Light and magic have always been intertwined concepts in human culture. From ancient mythology to modern science, they have fascinated and captivated the human imagination. Light, as a form of electromagnetic radiation, is essential for human vision and the perception of the world around us. It illuminates our surroundings, helps us navigate, and brings vibrancy to our lives. Light also plays a vital role in various forms of artistic expression, such as photography, cinema, and painting. These art forms rely on the manipulation of light to create captivating images and evoke emotions.
Although he would go on to become the preeminent sound designer of the Star Wars original trilogy and many other Skywalker Sound projects, Burtt was part of Lucasfilm in those earliest days. The industry was just being created, so most of the people hired on at the time had no experience working on a traditional feature film. “These were not Hollywood veterans who had a way of doing things,” Burtt says. “These were all young people with new ideas, coming from different backgrounds to work on a movie where they'd be learning a lot as they went. And they were asked to invent things and think outside the box. The thing was, they were all outside the box, anyways, to start.”
Johnston, Muren, Phil Tippett, and Ben Burtt were among the pioneers of visual effects and sound design hired on in the formative season of ILM and Skywalker Sound. The Light Magic episodes feature incredible archival footage of George Lucas and the first years of ILM in Van Nuys, California, as well as interviews across the four decades of the company with VFX legends including John Dykstra, Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, Joe Johnston, Phil Tippett, and many more from the current era of the company.
These art forms rely on the manipulation of light to create captivating images and evoke emotions. Magic, on the other hand, conjures images of witches, wizards, and spells. It has been a part of human folklore and storytelling for centuries.
Lawrence Kasdan, Dennis Muren, and Phil Tippett reflect on their favorite ILM effects in 'Light & Magic'
With the release of the Disney+ docuseries, Light & Magic, director Lawrence Kasdan, and VFX legends Dennis Muren and Phil Tippett share some VFX memories.
By Tara Bennett Jul 29, 2022, 1:03 PM ET Light & Magic Season 1 Episode 3 Photo: Disney+In May, George Lucas' visual effects company, Industrial Light & Magic (or ILM) celebrated its 47th year creating practical and digital visual effects for film and television. The company was formed to create the effects for Star Wars: A New Hope, and today they're working on projects across the spectrum of storytelling, including Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Avatar: The Way of Water, and all of the Disney+ Star Wars series, just to name a few.
To celebrate the company that literally changed the entire industry of visual effects, starting with practical special effect techniques and then shifting in the '90s to digital VFX and CGI (or computer-generated imagery), Lucasfilm and director Lawrence Kasdan created a six-part docuseries, Light & Magic, to track the long history of ILM from it's inception to what it continues to conjure on screens today. The Light & Magic episodes feature incredible archival footage of George Lucas and the first years of ILM in Van Nuys, California, as well as interviews across the four decades of the company with VFX legends including John Dykstra, Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, Joe Johnston, Phil Tippett, and many more from the current era of the company.
SYFY WIRE recently got on the phone with writer/director Lawrence Kasdan and VFX experts, Dennis Muren and Phil Tippett — all three of whom are long-time Lucasfilm and ILM collaborators — to talk about how ILM framed their incredible careers and the VFX that they consider to be the highlights in their creative careers.
For Kasdan, Light & Magic is the first documentary on his long resume. But its topic, ILM and visual effects, aren't really a hallmark of Kasdan's own directing oeuvre which is largely comprised of dramas the likes of Body Heat, Silverado, The Bodyguard, and Wyatt Earp. The director tells SYFY WIRE his ambition was always to direct, but he fell into the world of visual effects by accident when Steven Spielberg bought his script for the film, Continental Divide, in the late '70s.
"The first thing he said to me was, 'I want you to meet George Lucas. We're going to do a movie together.' And that was an amazing bit of luck for me. It was so incredible and unbelievable that it took me a long time to realize what had happened," Kasdan remembers. "I had been trying to get in the business for seven years, writing scripts without any luck. A month after that, I was in a little house in Sherman Oaks working out the story for Raiders of the Lost Ark. That's kind of mind-blowing, you know?"
It was collaborating on visual effects-heavy scripts with Spielberg and Lucas that gave him an appreciation for what ILM was created to do. "One thing I learned immediately from George was he never said, 'Think about the budget.' He never said, 'Tell me how we're going to do this?' That's what he had ILM for," he explains. "And if you talk to people there, they were trained, intuitively, to never say we can't do that. I never heard that once in the whole time I was putting this together. And this covers 40-50 years," he says with some awe. "Everybody wanted to say, 'Well, we can do that. I don't know how, but we will figure it out.'"
Two of the geniuses "figuring it out" at ILM were Dennis Muren and Phil Tippett. Close friends and collaborators to this day, having worked together on Tippett's 30-year passion project Mad God released this year, the two tell SYFY WIRE that Light & Magic was a project that made them actually look back on everything they'd done in their deep careers.
"It was much more in depth than anything else that I've done before," Muren says of the documentary's interviews and requests for them to dig into their personal archives." They were digging deeper and deeper for older stuff. I literally had to go through boxes of stuff. And that just feeds my memory and my curiosity. It's pretty neat now to have this done. I mean, I have just a huge amount of stuff and before this, it was just buried away and forgotten."
"The [doc] is great for our kids because we were away that whole time," Tippett says, thinking back of the work they did at the two ILM offices, first in Van Nuys and then Marin County. "You come back from work and teenagers are not even interested in what you're doing. So it's a particularly good document for that, and then for me."
Asked what projects as ILM has the most personal impact on their creative minds, the three all say it's tough to choose. But Kasdan offers Raiders of the Lost Ark as an example of a movie that worked on all levels, from story to visual effects. "It was astounding that I got to do that. And it didn't get made until after Star Wars: The Empire Strike Back, but I had written it first. And it's always for me the model of what the relatively primitive effects were. [Toht's] melting head would look completely different now if you did it digitally. But the fact that it looks a little bit hokey, that's what I love about it."
Muren says that E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which turned 40 this year, still reflects the genius of Spielberg's storytelling. "I really enjoyed the film and I thought that we did a good job in heightening the moments, trying to figure out where the emotion is for the audience for each [VFX] shot," Muren says. "And then try to make it look as photographically real as we can because it's supposed to be, but then everything's heightened too. Everything is off a bit. Colors are a little amped, the angles may be a little a tweaked. And that is essentially what a cameraman does, or some of them do, and what [cinematographer] Allen Daviau did on that show in intensifying the moments. And that's what I was trying to do on the shots we did for that too. And that was, I think, our second use of Go Motion on that show for all the bikes and everything flying around."
Asked which directors, including greats like Spielberg, Lucas, and James Cameron, that they enjoyed working with the most during their years at ILM, Tippett and Muren says that each were singular and challenged them in different ways.
"They all had different problems they needed to do, but every one of them just said, 'Give it a try. Not that you have to do it, but give it a try and we'll see where we can get.'" Muren explains. "They're all very similar. They're all have great imaginations and they're open to ideas."
"Paul Verhoeven didn't know jack s*** about visual effects and so he just trusted me," adds Tippett with a laugh. "He thought I was a genius because he didn't do this s*** Dennis and I on Starship Troopers and RoboCop, we used a lot of the same tricks that Ray Harryhausen used. If you don't know the secrets, it's like a magician doing something. But actually, there's a lot of work, though it's relatively straightforward."
Light & Magic is available to stream now on Disney+.
Magic often defies the laws of nature and showcases extraordinary powers, often associated with light. In many myths and legends, magic is portrayed as being closely linked to light, with spells and enchantments being depicted as glowing or radiating light. In modern popular culture, light and magic have found a place in various forms of entertainment. Movies and television shows often showcase magic through the use of dazzling visual effects and illusions. The Harry Potter franchise, for example, depicts magical spells and objects emitting colorful lights, captivating audiences around the world. Furthermore, stage magicians use light tricks, such as disappearing acts or levitation, to create a sense of wonder and awe in their performances. These illusions rely on careful manipulation of light sources and shadows to deceive the audience's senses. In the field of science, light and magic have also come together in interesting ways. Optics, the study of light, has led to groundbreaking discoveries and technologies that seem almost magical. From the invention of the camera to holography, our ability to capture and manipulate light has revolutionized numerous industries. In conclusion, light and magic have a deep-rooted connection in human culture. Both concepts evoke a sense of wonder, beauty, and mystery. Whether it is through artistic expression, storytelling, or scientific innovation, the exploration of light and magic continues to captivate and inspire us..
Reviews for "Creating Memorable Moments: The Transformative Power of Light in IMD"
- John Doe - 1 star - I found "Light and Magic" to be a complete disappointment. The plot was predictable and lacked any originality. The characters were one-dimensional and lacked depth. The special effects, which were supposed to be the highlight of the film, were underwhelming and failed to impress. Overall, I would not recommend wasting your time and money on this film.
- Jane Smith - 2 stars - As a big fan of fantasy movies, I was excited to watch "Light and Magic." However, I was left feeling unsatisfied. The pacing of the film was extremely slow, making it difficult to stay engaged. The dialogue felt forced and unnatural, and the acting was mediocre at best. The twists in the plot were predictable and lacked any real impact. I was disappointed with how the movie turned out and would not recommend it to others.
- Sarah Johnson - 1.5 stars - I had high expectations for "Light and Magic," but unfortunately, it fell flat. The storyline was convoluted and confusing, making it hard to follow. The acting was subpar, and the characters lacked depth and development. The special effects, while visually appealing, couldn't compensate for the film's lackluster plot. Overall, I was not impressed with this movie and would not watch it again.