Last week director Jon Favreau came up to Lucasfilm in San Francisco to meet with Industrial Light & Magic about Iron Man 2.
As he took a tour of ILM, Favreau tweeted about who he ran into (Hey is that a Wookiee?!), some of his favorite props and a cup of Joe at Javva the Hutt. Check out all his photos here.
No Comments » | 
Tags: Celebrities, ILM, Jon Favreau
Lucasfilm | 
Permalink
Earlier in the week we blogged about University of Mississippi hoping to replace their old school mascot with none other than Admiral Ackbar, and now finally we’ve given an official statement about our beloved Mon Calamari as a possible mascot.
New York Times reports:
While a student committee to propose a new mascot is still in the early stages of formation, Lucasfilm, which produced the Star Wars movies, has given a (tongue-in-cheek) endorsement to Ackbar’s candidacy. In a statement, the studio said:
Lucasfilm is flattered that our Star Wars fans at the University of Mississippi are considering electing Admiral Ackbar as their mascot. The last time we checked in with Admiral Ackbar he was leading the Rebel Alliance Fleet on a critical mission so it will be difficult for him to show up for the games!
Read the full article here:
College Campaign for Star Wars Mascot Is Fully Operational
(via NYTimes.com)
Read more here:
Ole Miss Mon Calamari Mascot?
7 Comments » | Tags: Ole Miss, Sports
Fans and Community, Lucasfilm | Permalink
Howard Roffman of Lucasfilm Licensing was recently a guest speaker for the TEDxSoMa program.
Roffman spoke about how licensing kept the sparks of Star Wars fandom before the prequels, and how comics, books, video games, toys, collectibles and other licensed products permeates pop culture.
WATCH VIDEO: TEDxSoMa: Howard Roffman:
“Interacting with Star Wars
1 Comment » | Tags: Howard Roffman
Collecting, Events, Lucasfilm | Permalink
With many movies that depend on CGI to be precise, entertaining and believable, more than one effects house will work on different scenes so a movie can be released on deadline. As with James Cameron’s CGI blockbuster Avatar, Industrial Light & Magic was asked to help with a number of scenes in the film.
Oscar-winning visual effects supervisor John Knoll chats with Cnet about the role ILM played in helping with the movie’s hefty to-do list, working with Weta, and how ILM developed a way to make CGI explosions even more believable and entertaining.
Until now, big fiery explosions in CGI-heavy films have been shot with live camera and then had visual effects added to them. But Knoll said that because of some of the limitation of matching Cameron’s templates for “Avatar,” there was no practical way to meet the movie’s explosive needs with live-action.
“We’ve done CG explosions in the past,” Knoll said, “but never with this level of realism, and never this close up.”
Fortunately, ILM had pioneered the rendering of the visual movement of fluids in films like “Poseidon” and “Pirates of the Caribbean,” and Knoll knew that the shape and movement dynamics of an explosion were similar to that of water.
“The same underlying engine is being used on this,” Knoll said. “The motion of the underlying gas is similar to the motion of fluids. The medium is relatively uncompressable. So when there’s movement of the medium, it can’t change volume real dramatically. So if you push on one side, something has to push on the other side.”
That meant that ILM could take the graphics engine it had created for fluid shots in the previous films and apply the same basic technology for the explosions in “Avatar.” Though there are clearly some major differences between fluid and big fire–notably that as fuel burns, fire expands, and then retracts when the fuel goes away, the technique was similar enough that the technology could be adapted to the needs of “Avatar.”
“I think this is going to be an important technique (for the industry) in the future,” Knoll said, “to tailor-make an explosion that looks good close up.”
Read the full article here:
ILM steps in to help finish Avatar visual effects
(via Cnet)
6 Comments » | Tags: Avatar, ILM
Lucasfilm | Permalink
Filmmaker George Lucas, gay-rights advocate Harvey Milk, comedian Carol Burnett, football legend John Madden, best-selling romance author Danielle Steel and other icons were among 13 individuals inducted into the California Hall of Fame on Tuesday.
Tweeting live from the event, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger snapped candid photos of the inductees — including the one above of him shaking hands with George Lucas.
All of the inductees were chosen for being “remarkable individuals who embody the innovative spirit of the Golden State and who have changed the world by pursuing their dreams.”
The California Museum, located in downtown Sacramento, will display 13 exhibits showcasing the accomplishments of the inductees through October. George Lucas’ exhibit includes models of R2-D2 and C-3PO, as well as Indiana Jones’ jacket, whip and hat from the 1989 film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
Read the full article here:
Milk, Lucas among 13 inducted in Hall of Fame
(via San Francisco Chronicle)
Read more about the California Hall of Fame Exhibits here:
California Hall of Fame official site
5 Comments » | Tags: Celebrities, George Lucas, Twitter
Lucasfilm, News | Permalink
The week director Richard Kelly visited Skywalker, as well as the Lucasfilm-ILM San Francisco campus, to screen his latest film The Box, as well as indulge staff as they asked uber-geeky questions about his new movie, his breakout hit Donnie Darko and about filmmaking in general.
Richard blogged about his visit on the MTV Movies Blog:
The good people of Skywalker Sound and Industrial Light & Magic hosted a screening of The Box an invited me to stay at the legendary Lucas ranch for the night and tour the facilities.
The property itself is everything a fanboy could dream and more – as an alumni of USC and an acolyte in the church of Lucas – I was speechless when I was granted access to the Sergei Eisenstein apartment, a spacious lodge with a vaulted ceiling and fireplace.
It was then on to visit the wonderful folks at ILM in San Francisco. We did a post-screening discussion on The Box (opening November 6th!) which was moderated by Kate Shaw – Director of Training and Education – who asked a series of insightful and thoughtful questions about the film.
It was an honor to be among fellow artists and technicians who appreciate the art of science-fiction and open to exploring the themes of the film. I have to say it was probably my favorite Q+A that I have ever done.
Read the full blog entry here:
Richard Kelly’s Latest Guest Blog Takes Us To Skywalker Ranch! (via MTV Movie Blog)
Be sure to follow Richard Kelly on Twitter.
No Comments » | Tags: Celebrities, ILM, Richard Kelly, Skywalker Ranch, Twitter
Lucasfilm, News | Permalink
Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) and Co. may have audiences under their spell in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, but the real wizards are the ones who created the movie’s special effects. Industrial Light & Magic, the biggest F/X studio in the business, gave the News a sneak peek behind the wizards’ curtain to see how they made some of the greatest magic in film history.
Read the full article here:
Star Wars to Harry Potter: Secrets of movie special effects
5 Comments » | Tags: ILM
Lucasfilm | Permalink
A long time ago (’70s), in a galaxy far, far away (San Fernando actually) there existed a ragtag group of individuals (ILMers) who would go on to transform movie making and ignite imaginations in fans for decades to come.
Lucky for us, one of those old timers — David Berry — posted this behind-the-scenes video he made back in the day of his fellow ILMers in action — working hard and having fun.
Berry describes it as:
“Crude home movies from the 1970s depicting activities at a certain location in the San Fernando Valley.”
WATCH VIDEO: 5757 (via Vimeo)
10 Comments » | Tags: ILM
Lucasfilm | Permalink
Tune in to The Late Show with David Letterman tonight, July 6 (CBS, 11:30PM) to see a different side of Optimus Prime, as the heroic Autobot reads the infamous Top Ten list. ILM turned around roughly 3,000 frames of animation composited onto the Letterman stage in record time. Congratulations to all of those at ILM who went above and beyond to make this happen! See it now at Lateshow.cbs.com.
1 Comment » | Tags: ILM
Lucasfilm | Permalink
(Jon Favreau, George Lucas and Mellody Hobson — Photo courtesy Jimmy Mac.)
This weekend filmmaker George Lucas was honored in Chicago by The Gene Siskel Film Center with a gala event which included an interview by Iron Man director Jon Favreau.
Media were also in attendance including our friends at Force-Cast who covered the event and snagged an interview with The Maker himself.
Jon Favreau conducted an hour-long discussion with George that mostly focused on his technological and artistic contributions to cinema, including his advancements in digital film making, creation of his company, and his hobby of architecture. During the interview, Lucas claimed rules do not work and he stressed the need to think outside the box. George said he developed new film making technologies was because he was lazy and wanted the easiest way to concentrate his attention on the fun aspects of movie making. Lucas also informed attendees that he is working on literally 40 screenplays for television including the development of a second Star Wars animated series. The captive audience hung on every word and the evening ended with a standing ovation for the revolutionary director.
Check out their coverage here:
19 Comments » | Tags: Awards, Celebrities, George Lucas
Lucasfilm | Permalink
