![]() When this footage is viewed now it not only looks primitive but truly false, and you find yourself looking for hidden wires. Prior to its release one of the most memorable visual effects in cinema, were of King Kong atop the Empire State Building swatting aeroplanes out of the sky like they were flies. This hard working determined team created one of the biggest movie events of all time. This was all done on a very low budget with the average age of the special effects crew being twenty-two years of age, and straight out of university. These are now used with great effect by movie productions worldwide. As well as new and innovative uses of the blue and green screens. New forms of stop motion photography were used to capture the many miniature models that were shot throughout the original movie. It is at the forefront of computer graphics in cinema and television and has been for almost 30 years. So as a direct result of this lack of resources George created his own in the form of ILM. When the original Star Wars “A New Hope” was shot in 1975-76 there was no-one in Hollywood let alone the world that had the special effects capabilities to make the movie believable. ![]() By no means are these over night solutions. He is a visionary and one that can see the movies he wants to create and goes about inventing ways to make them possible. It’s hard to imagine anyone who has had as big an influence in the graphics industry, without actually ever being a part of it. George Lucas has played a major role in defining how these new technologies can be implemented. They achieved this by spending a phenomenal amount of money on groundbreaking technology, which at the time was stretching the boundaries of cinema. ![]() This is fine on small time movies where the computer effects are used to save time and money but when they’re being used as the draw card as is the case in “Jurassic Park”, they must be so believable you’re left sitting in the cinema scratching your head in wonder. It means that you have completely sold them on an idea, one that they’ll not question. The biggest compliment any designer can have when working on a movie, is that the viewer was not even aware of there being any special effects. This in itself sells the movie, which would have been a flop had the dinosaurs been unrealistic. It seamlessly merges live action film with computer-generated dinosaurs. It’s not hard to see why when you watch the film. George Lucas’s ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) team, headed by Dennis Muren won an academy award for their visual effects. It was “Jurassic Park” released in 1993 that really got us to sit up and take notice. Once the digital image is captured, new technologies promote an infinite amount of creative input that were not possible with the photochemical process. All of these still play a major role but now instead of the script being written around their limitations, it has expanded to include CGI (Computer Generated Imagery), which is fast creating a medium with unlimited potential. Within reason it was also cost effective, cutting down on many costs that went into creating props and real pyrotechnics. It helped make characters, creatures, monsters, dinosaurs and even other planets far more realistic than props within a studio ever could. Many years ago it was established that computer graphics were an essential part in creating the imaginary world, which is cinema. The next instalment of the Star Wars saga had been eagerly anticipated not only by hard-core fans but also by those of us that have a vested interest in the future of computer generated imagery within cinema. On May 16 th of last year “Attack of the Clones” was released worldwide. Right or wrong you can be rest assured the visual effects will be unsurpassed even if the script is found wanting. Each furthering the digital film process. Since I wrote this the balance of the Lord of the Rings series including The Hobbit as well as Avatar have been released. With Disney’s purchase of the Star Wars franchise as well as ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) I thought there was a fresh relevance. It is out of date now, especially in the world of film. It found its way into the “Vivid Imagery Australia” magazine as a four page feature. This article was written and published back in June of 2002.
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