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The level of effects is so high right now
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that the only limitation is
basically money and imagination.
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It's almost like we've come full circle.
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We now have to be telling
a damn good story with good characters,
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and the effects are more of a given.
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You can no longer earn
somebody's sense of satisfaction
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just because you dazzled them visually.
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I really believe that effects
need to service the story.
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When the effects become the story,
we've lost our way.
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The story is still the story
is still the story is still the story.
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Whether you write it in pencil
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or you write it in ink,
it's the same story.
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(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)
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You can never pinpoint
how or why things happen.
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And there's always a collision
of circumstances,
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a little bit of luck.
Sometimes something goes wrong
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that actually sets you on another course,
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and in this case, we had started
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talking about doing Jurassic Park.
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We convinced Stan Winston and Dennis Muren
at ILM to work together.
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MARK DIPPE: Steven Spielberg
always has the A-team.
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He had the four best in their arenas.
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The four horsemen there.
You got Stan Winston.
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He's creature creator builder
par excellence, he's the best around.
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He got Phil Tippett. He's Mr. Creature
animator, puppeteer, stop motion.
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He's the guy. You got Michael Lantieri,
who's the practical effects guy.
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And you got Dennis Muren.
He's the visual effects wizard
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that can take the stuff these people do
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and make it all work together
and look like it's real.
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I've heard anecdotally that Steven
was looking for someone that could help
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with the dinosaurs,
and George said, "Phil's your guy."
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I was completely ready to go down
the Phil Tippett route
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to be able to create these animals
in all the wide shots that Stan Winston
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wasn't creating in his monster shop.
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At that point in time,
with that technology,
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we were going to use the stop motion
puppet and high speed miniatures.
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DENNIS: Just going to go stop motion.
We could go in and help
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some of the animation
as a post-production thing,
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to help smooth it out and make it better.
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MARK: Dennis goes, "Okay,
we've got to figure out what to do,
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"so this doesn't look like
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"the stop motion pictures of
before Ray Harryhausen."
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"So you guys can add the blur," and I go,
"Yeah, sure we can add the blur."
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But my belief was, man, we've already done
stuff that's so far advanced from that.
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Why are we saying
this is what we're going to do?
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Well, we can do CG dinosaurs.
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DENNIS: I was very reluctant
to even think about doing
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the CG or computer graphics thing
at the beginning of it.
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Didn't seem like we were ready for a show
that big and much more complicated
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than Terminator 2.
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MARK: Dennis is a believer,
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but he's a realist, so he's like...
You know, we did The Abyss,
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we did T2,
but those are alien hard surfaces.
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They're not natural, organic,
breathing, sweating, bleeding things.
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We haven't really done that successfully.
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I don't know.
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The other point is that they've already
pushed the project in a direction.
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They spent a lot of time and money.
They're already building huge things.
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But what I said to Spaz is,
"We cannot not try."
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So after hours, basically,
we began building the bones of the T. rex.
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(PRINTER BUZZING)
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SPAZ: I started with bones.
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I scan in a T. rex mukada,
some perfect specimen
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that they had found flat
on a high tech scanner.
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Put it up on my monitor
and built the bones,
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made him 3D, had a great pose, you know,
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and then started animating it
as a forward kinematic process.
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So I had a walking Rex on bones.
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I'm pretty sure that Dennis
saw the walking bones.
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But again, it's kind of like,
"Okay, that's really cool,
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"you know, but living, breathing."
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We're not doing skeletons.
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Phil Tippett was way down the road
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with his stop motion,
and they were looking really good.
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KATHLEEN: Phil Tippett is working away.
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Stan Winston is working away.
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We're pulling every single tool together
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to figure this out
and seeing shot for shot what can work.
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Things were now moving. Kathy Kennedy
was coming up once in a while.
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SPAZ: I knew they were coming up,
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Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall,
on November 14th, 1991.
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They were like an ensemble
moving through, right? The company.
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And I knew where they were
in C building here.
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So this is kind of this big moment.
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No one's going to present this idea
because no one believes in it.
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SPAZ: So I had a monitor position
and I had the cycle going,
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this walking T. rex in bone
and they came walking in,
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and it was a total ambush.
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There's this room we have
where we screen these clips
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and they'll be on monitors
and they could be on a loop.
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People can see them and go,
"I like that or I don't like that."
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She was looking at something else.
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Go into this room and there's this kid
sitting there, it looks like,
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and he's really a kid,
and he's manipulating everything.
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And Dennis and I are staring
at this computer screen.
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MARK: I can remember her saying,
"What's going on with that?
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"That's a dinosaur bone.
I mean, that's part of Jurassic, right?
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"So what is that?"
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I said, I'm just messing around like that,
you know, and she patted me on the back
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and she goes,
"You have a very bright future."
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That's what she said. (LAUGHS)
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The first thing, of course, I said to
Dennis was, "Well, what does this mean?
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"Can we do some shots this way?
What? How's this going to work?"
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And he said, "We're working on something
to show Steven."
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They ended up speeding up the test,
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doing it faster and faster,
and it ended up working
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at every step of the way that it was
sort of undeniable that they...
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Just had to, like, consider it,
even though Phil was starting on the show
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and his company was gearing up
and everything like that.
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SPAZ: Dennis was
in a very difficult position,
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you can imagine, because here
we are doing this clandestine thing.
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Yet his buddy is supposed to be doing
the entire film in stop motion, you know,
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and we're sneaking around doing this,
you know.
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PHIL: It was Mark and Steve
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that had a belief that they could
make dinosaurs, and they did.
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They pulled it off terrifically well.
But there was a bit of antagonism there,
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and it was kind of, like,
the old gunslinger.
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And, you know, the new one, you know,
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it was like there was a competition
that I thought was like, "Why?"
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Phil Tippett. In those days,
he did not believe
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in the computer's ability
to create lifelike creatures.
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He believed that the linearity,
the perfectness,
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the mathematical aspect of computers
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makes them create things
that have that characteristic,
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and things like the liquid metal man.
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Get out.
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Whereas living, breathing creatures
do unexpected things,
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don't behave the way you want
when they trip or break their leg.
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It looks all ugly and messed up.
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He was sort of philosophically
against that approach.
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He was dealing with this thing
that he saw as being,
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you know, a Voldemort. Computers, right?
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You know, I'd see him there
working on the computer
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with the mouse and all this stuff
and just... (MUTTERING)
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And what I visualized was like,
you'd be saying,
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"Okay, well, if you're a cowboy
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"and you have two six-guns,
let's see you shoot that tin can
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"off that post 100 feet away."
And they go like...
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(MIMICKING GUNSHOTS)
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I was like, "Well,
why didn't you shoot the can?
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"Well, I don't have any bullets."
(LAUGHING) "But I do this really well."
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So what happened then is now
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the project became official,
as in sort of an experiment at ILM.
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Obviously, Dennis had talked
to Spielberg about it,
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and so more money
had secretly come to ILM,
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and we find out that they want us
to build the whole skin.
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I have heard Dennis Muren say
that the view paint,
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the texture painting, was the thing
that made the transformation for Jurassic.
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It took a long time, I think it was
six months to paint one dinosaur.
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They originally had planned to do much
more of the texturing of the animals,
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procedurally with the computer
by saying, "Here is a pattern.
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"Repeat this pattern all over the animal."
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But the problem with that
is that it was too repetitious,
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it was too machine-like.
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We really needed some more
artistic freedom.
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So we went back
to designing skin texture
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to actually bump maps and color maps,
where an artist would actually go in
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and paint those onto the creatures.
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CAROLYN: This is the wire frame
on the T. rex.
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This is how the model comes to us
before it's painted.
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Once this wire model is made, its skin...
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And then I put the color on the model.
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This is exactly
how I would go in and paint.
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I would choose my colors
and I painted him from toe to nose
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three times, and then went in
and did lot of touch-up work
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on top of that.
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When the thing could tell a story,
and it could,
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the dinosaurs could have the scale,
pattern, and the color...
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That was the tremendous leap
forward about Jurassic Park.
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So we got a sixth scale T. rex model
that Stan Winston had built,
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and then we cut it up very carefully
in our shop.
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We got these wizards that can do
anything like that, perfect.
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And it's in these sections small enough
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to put into the laser scanner
that existed down in Monterey.
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We went down to a company
called Cyberware.
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They had the only
three-dimensional scanner.
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And it would extract the data
into a polygonal data set.
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Now, polygonal data sets are 90 degree
crosshair section, like a ship, okay,
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but there's no contour to it,
so you can't have proper animation.
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So from that we had to rebuild
all the data to have the proper contour.
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Then we hooked on all the skin data
from the skin artists.
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Then did the first walking,
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fully rendered in daylight shot,
which took us about four months to do.
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And Dennis went and shot a plate, I think
might even been a still in the end.
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DENNIS: I picked the hardest design
I could come up with,
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which was just a static view
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of the T. rex in broad daylight,
walking right toward you.
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Big, looming above you,
and Steve Williams animated it,
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Stefen Fangmeier did the lighting on it.
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Every opportunity to see anything wrong,
you were going to see in this test.
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We weren't trying to hide anything.
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JEAN: Steve Williams invited me
for one of the very earliest screenings
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in the C building of the T. rex test.
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And I was in this perceived
screening room... I think Dennis,
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and a handful of people,
and I knew that I was lucky to be there.
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This was going to be a very
interesting moment, but I had no idea.
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It's one thing to see little tests,
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you know, it's another thing
to see it rendered on the screen.
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(FILM REEL ROLLING)
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And the T. rex comes thundering across
the screen and it's fully painted.
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I mean, it's still early days,
but there it was in the scene.
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And to watch that T. rex
coming across the screen...
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I knew that at that moment,
I knew that visual effects
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would never be the same again.
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The thing worked, and just instantly,
it's like, everything worked.
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The animation worked,
the design, the lighting worked.
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The comp worked, the sense of it
being standing on the ground worked,
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the blurring on it worked. All this stuff,
because these guys are all terrific.
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Up until really that moment,
everything that we were doing
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in the model shop to create a dinosaur,
Phil's beautiful stop motion work
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and the stuff
that Stan Winston's company created...
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they were all bound by gravity.
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You had to have a way
to support that thing
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with your wires or a pole
or a hand puppet or something.
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And all of a sudden I realized
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that this could exist anywhere
and it could do anything.
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And I was witnessing it with a small group
of people in the C screening room,
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going almost weak, you know,
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with the amazement of it.
I'll never forget that.
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They did the stained glassman
for Young Sherlock and water snake thing
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in The Abyss and Terminator 2,
and I had always kind of thought
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well, yeah, the computer is great
for these hallucinogenic things
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but good luck doing a living,
breathing creature.
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Until he showed me the final shot
that they were going to show Spielberg,
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and it was like...
Whoops! (LAUGHING) Okay.
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My memory of Phil is he's kind of going,
"Okay, it looks pretty good."
227
00:14:14,146 --> 00:14:17,357
But, you know, that's just a dinosaur,
kind of taking a few steps,
228
00:14:17,441 --> 00:14:21,945
you know, so he was still kind of
like, okay, and but he's,
229
00:14:22,029 --> 00:14:23,906
you know, you can't say, it sucks.
230
00:14:23,989 --> 00:14:26,074
Everyone in the room's going holy (BLEEP),
you can't.
231
00:14:26,158 --> 00:14:29,077
You've got to, like,
accept the truth of what it is.
232
00:14:30,537 --> 00:14:33,373
SPAZ: Then Dennis brought down
the film with Tippett
233
00:14:33,457 --> 00:14:37,461
to show Steven Spielberg,
and, boom, comes on Kathleen Kennedy.
234
00:14:37,628 --> 00:14:41,048
This isn't a very long piece of film
that we're putting up.
235
00:14:41,131 --> 00:14:42,591
It's pretty quick.
236
00:14:42,674 --> 00:14:47,429
It was a fully rendered walking T. rex,
and they saw it and they flipped out.
237
00:14:47,638 --> 00:14:53,018
All of us leapt to our feet.
I mean, literally leapt to our feet.
238
00:14:53,226 --> 00:14:57,981
I had a kind of religious experience,
239
00:14:58,565 --> 00:15:00,984
and probably the greatest epiphany
240
00:15:01,068 --> 00:15:05,948
I've ever experienced
in my own world of making movies.
241
00:15:06,031 --> 00:15:10,452
That was the moment that I suddenly saw
242
00:15:10,535 --> 00:15:13,455
that everything was going to change.
243
00:15:13,956 --> 00:15:16,625
Not just my movie
was going to be a better movie,
244
00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:20,587
but the entire world was going
to follow in the footsteps
245
00:15:20,671 --> 00:15:25,676
of what Dennis Muren and Phil Tippett
and ILM were bringing to Jurassic Park.
246
00:15:25,801 --> 00:15:28,470
It was going to change
everything for all of us
247
00:15:28,553 --> 00:15:31,181
and for audiences everywhere.
248
00:15:31,515 --> 00:15:33,392
And we were never going to go back.
249
00:15:34,142 --> 00:15:37,020
Steven goes, "Well,
that's how we're gonna do the movie."
250
00:15:37,104 --> 00:15:40,524
And he was actually
a very compassionate guy.
251
00:15:40,607 --> 00:15:46,780
Yeah, I was putting on a brave face,
but he realized what the consequences
252
00:15:46,863 --> 00:15:51,618
that this were for me
and asked me how I felt,
253
00:15:51,702 --> 00:15:57,249
and I said, "I feel extinct,"
and he goes, "That's a great line.
254
00:15:57,332 --> 00:15:59,001
"I'm putting that in the movie."
255
00:16:03,171 --> 00:16:05,382
I think he was shell-shocked.
256
00:16:05,590 --> 00:16:07,676
My world had evaporated.
257
00:16:08,051 --> 00:16:12,222
I got pneumonia.
I had to stay in bed for two weeks.
258
00:16:12,347 --> 00:16:14,725
I just thought everything that I had
259
00:16:14,808 --> 00:16:21,398
ever worked for and built
was like... into the trash can.
260
00:16:23,316 --> 00:16:27,571
KATHLEEN: I can't think of many other
moments in effects
261
00:16:27,654 --> 00:16:30,615
where one way of doing something
262
00:16:30,699 --> 00:16:35,078
was so almost overnight, had changed.
263
00:16:35,203 --> 00:16:37,372
So when the whole thing
came down with Phil,
264
00:16:37,456 --> 00:16:39,082
I don't think he was very happy.
265
00:16:39,166 --> 00:16:41,168
And I don't blame him
because it basically was
266
00:16:41,251 --> 00:16:43,253
supposed to be the ultimate stop motion.
267
00:16:43,336 --> 00:16:47,549
It was supposed to be his opus,
you know, pretty much.
268
00:16:47,632 --> 00:16:52,471
Yeah. I feel like (BLEEP). And I don't
remember, all that's kind of a blur to me.
269
00:16:53,805 --> 00:16:57,809
But then I got a call from Steven and
he says, "Yeah, we want you on the show,
270
00:16:57,893 --> 00:16:59,978
"you know, you know too much."
271
00:17:00,145 --> 00:17:04,816
You know, so... "You never lost your job.
We'll just kick you upstairs.
272
00:17:04,900 --> 00:17:09,279
"You don't need to be an animator.
You just need to direct animators."
273
00:17:09,821 --> 00:17:16,203
He was going to go from somebody
whose hands in the craft
274
00:17:16,286 --> 00:17:22,250
of changing armatures, to the greatest
dinosaur whisperer in the world.
275
00:17:23,710 --> 00:17:25,921
DENNIS: Phil knew how animals
moved and loved,
276
00:17:26,004 --> 00:17:29,424
and his guys that he was working with
were the same way, the animators.
277
00:17:29,508 --> 00:17:32,594
We needed them moving the dinosaurs.
278
00:17:32,677 --> 00:17:35,931
But with a tool that could
feed it into the computer,
279
00:17:36,014 --> 00:17:37,974
then we could fix things
up in the computer.
280
00:17:38,058 --> 00:17:40,352
So we had to build this thing
that's called the D.I.D.
281
00:17:40,435 --> 00:17:43,230
They called the Dinosaur Input Device,
and that was basically
282
00:17:43,313 --> 00:17:46,900
an armature, stop-motion armature,
in the shape or the skeleton of a T. rex.
283
00:17:53,949 --> 00:17:57,494
PHIL: It was hooked up to encoders
that would plug into the computer,
284
00:17:57,577 --> 00:17:59,913
and when you move the head
of the Tyrannosaurus here,
285
00:17:59,996 --> 00:18:02,582
the image on the computer
screen would move.
286
00:18:05,418 --> 00:18:09,548
The idea to build this device,
it just seemed like a no-brainer.
287
00:18:09,631 --> 00:18:12,342
And I guess I had such experience at ILM,
288
00:18:12,425 --> 00:18:15,178
you know, starting with what John Dykstra
had done on Star Wars.
289
00:18:15,262 --> 00:18:18,390
Just starting from scratch and doing it
that I had no problem
290
00:18:18,473 --> 00:18:19,933
saying, "Let's do this."
291
00:18:20,016 --> 00:18:23,061
There were people at ILM
that wanted to exclude Phil,
292
00:18:23,145 --> 00:18:26,731
but it was not going to happen
because the value he had needed
293
00:18:26,898 --> 00:18:30,819
to stay within the show,
and I had my personal relationship.
294
00:18:30,902 --> 00:18:34,531
It was much, much better for the movie
to have Phil working it.
295
00:18:34,698 --> 00:18:35,824
PHIL: He roars right there.
296
00:18:35,907 --> 00:18:38,201
This is where he hurls it
into the skeleton.
297
00:18:38,493 --> 00:18:39,494
This direction so you could
298
00:18:39,578 --> 00:18:43,498
get the raptors on this side of his head,
get him around this...
299
00:18:43,582 --> 00:18:46,209
STEVEN: Through Phil Tippett's
stop motion miniatures
300
00:18:46,293 --> 00:18:49,963
and his on-the-set monitoring of behavior,
301
00:18:50,046 --> 00:18:54,217
he was going to bring life
to those animals in a different way.
302
00:18:54,426 --> 00:18:55,802
-He'd be wiping like...
-Yeah.
303
00:18:55,886 --> 00:18:57,179
Right at the camera.
304
00:18:57,262 --> 00:19:00,265
PHIL: What I insisted
that the animators do
305
00:19:00,390 --> 00:19:05,228
was imagine themselves as the dinosaur
306
00:19:05,729 --> 00:19:12,027
to kind of, like, self-hypnotize yourself
into this imaginary mindset.
307
00:19:12,110 --> 00:19:14,029
So here's how far we went...
movement classes.
308
00:19:14,112 --> 00:19:17,073
Okay. Ready? Focus. Get down here.
309
00:19:17,949 --> 00:19:19,201
Go.
310
00:19:28,001 --> 00:19:30,128
MARK: A lot of that's Phil.
You get your guys,
311
00:19:30,212 --> 00:19:31,963
if you're gonna do movement of animals,
312
00:19:32,047 --> 00:19:33,882
you've got to be able
to move like animals.
313
00:19:33,965 --> 00:19:36,551
When I think about it,
it's exactly the right way to do it.
314
00:19:36,635 --> 00:19:39,971
You just go all out.
Everyone is totally immersed in dinosaurs.
315
00:19:40,055 --> 00:19:41,723
We learned all about this stuff.
316
00:19:46,853 --> 00:19:48,313
And we got so freaked out.
317
00:19:48,396 --> 00:19:51,066
I remember one day we're sitting there
going, "How do we know
318
00:19:51,191 --> 00:19:53,944
"the way we're doing dinosaurs
will look good on film?"
319
00:19:54,236 --> 00:19:57,906
Well, let's take 35mm film
of us being dinosaurs...
320
00:19:59,282 --> 00:20:00,533
and project it,
321
00:20:00,617 --> 00:20:04,329
and look at it and see what we think
of ourselves being dinosaurs,
322
00:20:04,412 --> 00:20:07,499
because that might be what it looks like
when we animate them.
323
00:20:07,624 --> 00:20:09,334
Okay? Yeah. Why not? Why not?
324
00:20:09,793 --> 00:20:11,419
So we go out there, we build a set,
325
00:20:11,503 --> 00:20:14,297
it's the scene where the Gallimimus
are running from the T. rex.
326
00:20:14,381 --> 00:20:17,092
They jump over the log and everyone's
supposed to be in character.
327
00:20:17,175 --> 00:20:19,886
And so Ty Ellingson, one of
the lead art directors on the show,
328
00:20:19,970 --> 00:20:21,638
he's going to be the scared Gallimimus,
329
00:20:21,721 --> 00:20:24,474
where he stops on the log and looks back,
and then jumps off.
330
00:20:24,557 --> 00:20:26,977
Everyone's running like...
(LAUGHS) a Gallimimus.
331
00:20:27,060 --> 00:20:31,648
Ty jumps the log, he slips
and lands and breaks his drawing arm.
332
00:20:32,065 --> 00:20:37,570
So after that, the rule at ILM
was no more pretending you're dinosaurs.
333
00:20:38,029 --> 00:20:40,991
But it's all worth it
if you get the right end result.
334
00:20:41,283 --> 00:20:42,617
(SNARLS)
335
00:20:45,370 --> 00:20:48,873
-GIRL: Timmy, what is it?
-It's a Velociraptor.
336
00:20:50,834 --> 00:20:52,585
(BREATHES SHAKILY) It's inside.
337
00:20:52,669 --> 00:20:57,299
The kitchen sequence in Jurassic Park,
if you look at the original animatic
338
00:20:57,382 --> 00:21:01,052
done with little rubber puppets like this,
you know, it's been worked out.
339
00:21:03,388 --> 00:21:07,517
(GRUNTING)
340
00:21:08,184 --> 00:21:10,437
I mean, there's some attitudes
of the dinosaurs,
341
00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:11,896
there's their performances.
342
00:21:11,980 --> 00:21:13,023
(SNARLS)
343
00:21:13,106 --> 00:21:15,692
(GROWLING)
344
00:21:16,985 --> 00:21:19,112
You know, so much of it
was worked out already,
345
00:21:19,195 --> 00:21:23,033
and he had the same guys
that did those animatics
346
00:21:23,116 --> 00:21:25,702
also did the actual performances
for the film
347
00:21:25,869 --> 00:21:28,705
by moving the D.I.D. creature.
348
00:21:29,039 --> 00:21:30,915
(GROWLING)
349
00:21:33,418 --> 00:21:36,338
(SNARLING)
350
00:21:37,797 --> 00:21:42,802
DENNIS: So their essence and soul
was in it, and Phil was directing it.
351
00:21:42,886 --> 00:21:45,930
He directed the original animatics
and the other stuff, too.
352
00:21:46,348 --> 00:21:49,142
(GROWLING)
353
00:21:50,769 --> 00:21:53,980
You know, the main road sequence
when you first see the T. rex,
354
00:21:54,230 --> 00:21:56,066
that's his guys doing that stuff.
355
00:21:56,441 --> 00:22:00,403
That stuff has got a lot
of powerful performance animation.
356
00:22:00,653 --> 00:22:02,739
(ROARING)
357
00:22:02,822 --> 00:22:04,866
Boy, do I hate being right all the time.
358
00:22:05,950 --> 00:22:09,329
Early in the process, Steven said to me,
359
00:22:09,746 --> 00:22:15,168
um, "I need it to run."
Like that was going to be something easy.
360
00:22:15,293 --> 00:22:17,295
It was obviously not easy.
361
00:22:17,462 --> 00:22:20,256
That took me four months
to figure out that animation.
362
00:22:25,053 --> 00:22:29,349
I had to figure out how to make
nine tons run 35-40 miles an hour,
363
00:22:29,432 --> 00:22:31,101
which your eye does the math.
364
00:22:31,184 --> 00:22:33,353
It goes, this does not look right,
you know.
365
00:22:33,561 --> 00:22:36,940
MARK: Fundamentally,
it is not natural to have
366
00:22:37,023 --> 00:22:40,527
an animal that large that
only has two legs,
367
00:22:40,610 --> 00:22:42,946
whose head weighs a ton
to do all these things.
368
00:22:43,029 --> 00:22:45,115
So it's strange.
369
00:22:45,198 --> 00:22:48,284
Of course, everybody's reading,
"The T. rex never ran." Great.
370
00:22:48,410 --> 00:22:52,122
Well, Spielberg wants it to run.
I have to make it run.
371
00:22:52,247 --> 00:22:54,332
I have to make it chase a Jeep, you know?
372
00:23:03,466 --> 00:23:06,344
MARK: So we do this animation
and we work on it, like, crazy,
373
00:23:06,428 --> 00:23:07,762
and Phil isn't liking it.
374
00:23:07,846 --> 00:23:09,597
And Spielberg's kind of agreeing,
375
00:23:09,681 --> 00:23:12,725
and we've been beating
on this thing for weeks,
376
00:23:12,809 --> 00:23:14,394
and Spaz is getting depressed.
377
00:23:16,521 --> 00:23:18,189
Every day. It wasn't looking right.
378
00:23:18,314 --> 00:23:20,150
Wasn't looking right.
Wasn't looking right.
379
00:23:20,233 --> 00:23:23,403
Phil is basically saying Spaz can't do it.
What are we going to do?
380
00:23:23,486 --> 00:23:26,781
But I'm saying Spaz can do it.
You guys can do it. We can do it.
381
00:23:26,865 --> 00:23:28,491
It's really getting like that.
382
00:23:28,575 --> 00:23:29,909
There's this one last meeting,
383
00:23:30,493 --> 00:23:34,164
Phil can point at a million things that
are wrong, and Steven's on the fence.
384
00:23:34,247 --> 00:23:37,792
I can hear it. "It's pretty good. I think
you're right, but it's pretty good."
385
00:23:37,876 --> 00:23:40,879
SPAZ: So Mark and I are looking at it
and it had 150 curves,
386
00:23:41,087 --> 00:23:44,591
so I took all the curves
and I scaled them by 20%.
387
00:23:44,674 --> 00:23:48,052
So I wrote a little algorithm
that scaled all the curves.
388
00:23:48,470 --> 00:23:51,264
It just slowed the creature
down that much more.
389
00:23:51,347 --> 00:23:53,141
And bingo, it worked.
390
00:23:59,189 --> 00:24:01,399
(GROWLING)
391
00:24:02,066 --> 00:24:05,361
The last shot I animated was the Rex
chasing Jeff Goldblum.
392
00:24:05,487 --> 00:24:07,155
(DINOSAUR SCREECHING)
393
00:24:07,238 --> 00:24:08,698
You know, by that time I just,
394
00:24:08,781 --> 00:24:11,618
you know, it took me five, six days
to animate that shot.
395
00:24:13,328 --> 00:24:15,288
(SCREECHING)
396
00:24:15,580 --> 00:24:18,416
SPAZ: And the guy who gets it
off the toilet seat, right?
397
00:24:18,500 --> 00:24:21,503
That's a T-1000 with shorts on,
and that's the actual data.
398
00:24:22,795 --> 00:24:24,631
I just repurposed the data.
399
00:24:25,089 --> 00:24:28,176
(ROARING)
400
00:24:28,468 --> 00:24:34,057
When we saw the dinosaurs
that were created by the computers,
401
00:24:34,140 --> 00:24:39,145
I mean, I cried because I knew
the writing was on the wall. (LAUGHS)
402
00:24:39,229 --> 00:24:43,441
The creature shop was no more
and that digital would take over,
403
00:24:43,525 --> 00:24:45,693
which was George's vision all along.
404
00:24:45,860 --> 00:24:49,072
When we went digital,
most of the model shop
405
00:24:49,155 --> 00:24:50,532
just packed up and left.
406
00:24:50,615 --> 00:24:52,617
When that transition happened,
407
00:24:52,700 --> 00:24:54,577
you know, to CG, from practical,
408
00:24:54,661 --> 00:24:56,746
we thought it would take
a little bit longer.
409
00:24:56,829 --> 00:25:01,042
You know, Jim Morris one time came to us
and talk to, before the whole group.
410
00:25:01,125 --> 00:25:02,585
You know that the world is changing
411
00:25:02,669 --> 00:25:05,171
and this is going to happen,
and this is going to happen.
412
00:25:05,255 --> 00:25:08,675
And he called a meeting,
like, four months later, he said,
413
00:25:08,758 --> 00:25:13,137
"It's happening a thousand times
faster than I ever anticipated."
414
00:25:13,221 --> 00:25:16,266
It was a hard time because,
you know, I'd been in the trenches
415
00:25:16,349 --> 00:25:19,102
with all the guys,
whether it was the camera folks,
416
00:25:19,185 --> 00:25:21,854
the model makers, the gaffers, grips,
417
00:25:22,021 --> 00:25:26,025
the practical effects people.
And I loved all that stuff.
418
00:25:26,818 --> 00:25:30,488
So it was a wistful time at best,
and a sad time at others
419
00:25:30,572 --> 00:25:32,282
as that started to go away.
420
00:25:35,451 --> 00:25:37,704
JOHN GOODSON: There was less and less work
for the Model Shop,
421
00:25:37,787 --> 00:25:39,872
so if you weren't going
to do the digital thing,
422
00:25:39,956 --> 00:25:42,125
you weren't going
to be working full-time anymore.
423
00:25:42,208 --> 00:25:45,587
Some people actually made
the transition, didn't like it,
424
00:25:45,670 --> 00:25:47,297
and came back again.
425
00:25:47,463 --> 00:25:49,507
Some people just didn't want to do it.
426
00:25:52,385 --> 00:25:55,722
LORNE: You know, I had absolutely
no inclination to switch to CG.
427
00:25:55,888 --> 00:25:58,516
It's not a love of mine and never was.
428
00:25:58,683 --> 00:26:01,769
Sitting in a chair... I couldn't do it.
429
00:26:02,061 --> 00:26:05,523
KIM: They said, "You know,
they're looking for another CG person
430
00:26:05,648 --> 00:26:08,443
"to do hard surface stuff,
are you interested?"
431
00:26:08,526 --> 00:26:10,528
And I said, "Yeah."
432
00:26:10,612 --> 00:26:12,739
JOHN GOODSON: Kim transitioned
a month ahead of me
433
00:26:12,822 --> 00:26:16,242
and when she went, I was like,
"Okay, that's what I'm gonna do, too."
434
00:26:16,826 --> 00:26:20,705
It was grueling. I was exhausted.
435
00:26:20,788 --> 00:26:23,625
JOHN GOODSON: For about six months,
I dreamt in pull down menus.
436
00:26:23,708 --> 00:26:25,418
People from the model shop would say,
437
00:26:25,501 --> 00:26:27,462
"What's it like working
in computer graphics?"
438
00:26:27,545 --> 00:26:29,714
I said, "Well, imagine
you go into the wood shop
439
00:26:29,797 --> 00:26:32,258
"and you're going to cut wood.
You turn on the saw.
440
00:26:32,342 --> 00:26:34,552
"You put the wood down,
you start to cut it,
441
00:26:34,636 --> 00:26:38,348
"and the shop disappears,
and you don't know where it went.
442
00:26:38,431 --> 00:26:40,725
"You bang around for a few minutes
and it comes back
443
00:26:40,808 --> 00:26:43,061
"and the wood's cut,
and you don't know how."
444
00:26:43,144 --> 00:26:45,229
I said, "That's what
computer graphics is like."
445
00:26:45,313 --> 00:26:47,940
You can't expect everything
to stay the same.
446
00:26:48,024 --> 00:26:51,653
You can't expect things to be
exactly the way they were.
447
00:26:51,736 --> 00:26:55,740
The world changes
and the company changes and so be it.
448
00:26:55,823 --> 00:26:57,075
But it's still ILM.
449
00:27:03,956 --> 00:27:08,711
All those years
of building up the technology,
450
00:27:09,337 --> 00:27:14,759
finally came to this sort of a cliff thing
around this period of, like, '93
451
00:27:15,051 --> 00:27:18,805
when Jurassic Park came out,
and it's like a lot of changes
452
00:27:18,930 --> 00:27:20,932
in the world that
you're building up for it
453
00:27:21,015 --> 00:27:23,101
and you're under the radar
and supporting it,
454
00:27:23,184 --> 00:27:24,602
you're trying to make things work.
455
00:27:24,686 --> 00:27:26,562
And then all of a sudden, bam!
456
00:27:27,105 --> 00:27:29,524
Everything changes
in a short period of time.
457
00:27:32,902 --> 00:27:36,197
When I first arrived at ILM,
I worked on Casper.
458
00:27:38,074 --> 00:27:39,575
I moved to America
459
00:27:39,659 --> 00:27:44,288
to pursue the film business
and really to pursue that dream of ILM.
460
00:27:44,372 --> 00:27:47,834
I mean, it just seemed so exotic
to me and so fantastic.
461
00:27:49,043 --> 00:27:53,506
And that was during that big bump,
all this explosion in the digital world.
462
00:27:53,923 --> 00:27:56,884
-Hey, guys.
-Look, it's Casper.
463
00:27:57,135 --> 00:27:58,553
-Yeah, Casper.
-Casper.
464
00:27:58,636 --> 00:28:02,223
Casper had 45 minutes
of CG characters in it.
465
00:28:03,099 --> 00:28:06,144
ROGER: It was 600 shots or 500 shots,
466
00:28:06,227 --> 00:28:08,730
which was an enormous number of shots
in those days
467
00:28:08,813 --> 00:28:12,442
'cause you think of Jurassic Park,
whatever it is, 80 shots or something.
468
00:28:12,525 --> 00:28:16,404
We had to do a huge ramp up
and grow the computer graphics department.
469
00:28:16,487 --> 00:28:20,074
In fact, we got up to 105 people
at that point in time,
470
00:28:20,158 --> 00:28:24,370
which is only noteworthy because
we weren't sure there were 105 people
471
00:28:24,454 --> 00:28:27,749
that could do computer graphics
at that point in time.
472
00:28:27,832 --> 00:28:30,501
ROGER: ILM had really been
a relatively small company
473
00:28:30,585 --> 00:28:32,837
for so many years, so they were
474
00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:38,176
really hiring on a grand scale, and it
turned it into a sort of a bigger machine.
475
00:28:38,426 --> 00:28:42,013
And then it sort of crept up
to 1,200 or 1,500 people.
476
00:28:44,474 --> 00:28:47,894
GEORGE: We spent many years
to develop digital technology.
477
00:28:48,352 --> 00:28:51,981
I was designing the place
for a different kind of production.
478
00:28:52,106 --> 00:28:54,776
Nobody had ever harnessed it
to put in the movies,
479
00:28:55,067 --> 00:28:59,530
and most people didn't think it was
possible, that you just couldn't do that.
480
00:29:00,865 --> 00:29:03,868
So we were learning
to use a different form
481
00:29:04,744 --> 00:29:07,830
of visual effects
and ways of making movies.
482
00:29:07,955 --> 00:29:09,874
Congratulations. How do you feel?
483
00:29:10,166 --> 00:29:11,709
I got to pee.
484
00:29:11,834 --> 00:29:17,423
Now suddenly, in the short period of time,
these projects that George has initiated,
485
00:29:17,632 --> 00:29:18,841
the video editing...
486
00:29:19,050 --> 00:29:23,346
In this non-linear editor,
you can splice in, just like in film.
487
00:29:23,721 --> 00:29:25,306
ED: In the digital audio...
488
00:29:26,432 --> 00:29:27,934
(GROWLING)
489
00:29:28,559 --> 00:29:30,228
In computer graphics...
490
00:29:30,895 --> 00:29:33,189
(HOOTING AND SCREECHING)
491
00:29:33,397 --> 00:29:35,233
All of them come together,
492
00:29:35,316 --> 00:29:38,361
and the industry changes
in about a three, four year time span.
493
00:29:38,528 --> 00:29:41,447
And that's when I decided
I could do the next three movies.
494
00:29:46,077 --> 00:29:48,788
I was excited to go back and go to work
495
00:29:49,121 --> 00:29:52,708
because a lot of frustration
I had with analogs cinema is gone.
496
00:29:52,875 --> 00:29:55,211
How can we manage to change
the operating procedures
497
00:29:55,294 --> 00:29:57,421
in a way that we can
completely revolutionize
498
00:29:57,505 --> 00:30:00,550
the way we make movies
so that this is all doable?
499
00:30:00,716 --> 00:30:04,136
JOHN KNOLL: I got pitched as one
of the sups on Episode I
500
00:30:04,220 --> 00:30:07,265
and that was an opportunity
you do not turn down.
501
00:30:07,515 --> 00:30:08,641
I was terrified.
502
00:30:08,766 --> 00:30:13,604
But I comforted myself with the thought
that that must have been the same reaction
503
00:30:13,688 --> 00:30:17,567
that John Dykstra had
when he was first exposed to Star Wars.
504
00:30:19,026 --> 00:30:21,904
When I first arrived at ILM,
you know, my whole goal,
505
00:30:21,988 --> 00:30:24,615
like everybody else,
was that I want to work on Star Wars,
506
00:30:24,699 --> 00:30:26,701
and I felt like my art skills
were so lacking.
507
00:30:26,951 --> 00:30:29,662
So I gave myself assignments
every day for a full week
508
00:30:29,745 --> 00:30:33,583
with the idea that the end of the week
I would produce a production painting.
509
00:30:33,749 --> 00:30:36,335
And so I literally did that
for a full year.
510
00:30:36,544 --> 00:30:41,048
And the terrific thing about that was that
everything that I was doing unconsciously,
511
00:30:41,132 --> 00:30:44,594
mirrored what George was doing in terms
of how he was designing for Star Wars.
512
00:30:44,677 --> 00:30:45,761
He was merging things.
513
00:30:45,887 --> 00:30:49,432
He was combining things, he was mixing
and matching, and that's when he saw
514
00:30:49,515 --> 00:30:52,101
my portfolio, and that's why he hired me
515
00:30:52,184 --> 00:30:54,729
to head up the art department
for the new prequels.
516
00:31:01,986 --> 00:31:06,407
I was asked to go up to the ranch
to see the artwork that Doug Chiang had,
517
00:31:06,490 --> 00:31:08,701
and there were these boards
518
00:31:08,868 --> 00:31:12,330
that were covered in the most
beautiful Doug Chiang illustrations,
519
00:31:12,413 --> 00:31:16,083
you know, the concept art,
one after the other, after the other.
520
00:31:16,167 --> 00:31:17,209
He had storyboards
521
00:31:17,293 --> 00:31:19,921
that were pasted up
on 4x8 sheets of Foamcore.
522
00:31:20,046 --> 00:31:24,717
Ten to a column, ten columns across.
And I think there were 36 boards.
523
00:31:24,842 --> 00:31:31,182
So 3,600 storyboards,
and (CHUCKLES) almost every board
524
00:31:31,265 --> 00:31:33,726
there was something
that we had never done before.
525
00:31:33,809 --> 00:31:39,440
So I was keeping notes of,
"Yeah, okay, we're going to need
526
00:31:39,523 --> 00:31:43,069
"to be able to do crowd scenes
with dozens or hundreds of characters."
527
00:31:43,319 --> 00:31:45,237
You know, we hadn't
really done that before.
528
00:31:45,321 --> 00:31:47,448
These are CG characters
that have clothing.
529
00:31:47,531 --> 00:31:50,117
We're going to have to do
the cloth simulation on them.
530
00:31:50,201 --> 00:31:52,244
These Jedi are slicing through droids,
531
00:31:52,328 --> 00:31:54,830
and the pieces are landing
on the ground, we'll need
532
00:31:54,914 --> 00:31:56,374
a rigid body dynamic system.
533
00:31:56,457 --> 00:31:58,834
You know, we're pushing
the envelope in a few places,
534
00:31:58,918 --> 00:32:00,419
but I know this is going to work.
535
00:32:00,586 --> 00:32:03,381
The big grass planet battle there,
536
00:32:03,464 --> 00:32:05,383
-zillions of creatures.
-Yeah.
537
00:32:05,716 --> 00:32:08,761
And we don't have a real
good way of doing that right now.
538
00:32:08,928 --> 00:32:11,681
And it got to be a little overwhelming
'cause just as you're
539
00:32:11,764 --> 00:32:13,891
writing down this thing,
we're on to something else
540
00:32:14,016 --> 00:32:15,559
that had never been done before.
541
00:32:15,643 --> 00:32:17,186
And they were not just that
542
00:32:17,269 --> 00:32:21,273
we were doing a lot of effects,
we were creating entire worlds,
543
00:32:21,607 --> 00:32:23,693
and many of them.
544
00:32:23,859 --> 00:32:27,488
I had the sensation that I just wanted
to go and lie down,
545
00:32:27,655 --> 00:32:31,909
because it was hard to take it in
in one go like that.
546
00:32:32,785 --> 00:32:36,580
I remember during the production
of Episode I,
547
00:32:36,664 --> 00:32:38,833
George was often encouraging me
548
00:32:38,916 --> 00:32:44,463
to do things that I thought
were marginal or ill-advised.
549
00:32:46,882 --> 00:32:49,176
There's not enough power
to get us to Coruscant.
550
00:32:49,260 --> 00:32:51,762
The hyperdrive is leaking.
We'll have to land somewhere
551
00:32:51,887 --> 00:32:53,347
and refuel and repair the ship.
552
00:32:53,472 --> 00:32:57,435
A result of the digital technology
was that what happened in editorial
553
00:32:57,518 --> 00:33:00,479
was much more of a manufacturing process.
554
00:33:00,563 --> 00:33:02,857
You did what I called "film recomposing."
555
00:33:03,065 --> 00:33:04,775
GEORGE: So what I want to do is...
556
00:33:04,859 --> 00:33:07,945
we'll leave this for the time being
and we'll create this other shot
557
00:33:08,029 --> 00:33:10,698
and if this other shot works,
we'll come back to the shot,
558
00:33:10,781 --> 00:33:13,826
take Panaka, slip him out of sync
so he doesn't start to move.
559
00:33:13,951 --> 00:33:16,579
-So he's just standing there. Okay?
-Okay.
560
00:33:16,829 --> 00:33:21,292
You know, you've got character A
talking to character B over the shoulder,
561
00:33:21,417 --> 00:33:25,796
and you could cut out between them and use
different takes that were not the takes
562
00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:29,550
that they actually talk to each other
because you might prefer a response
563
00:33:29,633 --> 00:33:33,596
from somebody or a hand gesture
or something, or a blink differently.
564
00:33:33,679 --> 00:33:36,140
He started doing a lot of editorial comps
565
00:33:36,223 --> 00:33:41,103
where he would take this actor from
this plate and put him in that plate,
566
00:33:41,187 --> 00:33:43,647
and I'm going to drop out
this line of dialogue,
567
00:33:43,731 --> 00:33:45,775
so just morph it together and...
568
00:33:45,900 --> 00:33:50,362
John Knoll great. He was
the visual effects person on my left,
569
00:33:50,654 --> 00:33:54,492
and he would sit there and do,
you know, shots and things.
570
00:33:54,575 --> 00:33:57,912
He would just do them on his
little laptop, and all it did in the end
571
00:33:57,995 --> 00:34:00,831
was gain him
a whole lot of heartache. (LAUGHS)
572
00:34:00,915 --> 00:34:02,875
Because then I relied on him
for everything.
573
00:34:02,958 --> 00:34:07,546
He was doing all these things that,
boy, I wouldn't have chosen to do that.
574
00:34:07,630 --> 00:34:12,384
I said, "Let's do this. Let's do that."
And he would always be going, "Oh, God."
575
00:34:12,468 --> 00:34:14,512
I said, "Just try it, see what happens."
576
00:34:14,595 --> 00:34:16,764
I said, "Yeah,
but the lighting doesn't match.
577
00:34:16,847 --> 00:34:19,225
"And the perspective,
it's the wrong focal length and..."
578
00:34:19,308 --> 00:34:20,518
Just try it.
579
00:34:20,810 --> 00:34:24,355
I know you're in pain,
I recognize you're in pain.
580
00:34:24,897 --> 00:34:27,733
And I appreciate your pain,
but let's do it.
581
00:34:27,817 --> 00:34:29,527
All right. Let me see what I can do.
582
00:34:29,610 --> 00:34:32,488
And you'd go in and you do
the best job of it you can.
583
00:34:32,738 --> 00:34:36,992
JOHN KNOLL: The main things here,
we have the walking hologram generator,
584
00:34:37,076 --> 00:34:38,786
which will be added in computer graphic.
585
00:34:38,869 --> 00:34:43,457
We have a matte painting of Theed City
to put back there, and the light fixtures
586
00:34:43,582 --> 00:34:47,086
on the hall in the hallway
are not what George wants.
587
00:34:47,169 --> 00:34:49,421
So we're going to replace them
with something else.
588
00:34:49,505 --> 00:34:52,299
So it's a relatively straightforward shot.
589
00:34:52,508 --> 00:34:54,927
And it actually turned out
better than I thought.
590
00:34:55,219 --> 00:34:56,887
But now when I'm on a...
591
00:34:56,971 --> 00:35:00,099
I would think of as a more
normal production, and you'd say,
592
00:35:00,266 --> 00:35:03,978
"If we just take that guy from that plate,
we can split that in there,
593
00:35:04,145 --> 00:35:07,231
"and that'll be fine."
And the director will go, "Really?
594
00:35:07,314 --> 00:35:09,942
"You can do that?"
I said, "Yeah, we did stuff
595
00:35:10,025 --> 00:35:11,944
"way dumber than that on Star Wars."
596
00:35:14,029 --> 00:35:18,659
George, especially the time that I joined,
when it was his film that we were making,
597
00:35:18,826 --> 00:35:21,370
he was really pushing us
to do something different.
598
00:35:21,495 --> 00:35:25,457
I knew I could use those films to make
people believe that digital cinema works.
599
00:35:25,583 --> 00:35:28,836
George has always had a intense curiosity
600
00:35:28,919 --> 00:35:33,716
for innovating filmmaking technique
and production methodologies.
601
00:35:33,799 --> 00:35:35,509
The film industry was so calcified
602
00:35:35,593 --> 00:35:37,720
that that was,
they were going to stay that way.
603
00:35:37,845 --> 00:35:39,889
And it took a lot to get them to change.
604
00:35:42,892 --> 00:35:48,272
We went to Sony, who was building
a high-def television camera,
605
00:35:48,480 --> 00:35:51,108
and we said, "It has to go
24 frames a second.
606
00:35:51,317 --> 00:35:53,110
"It can't go 30 frames a second."
607
00:35:53,652 --> 00:35:55,571
They said, "That's really hard."
608
00:35:55,863 --> 00:35:59,116
So after a lot of talking,
we convinced them to do it.
609
00:36:02,995 --> 00:36:06,040
I was a persona non grata
in the film industry.
610
00:36:06,207 --> 00:36:09,168
The Camera Guild was out to get me.
611
00:36:09,501 --> 00:36:12,588
They wrote terrible editorials about me.
612
00:36:12,713 --> 00:36:15,549
JOHN KNOLL: There were some
that were probably worried or defensive
613
00:36:15,633 --> 00:36:18,219
that this was gonna put them out of work.
614
00:36:18,385 --> 00:36:21,555
GEORGE: We got the cameras finished,
but we couldn't find
615
00:36:21,639 --> 00:36:24,725
a lens that would go on it
because it was a very
616
00:36:24,892 --> 00:36:27,061
different area that had to be covered.
617
00:36:27,519 --> 00:36:31,315
And so I went to Panavision
and they said, "We'll do it."
618
00:36:31,941 --> 00:36:34,151
So when we got to Attack of the Clones,
619
00:36:34,276 --> 00:36:36,278
we were able to shoot
the whole thing digitally.
620
00:36:36,362 --> 00:36:40,157
-Okay, cut. Okay. That was good.
-Cut that!
621
00:36:40,616 --> 00:36:41,617
That was beautiful.
622
00:36:42,910 --> 00:36:45,454
Then we had to go to Texas Instruments,
623
00:36:45,704 --> 00:36:48,207
who was starting to build
digital projectors.
624
00:36:48,332 --> 00:36:51,085
MAN: The projector
stores images electronically,
625
00:36:51,168 --> 00:36:52,753
they're shot through
a special chip
626
00:36:52,836 --> 00:36:55,172
that packs over a million tiny mirrors.
627
00:36:55,422 --> 00:36:58,842
They reflect colors in different ways
to make pictures on a screen.
628
00:36:58,926 --> 00:37:01,428
GEORGE: But in order to get the theaters
to get the projector,
629
00:37:01,512 --> 00:37:02,888
we had to give them projectors.
630
00:37:02,972 --> 00:37:05,266
And they cost around $100,000 apiece.
631
00:37:05,349 --> 00:37:09,103
So we just gave 'em to them for a while
until they got used to them.
632
00:37:09,270 --> 00:37:12,523
It all may cost more,
so the industry may need convincing.
633
00:37:12,606 --> 00:37:14,400
I remember, early days,
634
00:37:14,483 --> 00:37:17,111
he had so much resistance,
like, "No, no way.
635
00:37:17,194 --> 00:37:18,529
"Digital projectors? No way."
636
00:37:18,612 --> 00:37:21,407
Even though we saw the results,
there were no scratches
637
00:37:21,490 --> 00:37:23,534
and the clarity was so much better.
638
00:37:24,660 --> 00:37:28,372
GEORGE: The Theater Owners Association
was saying that we were like drug dealers.
639
00:37:28,455 --> 00:37:31,625
Once they get you hooked on this,
you'll never get off and all that.
640
00:37:31,709 --> 00:37:32,960
It was really a bad time.
641
00:37:33,252 --> 00:37:35,504
(CROWD CHEERING)
642
00:37:35,879 --> 00:37:37,298
But when we did the first one,
643
00:37:37,381 --> 00:37:40,467
Phantom Menace went out
in four digital theaters.
644
00:37:40,718 --> 00:37:44,179
The next film went out in 200 theaters.
645
00:37:45,556 --> 00:37:48,434
Eventually, we got
to the point where, you know,
646
00:37:48,559 --> 00:37:52,313
almost half of the theaters
in America were digital.
647
00:37:54,690 --> 00:38:00,863
I was working at an AMC movie theater
when the original prequel films came out.
648
00:38:05,117 --> 00:38:09,538
This is right before I realize
I want to become a filmmaker.
649
00:38:09,705 --> 00:38:12,708
(BEEPING AND WHOOSHING)
650
00:38:16,003 --> 00:38:18,922
And every time I was
working in an auditorium
651
00:38:19,006 --> 00:38:21,592
and that came on, I would just
stop what I was doing
652
00:38:21,675 --> 00:38:23,302
and I would just get lost in it.
653
00:38:23,385 --> 00:38:26,388
And at that point in time,
the fight scenes were magnificent.
654
00:38:26,472 --> 00:38:27,514
And I must admit...
655
00:38:31,769 --> 00:38:35,689
seeing Yoda wield the light saber
and fight was magnificent.
656
00:38:36,440 --> 00:38:40,402
And so I think at that point
it was just about scale and spectacle.
657
00:38:45,991 --> 00:38:48,702
It was just epic,
you know, it was just epic.
658
00:38:49,912 --> 00:38:52,206
I couldn't make one,
two and three without digital.
659
00:38:52,289 --> 00:38:55,459
I couldn't do any of that stuff.
I mean, those are giant movies.
660
00:38:55,542 --> 00:38:58,337
A lot of things changed at ILM
as a result of all of that.
661
00:38:58,420 --> 00:39:02,800
In fact, I think that the changes
were way beyond the company.
662
00:39:02,925 --> 00:39:06,178
They changed filmmaking more generally.
663
00:39:06,345 --> 00:39:09,932
ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen,
the President of the United States.
664
00:39:11,517 --> 00:39:14,353
You start drawing dotted lines
back to innovations
665
00:39:14,436 --> 00:39:17,981
that George and his team
of geniuses at ILM made.
666
00:39:18,065 --> 00:39:23,028
You know, it was like EditDroid
and CGI characters and CGI at all.
667
00:39:23,112 --> 00:39:25,864
Like digital cameras, digital compositing.
668
00:39:25,948 --> 00:39:28,659
There's so many things.
It's like Menlo Park.
669
00:39:28,742 --> 00:39:31,370
It's like Thomas Edison, like...
670
00:39:31,745 --> 00:39:33,956
Thanks and welcome to the White House.
671
00:39:34,748 --> 00:39:37,167
It is an honor to be in the company
672
00:39:37,251 --> 00:39:40,462
of so many bright
and distinguished Americans.
673
00:39:40,546 --> 00:39:43,966
He totally changed
the entertainment industry.
674
00:39:44,174 --> 00:39:47,010
ANNOUNCER: The 2004
National Medal of Technology
675
00:39:47,094 --> 00:39:50,139
is awarded to Industrial Light & Magic,
676
00:39:50,305 --> 00:39:55,686
Chrissie England and George Lucas
for 30 years of innovation
677
00:39:55,769 --> 00:39:59,440
in visual effects technology
for the motion picture industry.
678
00:39:59,815 --> 00:40:03,610
CHRISSIE: The National Medal of Technology
was really a recognition
679
00:40:03,694 --> 00:40:06,822
at a higher level,
and George was super proud of it.
680
00:40:06,947 --> 00:40:09,992
You know, his company
receiving something like that.
681
00:40:10,617 --> 00:40:15,747
It gave people a sense of accomplishment
that was super valuable.
682
00:40:15,831 --> 00:40:18,208
(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
683
00:40:18,459 --> 00:40:20,419
JON: George has innovated so much.
684
00:40:21,420 --> 00:40:24,381
I grew up in Queens in the '70s and '80s,
685
00:40:24,465 --> 00:40:28,385
and as I watched films, I was right
in the sweet spot of practical effects
686
00:40:28,594 --> 00:40:31,930
in the films of Spielberg
and Lucas and ILM, all of it.
687
00:40:36,643 --> 00:40:39,438
So I'm kind of patient zero
688
00:40:39,646 --> 00:40:44,443
for what impression that world
made upon a generation.
689
00:40:44,776 --> 00:40:47,404
And because of that,
I didn't really like CGI.
690
00:40:50,324 --> 00:40:53,076
And it was on Iron Man working with ILM,
691
00:40:53,160 --> 00:40:56,955
I really began to trust that
CGI could live up
692
00:40:57,039 --> 00:41:01,001
to the promise of what was presented
back in Jurassic Park.
693
00:41:02,628 --> 00:41:07,508
HAL: Jon came in as someone who was
pretty openly skeptical of CG effects,
694
00:41:07,591 --> 00:41:09,593
and that was fine, you know.
695
00:41:09,676 --> 00:41:11,970
I think that served us well, actually.
696
00:41:12,346 --> 00:41:15,057
JON: I was shooting a real suit
that Stan Winston built,
697
00:41:15,140 --> 00:41:16,725
and then we would also have a CG suit
698
00:41:16,808 --> 00:41:19,311
because there were certain things
a suit couldn't do.
699
00:41:19,394 --> 00:41:21,438
HAL: Starting into it,
everyone was very keen,
700
00:41:21,522 --> 00:41:24,691
including Robert to have him
in the real suit whenever possible.
701
00:41:24,775 --> 00:41:26,944
You know, obviously,
because you built this thing.
702
00:41:27,069 --> 00:41:28,737
It's beautiful. You should use it.
703
00:41:28,820 --> 00:41:32,658
But it was so limiting in its movements
that Robert, I think,
704
00:41:32,741 --> 00:41:37,412
very quickly embraced the pajamas
with markers that we gave him for
705
00:41:37,538 --> 00:41:39,665
when we were going to do CG.
He was all for it
706
00:41:39,748 --> 00:41:44,545
once he realized, "I can just
wear this and it's going to look great."
707
00:41:46,505 --> 00:41:50,342
We started figuring out in shots
when to use pieces of the practical suit
708
00:41:50,425 --> 00:41:52,719
and finish the rest of it in CG.
709
00:41:53,804 --> 00:41:58,183
Because it was a mix,
hopefully the audience, never quite sure.
710
00:42:00,686 --> 00:42:02,145
"Is Robert Downey wearing that?
711
00:42:02,229 --> 00:42:04,147
"Or is that? Well, that can't be,
you know,
712
00:42:04,231 --> 00:42:07,025
"all those mechanisms underneath.
I guess that's CG."
713
00:42:07,734 --> 00:42:09,653
But, boy, that surface sure looks like
714
00:42:09,778 --> 00:42:11,989
it's something I could touch,
and that's part of it.
715
00:42:12,114 --> 00:42:15,909
If the audience just looks at something
and immediately understands in their brain
716
00:42:15,993 --> 00:42:19,621
what it would feel like to put their
hand on it, then you're halfway there.
717
00:42:19,746 --> 00:42:23,250
And lights, and action.
718
00:42:23,333 --> 00:42:26,795
HAL: There was a point when we were midway
through a review on the shot,
719
00:42:26,920 --> 00:42:30,549
and Jon was making a comment
about something in the real suit,
720
00:42:30,716 --> 00:42:35,304
and we said, "Well, actually,
it's all CG now. The whole thing is CG."
721
00:42:35,470 --> 00:42:37,681
I was giving notes on the practical suit.
722
00:42:37,848 --> 00:42:40,976
In other words, I couldn't tell
which was the digital suit
723
00:42:41,059 --> 00:42:44,187
and which was the real suit,
the real one that we had sculpted.
724
00:42:44,271 --> 00:42:46,148
And he's like, "Great. I didn't know that.
725
00:42:46,231 --> 00:42:48,609
"All right, well,
then I think we're good here." (LAUGHING)
726
00:42:48,692 --> 00:42:51,028
It's looking good,
anything else to look at?
727
00:42:51,153 --> 00:42:54,573
JON: And that's when I knew that
I could really trust CGI,
728
00:42:54,656 --> 00:42:56,700
that they were holding a standard
729
00:42:56,783 --> 00:42:59,995
that was going to not distract
from the storytelling.
730
00:43:01,747 --> 00:43:03,081
Harper.
731
00:43:04,625 --> 00:43:06,001
KEN: Digital really opens up
732
00:43:06,084 --> 00:43:08,795
a whole different type of movie
that could be done.
733
00:43:08,920 --> 00:43:12,758
Some movies are designed to be invisible
visual effects.
734
00:43:12,841 --> 00:43:14,259
Forrest Gump has a lot of that.
735
00:43:16,178 --> 00:43:19,348
And if it carries an audience through
with an exciting moment
736
00:43:19,681 --> 00:43:22,059
that blends beautifully in
with the live action,
737
00:43:22,142 --> 00:43:23,518
that's what it's about.
738
00:43:23,602 --> 00:43:25,729
There are two big threads of
739
00:43:25,812 --> 00:43:28,315
digital technology that have blossomed up,
you know.
740
00:43:28,398 --> 00:43:32,819
The big effects ones and then the ones
that every film can use a little bit of,
741
00:43:32,903 --> 00:43:35,864
and you don't even know there's stuff
there a lot of the time.
742
00:43:45,290 --> 00:43:48,001
When I came to do
The Underground Railroad, I thought,
743
00:43:48,085 --> 00:43:50,962
"I don't want CGI trains,
I don't want CGI tunnels."
744
00:43:54,549 --> 00:43:58,553
It would be a tragedy
if you're watching this thing,
745
00:43:58,637 --> 00:44:03,100
and the thing you notice most
is the artifice of the creation.
746
00:44:03,183 --> 00:44:06,353
So I felt like there was
a degree of realism
747
00:44:06,478 --> 00:44:08,188
that we wanted to approach.
748
00:44:08,814 --> 00:44:10,941
ILM and all these wonderful artists
749
00:44:11,024 --> 00:44:16,029
are capable of really taking
this image to this place
750
00:44:16,196 --> 00:44:19,324
beyond artifice to this place of realism.
751
00:44:20,492 --> 00:44:23,286
I love that some people watch
The Underground Railroad,
752
00:44:23,370 --> 00:44:25,247
which is 10 hours of trains and fire,
753
00:44:25,330 --> 00:44:28,208
and they go, "Yeah, and there's
very few visual effects, right?"
754
00:44:28,375 --> 00:44:31,920
I'm like... (CHUCKLING) "Thank you.
755
00:44:32,129 --> 00:44:33,880
"And I would tell the folks at ILM,
756
00:44:34,005 --> 00:44:37,926
"You said that, but there are tons
of effects, tons of effects."
757
00:44:38,009 --> 00:44:40,137
Sometimes you want it to be,
this is going to be
758
00:44:40,220 --> 00:44:41,930
the best thing you're ever going to see.
759
00:44:42,013 --> 00:44:44,307
Sometimes you want to be
like nothing to see here.
760
00:44:44,391 --> 00:44:46,184
Oh, my God, that's so great.
761
00:44:46,268 --> 00:44:48,770
But at the end of the day,
it's a big shell game, right?
762
00:44:48,854 --> 00:44:52,649
So sometimes it's the story you're telling
when you're moving the shells around.
763
00:44:53,233 --> 00:44:55,235
ROB: Just doing something
that's impossible
764
00:44:55,318 --> 00:44:57,529
used to be enough to impress somebody.
765
00:44:57,612 --> 00:45:00,240
Now, the driving force has to be something
766
00:45:00,323 --> 00:45:02,659
that's more intrinsically
tied to the storytelling,
767
00:45:02,743 --> 00:45:04,745
and the parts of the story
you really care about.
768
00:45:04,828 --> 00:45:06,538
Because just the magic trick on its own,
769
00:45:06,621 --> 00:45:10,333
people either know how it's done, or they
at least think they know how it's done.
770
00:45:10,417 --> 00:45:11,418
We care about humans.
771
00:45:11,501 --> 00:45:15,172
We think we like all of this digital stuff
and this visual effects stuff,
772
00:45:15,255 --> 00:45:17,257
and it's interesting,
but at the end of the day
773
00:45:17,340 --> 00:45:19,509
you really got to see another human.
774
00:45:19,634 --> 00:45:22,679
ROB: So we wanted to bring more
of the environment, live on set,
775
00:45:22,846 --> 00:45:26,224
so the actors had to act against
and the camera could actually see it.
776
00:45:28,351 --> 00:45:31,313
And The Mandalorian
was really the opportunity
777
00:45:31,396 --> 00:45:33,523
where we got to take all those ideas...
778
00:45:36,276 --> 00:45:38,653
and build it out at the largest scale.
779
00:45:38,904 --> 00:45:41,990
The technology was there.
Using newly available hardware,
780
00:45:42,157 --> 00:45:45,577
these fast video cards for gaming,
these really good screens,
781
00:45:45,660 --> 00:45:49,581
and motion capture technology,
so you had positional data on the camera.
782
00:45:49,664 --> 00:45:51,792
We made what we called the volume.
783
00:45:53,460 --> 00:45:55,837
Because that's what they call
a motion capture volume.
784
00:45:55,921 --> 00:45:58,673
It wasn't like we coined it.
We were just using that term.
785
00:45:58,882 --> 00:46:02,177
ROB: And the basic idea is,
what if you had a perfect screen
786
00:46:02,260 --> 00:46:05,931
that surrounded you almost 360 degrees
above you and all of your sides
787
00:46:06,014 --> 00:46:10,477
and you could make any digital environment
that you wanted to create on that wall.
788
00:46:11,144 --> 00:46:14,397
It's thousands of these small patches
that make up a seamless wall,
789
00:46:14,481 --> 00:46:15,941
and it's really kind of amazing.
790
00:46:16,024 --> 00:46:18,276
You can't even tell that
they're individual screens.
791
00:46:18,360 --> 00:46:21,446
It's just a continuous surface
to your eye and to the camera.
792
00:46:23,532 --> 00:46:26,284
It turned it from a system
of having to do blue screen
793
00:46:26,368 --> 00:46:28,620
or green screen composites
on everything to a system
794
00:46:28,703 --> 00:46:32,123
where what you see on the day
is what you get in the show.
795
00:46:34,417 --> 00:46:36,044
You can be anywhere in the world.
796
00:46:36,127 --> 00:46:40,715
So if you want to be in Iceland one day,
and you want to be in the desert the next,
797
00:46:40,799 --> 00:46:44,094
you can literally change between
those locations with a button click
798
00:46:44,177 --> 00:46:47,097
back at the computer
that's driving the volume.
799
00:46:47,180 --> 00:46:49,224
The real trick to what we're doing is that
800
00:46:49,307 --> 00:46:52,227
as the camera moves inside of this volume,
801
00:46:52,310 --> 00:46:55,772
there are little cameras
all around the volume itself
802
00:46:55,897 --> 00:46:58,358
that are paying attention
to where it's moving,
803
00:46:58,441 --> 00:47:01,444
and then correcting
the image on the screen
804
00:47:01,528 --> 00:47:06,783
so that the perspective of the image that
is being seen by the camera is correct.
805
00:47:06,950 --> 00:47:11,246
The parallax is locked in it perfect.
Your brain tells you it's real.
806
00:47:11,371 --> 00:47:15,917
Half the set might be made
practically, real props on the set,
807
00:47:16,251 --> 00:47:18,128
extend that off
into the distance digitally,
808
00:47:18,211 --> 00:47:20,005
and when you look at it
through the camera,
809
00:47:20,088 --> 00:47:22,007
it just looks like it's completely real.
810
00:47:22,090 --> 00:47:25,802
JON: The cinematographer loved it because
you could actually compose your own shots.
811
00:47:25,886 --> 00:47:28,096
You weren't trusting it later
to a cop artist.
812
00:47:28,179 --> 00:47:30,140
I remember the guy from the studio came
813
00:47:30,223 --> 00:47:32,767
and he says, "I thought
you weren't building a set.
814
00:47:32,934 --> 00:47:35,186
"I thought we already,
we installed the screens.
815
00:47:35,270 --> 00:47:36,813
"We invested all that money."
816
00:47:36,897 --> 00:47:38,899
And I was like, "That's just the desk.
817
00:47:39,024 --> 00:47:41,234
(LAUGHS) "That's just the desk
and some boxes."
818
00:47:41,401 --> 00:47:43,737
He didn't realize
that we were in the volume.
819
00:47:43,862 --> 00:47:45,238
It was all projected.
820
00:47:50,076 --> 00:47:53,872
DEBORAH: The first day I went in for
an interview, actually, for Mandalorian,
821
00:47:54,080 --> 00:47:56,875
I didn't even know
what I was going to the meeting for.
822
00:47:57,125 --> 00:47:58,668
And then Jon walked in,
823
00:47:58,752 --> 00:48:02,672
and I was like, "Oh." (CHUCKLES)
"Nobody had told me this at all."
824
00:48:02,797 --> 00:48:05,383
And then within five minutes,
I was in a VR headset,
825
00:48:05,467 --> 00:48:07,677
flying around one of the sets
for Mandalorian,
826
00:48:07,761 --> 00:48:09,262
one of the early prototypes.
827
00:48:09,346 --> 00:48:12,849
Jon told me later actually
that it was also his way of kind of seeing
828
00:48:12,933 --> 00:48:16,019
how quickly I would adapt to it
or how techie I was, basically.
829
00:48:16,102 --> 00:48:17,562
It was really quite simple for me
830
00:48:17,646 --> 00:48:20,023
because I had played enough
PlayStation in my life
831
00:48:20,106 --> 00:48:23,193
that the controllers are very similar,
so I got it pretty fast.
832
00:48:26,696 --> 00:48:30,283
Mandalorian was a very different
process for me
833
00:48:30,367 --> 00:48:33,161
because it was like no TV show
that I'd ever worked on.
834
00:48:34,412 --> 00:48:38,667
We were working very closely with
all the ILM team, right from the get-go,
835
00:48:38,750 --> 00:48:41,461
about how we're articulating things,
how we're building sets.
836
00:48:41,544 --> 00:48:45,674
So everybody had to collaborate in a way
that I've never seen happen before.
837
00:48:45,799 --> 00:48:47,884
Just because the nature of the technology
838
00:48:47,968 --> 00:48:50,595
and the dependence of people
knowing what each other are doing.
839
00:48:50,679 --> 00:48:53,264
Like, you'd have something like,
set dec creating something,
840
00:48:53,348 --> 00:48:54,766
but then it has to be photographed
841
00:48:54,849 --> 00:48:57,143
because it'll be on the volume
and you've got it both
842
00:48:57,227 --> 00:48:59,729
as a practical element
and a visual effects element.
843
00:49:00,772 --> 00:49:03,316
KATHLEEN: What's happening with something
like the volume
844
00:49:03,400 --> 00:49:08,321
and what we're doing with Mandalorian is
by taking that post process,
845
00:49:08,405 --> 00:49:12,450
the creation of those images
that usually we wouldn't see
846
00:49:12,534 --> 00:49:14,536
until months after shooting,
847
00:49:14,786 --> 00:49:17,956
and moving that
to the beginning of the process.
848
00:49:18,081 --> 00:49:21,042
WOMAN: All right, nice and quiet
all around, please, here we go.
849
00:49:21,126 --> 00:49:22,293
And play back!
850
00:49:22,585 --> 00:49:27,048
KATHLEEN: With actors who are being
directed by the director,
851
00:49:27,215 --> 00:49:30,719
with something they can see
and actually experience,
852
00:49:30,802 --> 00:49:33,138
I think you're getting back
to real filmmaking.
853
00:49:33,221 --> 00:49:35,849
ROB: When you get all the departments
working on something
854
00:49:35,932 --> 00:49:40,145
that you have in camera on the day,
you bring back the expertise
855
00:49:40,228 --> 00:49:44,357
to the filmmaking process on the day
and you get these wonderful coincidences.
856
00:49:44,441 --> 00:49:47,986
You get opportunities because
you have everything there on the day.
857
00:49:48,069 --> 00:49:50,405
Because you have
to make decisions up front,
858
00:49:50,572 --> 00:49:53,324
and you're using visual effects
techniques and tools
859
00:49:53,450 --> 00:49:55,744
as part of your principal photography,
860
00:49:55,827 --> 00:50:01,249
it changes the process, and you do have
to be very judicious with your decisions.
861
00:50:01,374 --> 00:50:05,170
And I actually think that that ends up
with a better end result.
862
00:50:06,421 --> 00:50:08,465
In traditional model building
and photography,
863
00:50:08,548 --> 00:50:11,634
you get happy accidents,
and those are things you can't capture.
864
00:50:11,718 --> 00:50:12,844
You can't invent that.
865
00:50:12,927 --> 00:50:16,431
But now, when you combine the two,
you can get the best of both worlds.
866
00:50:18,391 --> 00:50:20,393
On many of our shows, we would always say,
867
00:50:20,477 --> 00:50:23,646
"Well, can we do this traditionally?
Can we actually have a model shop?
868
00:50:23,730 --> 00:50:25,523
"Can we build a model and photograph it?"
869
00:50:25,607 --> 00:50:27,984
And we would always get pushed back.
870
00:50:28,109 --> 00:50:30,987
And the difference for The Mandalorian
was that Jon loved it.
871
00:50:31,071 --> 00:50:33,114
JOHN GOODSON: Jon wanted
to build a practical model
872
00:50:33,198 --> 00:50:34,491
for The Mandalorian TV series.
873
00:50:34,574 --> 00:50:36,576
I get this phone call about once a year,
874
00:50:36,659 --> 00:50:40,455
and it sounds great and all that stuff,
but, whatever. It never happens.
875
00:50:41,664 --> 00:50:43,958
And then it actually happened.
876
00:50:44,250 --> 00:50:45,794
They did a 3D print,
877
00:50:45,919 --> 00:50:49,005
which was like getting a deck of cards,
was like 50 little pieces.
878
00:50:49,506 --> 00:50:50,507
Put it all together.
879
00:50:50,632 --> 00:50:53,551
It built a two-foot model,
and it was so cool.
880
00:50:53,676 --> 00:50:56,096
And then John Knoll
built a motion-control system.
881
00:50:57,013 --> 00:51:01,267
Next thing I know, I'm hearing that
John Knoll is building a rig.
882
00:51:01,351 --> 00:51:04,604
Now, we didn't ask him to build a rig.
This wasn't part of the pitch.
883
00:51:04,687 --> 00:51:06,231
The pitch was, "Could we do a shot?"
884
00:51:06,356 --> 00:51:08,233
He starts doing it
like he's in the AV club,
885
00:51:08,316 --> 00:51:11,402
in the basement at ILM, at LDAC,
and he's making this thing,
886
00:51:11,486 --> 00:51:14,906
and next thing you know, everybody's
coming around to see what it is,
887
00:51:14,989 --> 00:51:17,867
because, you know,
it's like Tom Sawyer painting the fence.
888
00:51:17,992 --> 00:51:20,703
So that's what's making The Mandalorian
feel like Star Wars,
889
00:51:20,787 --> 00:51:24,165
is we're inheriting this legacy,
this energy.
890
00:51:27,210 --> 00:51:29,462
And that shot was glorious.
891
00:51:34,050 --> 00:51:38,972
That's really what I appreciate most
about George Lucas specifically.
892
00:51:39,055 --> 00:51:44,561
But this whole generation of filmmakers
is that there was an eye to the past
893
00:51:44,644 --> 00:51:47,564
and an eye to the future
and into innovation.
894
00:51:49,732 --> 00:51:53,236
KATHLEEN: Jon Favreau
and Dave Filoni and I,
895
00:51:53,444 --> 00:51:56,030
from the moment we started talking about
896
00:51:56,156 --> 00:51:59,284
creating the volume,
all we did was talk about George.
897
00:52:01,536 --> 00:52:06,124
Because he was already anticipating
a lot of what we've ended up doing.
898
00:52:21,139 --> 00:52:24,058
The first thing he did when he walked on
was he was like,
899
00:52:24,142 --> 00:52:27,395
"Hey, this is what I've been trying
to tell everybody we had to do."
900
00:52:27,478 --> 00:52:28,855
(CHUCKLING) Very George.
901
00:52:29,939 --> 00:52:34,652
But I think he was incredibly thrilled
to see that it was actually being done
902
00:52:34,736 --> 00:52:37,447
in the way that he did
envision in his mind,
903
00:52:37,655 --> 00:52:41,075
and anything that pushes
digital filmmaking,
904
00:52:41,284 --> 00:52:43,661
that is so near and dear to his heart.
905
00:52:48,291 --> 00:52:50,793
JON: What he was able to achieve
with a lot of time and money
906
00:52:50,877 --> 00:52:54,422
with the prequels, we were able to do
on a TV schedule and budget
907
00:52:54,505 --> 00:52:57,884
because we were afforded all of that
through the technological innovations
908
00:52:57,967 --> 00:52:59,719
that had happened since he had done that.
909
00:53:08,353 --> 00:53:10,813
So when he comes in,
it feels like a satisfying thing
910
00:53:10,897 --> 00:53:14,525
because finally, what he
saw in his head, we could do.
911
00:53:20,615 --> 00:53:22,909
LYNWEN: The thing that I love
about the industry
912
00:53:22,992 --> 00:53:25,328
is that we are always doing something new.
913
00:53:25,411 --> 00:53:29,707
Therefore, you have to have
an affinity for danger.
914
00:53:29,791 --> 00:53:32,001
You have to have
an affinity for taking risks.
915
00:53:32,085 --> 00:53:36,464
You have to not be scared of that
and actually be energized by that.
916
00:53:37,048 --> 00:53:40,385
And that unique passion in the way
917
00:53:40,468 --> 00:53:44,597
that we are pushing the industry
is still there.
918
00:53:44,681 --> 00:53:48,268
That's the thing that
always strikes me about ILM.
919
00:53:48,351 --> 00:53:51,312
It's like this brain
that is always thinking. (CHUCKLES)
920
00:53:51,646 --> 00:53:53,856
Industrial Light and Magic
921
00:53:55,275 --> 00:53:58,736
is the three key ingredients to
922
00:54:00,113 --> 00:54:02,865
a film, a successful film,
923
00:54:02,991 --> 00:54:07,370
and George encapsulated it
in those three words.
924
00:54:07,453 --> 00:54:09,872
It's an industry.
Things have to be done on time.
925
00:54:09,956 --> 00:54:13,042
They have to be done for a price.
There has to be pragmatism.
926
00:54:13,126 --> 00:54:17,005
And then the light. Of course,
this is that we are shining the light,
927
00:54:17,088 --> 00:54:19,966
and it isn't just light on the screen.
928
00:54:20,341 --> 00:54:21,926
It's light in our lives.
929
00:54:22,010 --> 00:54:24,804
And the magic is the innovation
930
00:54:24,929 --> 00:54:28,891
that we do at the company,
both in terms of art and science.
931
00:54:29,142 --> 00:54:33,313
It's super ingrained in the culture
and will continue for a long time.
932
00:54:41,446 --> 00:54:44,449
There's no other visual effects company
that's been around as long,
933
00:54:44,532 --> 00:54:47,869
and so they always had this connectivity
all the way back to, you know,
934
00:54:47,952 --> 00:54:53,082
these guys setting up shop in a warehouse
in Van Nuys in '75 to make Star Wars.
935
00:54:54,250 --> 00:54:56,711
It felt like there were all these elements
936
00:54:56,836 --> 00:54:59,839
that came together
to put me in this situation
937
00:54:59,922 --> 00:55:01,591
that can never be repeated.
938
00:55:02,633 --> 00:55:05,094
A lot of chance things came together.
939
00:55:05,345 --> 00:55:09,474
But at heart, it was also because
George wanted to make it happen.
940
00:55:09,932 --> 00:55:12,727
He knew he had a problem.
He didn't know how to solve it.
941
00:55:12,935 --> 00:55:16,064
But he knew "If I take this person
and that person and this person,
942
00:55:16,189 --> 00:55:18,733
"I put them together,
maybe I'll get to the solution."
943
00:55:18,816 --> 00:55:23,196
The whole process was like,
"I got a job in the circus,"
944
00:55:23,321 --> 00:55:26,074
(LAUGHS) you know,
and that's what I wanted to do.
945
00:55:26,532 --> 00:55:28,993
I don't care, I'll clean up
the elephants (BLEEP).
946
00:55:29,077 --> 00:55:31,913
Or you know, whatever, you know,
I just want to be there.
947
00:55:32,789 --> 00:55:36,751
DENNIS: There was something here about
the people and the spirit and, you know,
948
00:55:36,834 --> 00:55:40,296
the source of where we came from
and why we're here, and the talent,
949
00:55:40,922 --> 00:55:43,966
and the mixture of art and technology.
950
00:55:44,550 --> 00:55:46,844
KEN: Being around such a talented group,
951
00:55:47,261 --> 00:55:51,224
feeding off of them, getting stuff from
them and then trying to give stuff back.
952
00:55:51,891 --> 00:55:55,978
LYNWEN: I really feel that
the original team of rebels
953
00:55:56,145 --> 00:55:57,939
that George pulled together
954
00:55:58,314 --> 00:56:03,361
that had the audacity to think
that his vision was possible,
955
00:56:03,820 --> 00:56:05,488
that still lives.
956
00:56:05,571 --> 00:56:09,659
This idea that just because it hasn't
been done, doesn't mean it can't be done.
957
00:56:11,285 --> 00:56:15,706
JEAN: That's what makes ILM what it is.
I believe we all feel that.
958
00:56:17,333 --> 00:56:20,586
That we can do anything.
And I don't know that there's ever
959
00:56:20,711 --> 00:56:24,799
been another collection of people
that could say that with such conviction.
960
00:56:24,882 --> 00:56:28,553
Working with ILM is like working with,
you know, I don't know, Marlon Brando
961
00:56:28,636 --> 00:56:32,432
or someone, early Brando.
But like, you're going to do the best
962
00:56:32,515 --> 00:56:34,684
you can to work with them,
collaborate with them.
963
00:56:34,767 --> 00:56:37,061
But they're (BLEEP) Marlon Brando.
964
00:56:39,480 --> 00:56:43,526
ILM is full of these people
who are geniuses
965
00:56:43,776 --> 00:56:47,572
and are pushing the envelope all the time.
966
00:56:48,614 --> 00:56:51,534
One of the things I loved so much
about working there is that there was
967
00:56:51,617 --> 00:56:54,579
a whole studio full of people
that were more talented,
968
00:56:54,662 --> 00:56:56,622
smarter and more experienced than I was,
969
00:56:56,706 --> 00:56:58,875
that I could draw on and be inspired by.
970
00:56:59,333 --> 00:57:03,588
There wasn't a day either on the set
971
00:57:03,880 --> 00:57:06,757
or painting that I didn't learn something.
972
00:57:06,966 --> 00:57:10,553
ILM was like, you know,
as much of a job as it was a school.
973
00:57:11,095 --> 00:57:15,850
I'll never graduate from ILM
and I'll never leave the halls of ILM.
974
00:57:15,933 --> 00:57:18,936
It made the way that I thought okay.
975
00:57:19,020 --> 00:57:20,730
JEAN: It was a playground,
976
00:57:20,938 --> 00:57:23,816
and I looked forward
every day to going to work.
977
00:57:24,150 --> 00:57:26,861
My favorite place is
to be on the edge of discovery.
978
00:57:26,944 --> 00:57:28,821
That's the best feeling in the world.
979
00:57:28,905 --> 00:57:31,991
I want to work with people
that inspire me, that push me.
980
00:57:32,074 --> 00:57:34,660
I think that is the spirit of ILM...
981
00:57:35,745 --> 00:57:38,206
that is inherent in everybody
that I've met there.
982
00:57:38,289 --> 00:57:41,209
RON: It's always sleeves rolled up,
and "Here's what we're thinking."
983
00:57:41,334 --> 00:57:43,836
"What are you thinking?"
"Here's what we think we can do."
984
00:57:43,920 --> 00:57:44,962
"Let's talk."
985
00:57:47,006 --> 00:57:49,467
And it goes back to that original group,
986
00:57:50,009 --> 00:57:52,887
that were just unpretentious,
yet brilliant people.
987
00:57:53,763 --> 00:57:56,682
PHIL: You work on a lot of movies
through your lifetime.
988
00:57:56,807 --> 00:58:01,604
You know, you'll be lucky
if you work on two or three that are,
989
00:58:01,687 --> 00:58:04,106
you know, hugely successful to the public.
990
00:58:04,482 --> 00:58:08,903
But what you walk away with
is the family that you've built.
991
00:58:10,655 --> 00:58:13,282
LORNE: The magic at ILM,
really was the people.
992
00:58:13,783 --> 00:58:17,411
The camaraderie was something
that I don't think you...
993
00:58:18,663 --> 00:58:21,123
you can ever experience
in several lifetimes.
994
00:58:21,415 --> 00:58:22,750
It was a true joy.
995
00:58:23,626 --> 00:58:29,590
I can't think of anything that I would
have gone back and done differently.
996
00:58:30,424 --> 00:58:33,594
I still don't get it.
It's sort of like a weird dream.
997
00:58:34,262 --> 00:58:36,138
I think back at it and go, "No, no.
998
00:58:36,347 --> 00:58:39,183
"It couldn't have been like that
'cause it's too perfect."
999
00:58:39,267 --> 00:58:42,228
I got to work on some of the best movies
people still talk about.
1000
00:58:42,311 --> 00:58:43,813
It makes no sense to me.
1001
00:58:44,897 --> 00:58:46,983
(SNIFFLES) Um...
1002
00:58:48,359 --> 00:58:53,489
I'm still astounded
by how well it has gone.
1003
00:58:53,739 --> 00:58:56,701
Some great people here
and we're still friends.
1004
00:58:56,784 --> 00:59:00,162
I'm friends with them after, like,
40 years or so and it's...
1005
00:59:01,622 --> 00:59:03,165
It's been terrific.
1006
00:59:05,710 --> 00:59:10,047
My daughter, she comes to me
and she says, "Dad, I have a problem
1007
00:59:10,131 --> 00:59:12,300
"I need to talk to you about."
What she would do,
1008
00:59:12,383 --> 00:59:16,512
every night after dinner, she would
go up to her room, shut her door,
1009
00:59:16,596 --> 00:59:19,348
and she had all these plastic animals,
and she would come up
1010
00:59:19,432 --> 00:59:21,517
with different scenarios for the animals.
1011
00:59:22,018 --> 00:59:24,854
Just like I did with army men
and plastic dinosaurs.
1012
00:59:25,313 --> 00:59:26,564
So she said,
1013
00:59:26,647 --> 00:59:30,776
"My problem is like I'm getting too old
to be playing with toys.
1014
00:59:31,152 --> 00:59:32,570
"That makes me sad."
1015
00:59:33,279 --> 00:59:36,324
And I said, "Maya,
if you become a filmmaker,
1016
00:59:36,449 --> 00:59:41,287
"you never have to grow up."
And we grab the Hi8 camera,
1017
00:59:41,370 --> 00:59:45,791
and we just went out and we just started
in the backyard, that moment.