I Think I Found My People

Master Qui-Gon, more to say, have you?

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"I Think I Found My People" is the fourth episode of the documentary series Light & Magic, released on Disney+ on July 27, 2022.^[1]

Official description[]

It's the era of the 80s blockbuster and ILM is thriving, but revolution is on the horizon.

Synopsis[]

Beyond Star Wars[]

Steven Spielberg collaborates with George Lucas to produce Raiders of the Lost Ark. Industrial Light & Magic produce several of the visual effects from the film including the climatic scene where the Nazis open the Ark of the Covenant. Several ILM veterans including Lorne Peterson, Joe Johnston, Richard Edlund, Chrissie England, Dennis Muren, Patricia Rose Duignan and John Knoll are interviewed alongside George Lucas, Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy and Robert Zemeckis.

ILM also works on the iconic flying bicycles scene in E.T. The Extra-Terrestial. Muren comes up with the idea of tying ropes to the bikes. Muren along with Carlo Rambaldi and Kenneth Smith win Academy Awards for their visual effects work. ILM also works on the visual effects for Poltergeist including built an oesophagus out of bungee cords to simulate the mouth to Hell and building a model house that is designed to be collapsed. Edwin Catmull pioneers the use of computer imagery to develop the visual effects for an alien planet in The Wrath of Khan.

Creating Return of the Jedi[]

ILM also works on Return of the Jedi, hiring 170 staff. Due to the scale of production, ILM hires three visual effects supervisors including Edlund, Muren and Ken Ralston. Ralston talks about using yoghurt containers and gum to depict starships used during the Battle of Endor while Tippett and Muren build a high-speed puppet to depict the rancor. Ralston and Johnston also build model sets to simulate the speeder bike chase scene on Endor.

Lucas's pickiness about film shots creates friction with Edlund and Ralston. Following the completion of Return of the Jedi, ILM undergoes several layoffs. Edlund later leaves to start his own company while Johnston studies film at University of Southern California while working part-time at ILM. The company works on several other films including the Indiana Jones sequels, The Goonies, the Back to the Future franchise and Cocoon.

Pixar and the digital frontier[]

John Knoll talks about growing up in a family of scientists and professionals. During a trip to Los Angeles, Knoll visited ILM's visual effects workshop at Van Nuys and was inspired to pursue a career as a visual effects artist. While studying film at the University of Southern California, Knoll developed a four-channel motion control system. He later interned as a motion-control camera assist at ILM before moving to San Francisco where he worked on the Pixar Image Computer. Knoll and his older brother Thomas Knoll later developed Adobe Photoshop.

Another Lucasfilm veteran Ben Burtt talks about developing sounds for A New Hope before rising to become a unit director. Lucas talks about Lucasfilm developing new digital technologies including the computer editing system EditDroid. Lucasfilm also developed a computer graphics department led by John Lasseter, which Lucas later sold and became Pixar. The sale of Pixar allows ILM to develop its own computer graphic capabilities, focusing on movie special effects.