The legendary VFX supervisor on the speeder bike chase in Return of the Jedi, the stained glass knight in Young Sherlock Holmes, how ILM conquered digital compositing, and more.
Today at befores & afters, we’re launching into a special 10 episode series with Industrial Light & Magic. Many of you out there might know I was lucky enough to author the book, Industrial Light & Magic: 50 Years of Innovation. From the interviews I did for that book, we’re going to feature a number of key crew members, supervisors and personnel from ILM in this series.
First up, is Dennis Muren. The senior visual effects supervisor of course really needs no introduction – he’s a multiple VFX Oscar winner and someone who has worked on some of the most influential visual effects films in history – from the original Star Wars saga, to E.T., Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park.
In our chat, Dennis starts by reflecting on his memories of starting at ILM. We then get straight into some fun stories about particular sequences from films, like the speeder bike chase in Return of the Jedi, the stained glass knight in Young Sherlock Holmes, and even about a trailer shot for E.T.
One thing I loved talking to Dennis about was his role in the development of digital compositing and film input and output at ILM. He shares a cool anecdote about an optical/digital Pepsi challenge type shot from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Then there’s an exploration into some of the earliest virtual production and visualization explorations he was part of on A.I and on Hulk. Finally, Dennis shares what he considers his role as a VFX supervisor to be, and it might not be what you think.
This podcast is sponsored by RE:Vision Effects.
Here’s a quick quiz: Name the company that made VFX for these movies?
E.T., Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Abyss, Terminator 2,, Forest Gump, The Mask, Twister, Mission Impossible, Spawn, Speed II, Saving Private Ryan, The Perfect Storm, AI, Minority Report, Cowboys and Aliens, Lucy, Kong: Skull Island, The Revenant, The Batman, Alien: Romulus and Running Man?
Thanks for inspiring us, ILM. A message from revisionfx.com.
Listen in to the podcast, above. Below, a few spreads from Industrial Light & Magic: 50 Years of Innovation, featuring Dennis Muren.
