Annotated Catalogue – What was the subsequent impact of Industrial Light and Magic since Star Wars?

Annotated Catalogue – What was the subsequent impact of Industrial Light and Magic since Star Wars?

 

 

Films

 

·         Item 1 – Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977), Focus Film : I chose this as my focus film for the research project since it was the first film made by the company (Industrial Light and Magic was formed in order to create the special effects for the film), and by selecting this film it can be used as starting point regarding the company’s formation, and I will also research how they were able to achieve these effects for the film.

·         Item 2 – Terminator 2: Judgement Day (James Cameron, 1991) : I chose this film as my first supporting film because I wanted to study the technological advances in the effects made for the film, and also I wish to study the way the company was able to use, create and apply the necessary computer-generated imagery for the film and look at how some of the major scenes were filmed.

·         Item 3 – Jurassic Park (Steven Spielberg, 1993) : This film has been chosen as my second supporting film because it shows us some of the more complex effects and technology that was developed for the film; I will be researching the effects and technology that were made for the film, and I will be studying at how the company was able to achieve these effects for the dinosaur creatures that appear in the film.

·         Item 4 – Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man’s Chest (Gore Verbinski, 2006) : I chose this film as my third and final supporting film for the research project because I wanted to explore Industrial Light and Magic’s much more recent and therefore advanced technology concerning the computer-generated imagery and motion capture technology. I also chose it because I wanted to show the difference between the technology made for 'Star Wars' and how much it has developed over the years. 

 

Books

·         Item 5 – Industrial Light and Magic: The Art of Innovation: This book, which was written in 2010, gives a detailed account of the films that Industrial Light and Magic have made over the years and the challenges the company had to face in terms of making the necessary special effects for their films. This book is a good source because it gives out detail for the effects made for some of the major scenes for each film and I can refer to it for future use.

·         Item 6 – Industrial Light and Magic: Creating the Impossible : This is an information resource booklet handmade by the college where it contains information of the company’s history and some information regarding the members of the company and some background information about them. Overall, this is both useful and interesting since the information about the members’ participation and the tasks described gives me a good understanding of the members’ roles and how the company achieved some of the effects for the films, and this information can be useful for future reference.

 

Online

·         Item 7 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdAEYLWMY3A: This YouTube video gives a detailed account on how the character of Davy Jones from the film ‘Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man’s Chest’ (Gore Verbinski, 2006). I found this online source useful for my research because it gives me an understanding of how the motion-capture technology for the film was used, and it gave a good understanding as to how each layer and/or segment of computer-generated imagery was applied on to the actor wearing the motion capture suit.

·         Item 8 -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzRdpYBrOJM : This video gives an account of how the nuclear holocaust scene for ‘Terminator 2: Judgement Day’ (James Cameron, 1991) was created through the use of miniature sets and the creation of the ‘winds’ and explosions. This is both an interesting and a useful source because it gives me a clear understanding of the way this scene was made, and since it is from one of the film’s major scenes, it could assist me in explaining some of the major effects and technology that the company developed over the years.

·         Item 9 - http://www.vaughnonmovies.com/2009/12/terminator-2-judgment-day/ : This web page gives a detailed positive review concerning ‘Terminator 2: Judgement Day’ (James Cameron, 1991) and it comments on the film’s plot elements and the special effects used. This review was quite useful because it gives some information about the special effects and the review himself expressed some positive opinions about the effects used, such as the miniature sets used for the nuclear holocaust scene and the complex computer-generated work for the creation of the antagonist.