‘The sooner you kill me, the happier I’ll be’: a VFX oral history of Samuel L. Jackson’s shocking ‘Deep Blue Sea’ departure
The making of a classic death scene.
Re-visit the CG of 1994’s ‘Lion King’
'Stampede. In the gorge. Simba's down there!'
‘True Lies’ at 25: blowing up the causeway miniature
Behind the scenes of that Florida causeway scene in the James Cameron spy adventure.
‘I want to see it!’ ILMers on the time Gary Sinise first saw his missing legs in ‘Forrest Gump’
...and other stories about the film’s classic invisible VFX.
A deep dive into shooting ‘Speed’s’ miniature L.A. Metro scenes
Crashing models, crafting sparks old-school, front projection (!), simulating anamorphic lens flares, and the mistake that stayed in the film.
‘Speed’: a tale of many buses
One bus had a section made of rubber, just in case Keanu ‘got into trouble’.
Look closely and you can see the cable pulling the ‘Speed’ bus towards the plane before it explodes
But, so what...’splosions!
Shooting ‘Speed’s’ opening titles almost destroyed the miniature elevator
'We shoved so much light into the miniature that it was literally melting and coming apart.'
The bus in ‘Speed’ wasn’t supposed to land like a 747
But it did, and it was still spectacular.
‘He lost his head’
How they made Keanu Reeves and Dennis Hopper fight atop that train in ‘Speed’.
The first big explosion in ‘Speed’ was very nearly a major disaster
And it was thanks to someone who thought they had missed their bus.
Jar Jar Binks was nearly a practical suit and a CG head
All about that ILM Jar Jar test which proved the character should be all-digital.
‘It cost about $65 to have a cold pizza delivered in the middle of the night to Skywalker Ranch’
The intensive previs process on 'The Phantom Menace'.
The world already loved lightsabers, but then ‘The Phantom Menace’ made them even better
How new ways of shooting, new digital tools and lots and lots of roto resulted in the laser swords of ‘Episode I’.
How ILM’s work on ‘Hook’ led to ‘Phantom Menace’s’ podrace
Projection mapping played a key role in making those racers go fast. Real fast.
Remember when Brendan Fraser took on all those mummies by himself?
A VFX oral history of 'The Mummy's' coolest action scene.
Man-in-suit, miniatures, mechanics and modern CG: looking back at 20 years since ‘Godzilla’
VFX supe Volker Engel goes back to the film, the trailer, and the production of the 1998 film.
How driving around L.A. with a camera out the window led to one of the coolest shots in ‘Iron Man’
Storytelling with previs, VFX and a Sony hand-held camera.
Going back to ‘Pleasantville’: when doing a DI wasn’t so easy
'Pleasantville' visual effects supervisor Chris Watts on bringing through a revolution in scanning/film-outs, the unexpected use of Shake, and the film's hardest
The Nostromo was originally yellow, and other stories from ‘Alien’s’ secret documentarian
Ridley Scott’s masterpiece is about to turn 40 - now’s the time to watch this treasure-trove of behind the scenes interviews.
The CGI tidal wave in ‘Snake Eyes’ that no one got to…sea (sorry)
The true story of the original ending of 'Snake Eyes', and its ground-breaking water sims by ILM.
Remember that time Brad Pitt got hit by a van, and a taxi?
How *that* shot in ‘Meet Joe Black’ was pulled off
Bullet Time before Bullet Time
The tests that led to the landmark visual effect of the '90s.
Making the magic mirror moment in ‘The Matrix’
"Neo looks at his hand; fingers distended into mirrored icicles that begin to melt rapidly, dripping, running like wax down his fingers,
Anatomy of a crash: ‘The Matrix’s’ stunning helicopter scene
I knew it. He's the one.
Secrets of ‘The Matrix’ code
It comes from Japanese cookbooks, it’s back to front, and it didn't always flow vertically.
Get my new book in PRINT or on KINDLE.
Issue #66: The visual effects of Avengers: Endgame.
Latest limited edition t-shirt: Pseudopod.
