The Firm," even after all his hard work.

"They decided to time the credits with a song, and it wasn't long enough, so they just cut off some names," Garner said. "They had already called me and asked the spelling and everything."

After "The Firm," he went on to work on an HBO film and a program for The Nashville Network. He later moved to Los Angeles and started at the American Film Institute.

"Apollo 13" came Garner's way last summer, after Monsour called and said he was too busy doing graphics for "Disclosure" and "Batman Forever" to work on it. Within days after Monsour's call, Garner was on a plane to Houston for research.

He got to spend time around star Tom Hanks, who was on the Mission Control set to read lines off camera. Garner also met stars Ed Harris and Clint Howard, who wanted realistic screens in front of them even when off camera so they could get into the right mood.

Garner graduated from the American Film Institute this year with a master's of fine arts degree. Now he wants to make his own low-budget film, set in his home state.

"The Ditch" is based on a script he did for his thesis about three twentysomething men living in a small Missouri town. The town is a combination of Jackson, Sikeston and Cape Girardeau, places that played a large role in Garner's life as he grew up.

The three guys feel trapped in their small town.

In looking for ways to amuse themselves, they happen upon what they think is a mystery and get into big trouble.

"It's about the frustration of people trapped in a small town who blame their feelings on the place they are in, not on themselves," Garner said.

He is back in the area shooting footage to promote his idea, but will leave for Los Angeles Thursday. There, he will put the package together and be ready to promote it by this fall.

Garner's mother, Kacky Garner, said she wasn't surprised to see her son follow his dreams or write about people who feel frustrated. Ms. Garner, the district office manager for Rep. Bill Emerson, said she knew how her son felt when he addressed his class at high school graduation.

"He said that just because you live in Sikeston, Missouri, doesn't mean you can't do anything you want or go anywhere you want," she said. "Marty believes that, and he is driven enough to follow his dreams."