Industrial Light & Magic
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| Industrial Light & Magic | |
|---|---|
| Image:Ilm.jpg | |
| Type | Subsidiary |
| Founded | May 1975 |
| Headquarters | Letterman Digital Arts Center at the Presidio of San Francisco, California, USA |
| Key people | George Lucas, Dennis Muren, Chrissie England |
| Industry | Visual Effects, CGI animation |
| Parent | Lucasfilm, Ltd. |
| Website | ILM.com |
Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is a motion picture visual effects company, founded in May 1975 by George Lucas and owned by Lucasfilm. Lucas created the company when he discovered that the special effects department at Twentieth Century Fox was shut down after he was given the green light for his production of Star Wars. The studio originated in Van Nuys, California, later moved to San Rafael, California, and is now based at the Letterman Digital Arts Center in The Presidio of San Francisco in California.
It was in the late 1980s when Adobe Photoshop made its first appearance on the world stage. It was used at the Industrial Light & Magic studios as an image processing program. Photoshop was created by ILM Visual Effects Supervisor John Knoll and his brother Thomas.
Contents |
[edit] History
Lucas wanted his 1977 film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope to include visual effects that had never been seen on film before. He first approached Douglas Trumbull, famous for 2001: A Space Odyssey. Trumbull declined, but suggested his assistant John Dykstra. Dykstra brought together a small team of college students, artists and engineers who became the Special Visual Effects department on A New Hope. Alongside Dykstra other leading members of the original ILM team were Dennis Muren, Ken Ralston, Richard Edlund, Joe Johnston, Phil Tippett, and Steve Gawley.
When making Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Lucas reformed most of the team into Industrial Light & Magic in Marin County, California. They have since gone on to produce special effects for over two hundred films, including the Indiana Jones films, the Harry Potter films, the Jurassic Park films, the Back to the Future films, many of the Star Trek films, and Ghostbusters II.
In addition to their work for George Lucas, ILM also frequently collaborates with Steven Spielberg for nearly all films that he directs, and for many that he produces as well. Dennis Muren acts as Visual Effects Supervisor on these films.
Additionally, the company has created less noticeable effects - such as widening streets, digitally adding more extras to a shot, and inserting the film's actors into famous photos - in movies such as Schindler's List, Snow Falling on Cedars, Magnolia, and several Woody Allen films.
ILM established their use of Computer Generated Imagery when they hired Edwin Catmull from NYIT in 1979. John Lasseter worked for ILM in the early 1980s as a computer animator. The computer graphics department, now known as Pixar, was eventually sold to Steve Jobs, which went on to create the first CG animated feature with Toy Story.
As of 2006, ILM has received 16 Best Visual Effects Oscars and 20 additional nominations. It had also received 22 technical Oscars.
[edit] Accomplishments
- 1977: Resurrected the use of VistaVision; first use of a motion control camera (Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope)
- 1982: First completely computer-generated sequence (the "Genesis sequence" in Star Trek II)
- 1985: First completely computer-generated character, the "stained glass man" in Young Sherlock Holmes
- 1988: First morphing sequence, in Willow
- 1989: First computer-generated 3-D character, the pseudopod in The Abyss
- 1991: First partially computer-generated main character, the T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day
- 1992: First time the texture of human skin was computer generated, in Death Becomes Her
- 1993: First time digital technology used to create a complete and detailed living creature, the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, which earned ILM its thirteenth Oscar
- 1994: The cartoon-like effects in The Mask
- 1995: The first fully synthetic speaking computer-generated character, with a distinct personality and emotion, to take a leading role(Almost 40 minutes) in Casper
- 1995: First computer-generated photo-realistic hair and fur (used for the digital lion and monkeys) in Jumanji
- 1996: First completely computer-generated main character, Draco in Dragonheart
- 1999: Used motion capture to create the undead form of the character, Imhotep in The Mummy.
- 1999: Second completely computer-generated main character, Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
- 2002: First feature film completely shot and exhibited in digital HD video in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
- 2003: Used most extensive projects and animation techniques yet to create a large, human-like, green monster in Hulk
- 2006: Develops "iMocap" system, which uses computer vision techniques to track live-action performers on set. Used in the creation of Davy Jones and ship's crew in the film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
[edit] ILM Selected filmography
- THX 1138
- Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
- Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
- Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
- Dragonslayer (1981) (first non-Lucasfilm production)
- Poltergeist (1982)
- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
- E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
- The Dark Crystal (1982)
- Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983)
- Twice Upon a Time (1983)
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
- Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
- The Neverending Story (1984)
- Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure (TV) (1984)
- Starman (1985)
- The Goonies (1985)
- Cocoon (1985)
- Back to the Future (1985)
- Explorers (1985)
- Amazing Stories (TV) (1985-87)
- Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985)
- Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (TV) (1985)
- Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)
- Out of Africa (1985)
- Enemy Mine (1985)
- The Money Pit (1986)
- Labyrinth (1986)
- Howard the Duck (1986)
- Captain EO (1986) (Disney theme park film)
- Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
- The Golden Child (1986)
- Harry and the Hendersons (1987)
- Star Tours (1987) (Disney theme park film)
- Innerspace (1987)
- Star Trek: The Next Generation - Encounter at Farpoint (Two-hour pilot, stock footage used throughout series) (TV) (1987)
- Empire of the Sun (1987)
- *batteries not included (1987)
- Willow (1988)
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
- Cocoon: The Return (1988)
- Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988)
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
- Ghostbusters 2 (1989)
- The Abyss (1989)
- Body Wars (1989) (Disney theme park film)
- Always (1989)
- Back to the Future Part II (1989)
- Back to the Future Part III (1990)
- Ghost (1990)
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
- Backdraft (1991)
- Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
- Hook (1991)
- The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (TV) (1992-93)
- Death Becomes Her (1992)
- Jurassic Park (1993)
- Schindler's List (1993)
- Star Trek: The Next Generation - All Good Things... (final episode) (TV) (1994)
- The Flintstones (1994)
- Forrest Gump (1994)
- The Mask (1994)
- Radioland Murders (1994)
- Star Trek Generations (1994)
- Casper (1995)
- Michael & Mickey (1995) (Disney theme park film)
- Jumanji (film) (1995)
- Twister (1996)
- Dragonheart (1996)
- Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
- The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
- Men in Black (1997)
- Contact (1997)
- Amistad (1997)
- Titanic (1997)
- Saving Private Ryan (1998)
- The Mummy (1999)
- Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)
- Galaxy Quest (1999)
- The Perfect Storm (2000)
- The Mummy Returns (2001)
- Artificial Intelligence: A.I. (2001)
- Jurassic Park III (2001)
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
- Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
- Minority Report (2002)
- Men in Black II (2002)
- Harry Potter and the Chanber of Secrets (2002)
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
- Hulk (2003)
- Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
- Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
- War of the Worlds (2005)
- Jarhead (2005)
- Chicken Little (2005)
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
- Rent (2005)
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
- Lady in the Water (2006)
- The Nightmare Before Christmas 3-D (2006)
- Eragon (2006)
- Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)
- Evan Almighty (2007)
- Transformers (2007)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
Upcoming films:
- The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008)
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
- Red Tails (2008)
- Jurassic Park IV (2009)
- Iron Man (2008)
- Star Trek (2008)
- Star Wars (TV) (2009)
[edit] Recent films
ILM worked on three major 2005 releases, George Lucas' Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds and Warner Bros. Pictures' Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Revenge of the Sith featured over 2,000 visual effects shots created over a three year span (By stark contrast, the groundbreaking blockbuster Jurassic Park had just over 50 effects shots). War of the Worlds was completed on a much faster timetable, with Dennis Muren supervising. ILM was also the effects studio utilized to work on Eragon which was released in December 2006.
Industrial Light & Magic also worked on battle creatures for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; the wave and underwater effects for Poseidon, a remake of The Poseidon Adventure; the majority of (invisible) effects for Mission: Impossible III and Eight Below; and most of the creature effects for Lady in the Water. ILM also created the visual effects and animation in the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy. The FX studio has finished their work on Transformers and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix among others. And as of May 14, 2007 they are slated to do the special effects for the new Iron Man film.
[edit] External links and sources
- Official ILM website (with detailed information in PDF format)
- Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) at the Internet Movie Database
- Alternative credits list from the Unofficial ILM site
- Small entry at Lucasfilm's site
George Lucas | |
|---|---|
| Directed films | THX 1138 (1971) • American Graffiti (1973) • Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) • Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999) • Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002) • Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) |
| Short films | Look at Life (1965) • Herbie (1966) • Freiheit (1966) • 1:42:08 (1966) • The Emperor (1967) • Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB (1967) • Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town (1967) • The Making of 'The Rain People' (1969) • Bald: The Making of 'THX 1138' (1971) |
| See also | Lucasfilm • Industrial Light & Magic • Skywalker Sound • LucasArts • Skywalker Ranch |
| See also George Lucas productions | |
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