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Industrial Light & Magic
Industrial Light & Magic: The Art of Innovation
Industrial Light & Magic: The Art of Innovation is an extensively illustrated oral history of the multiple-Academy-Award®-winning visual effects company founded by George Lucas in 1975. Its tale begins with a small team of craftspeople, engineers, and artists who pioneered analog effects that had never before been attempted or realized on the screen for Star Wars. Industrial Light & Magic continues their story through the effects facility’s mind-bending work, over the following three decades, on more than three hundred films—from optical printing to the digital and computer-generated-effects era. A behind-the-scenes record of the state-of-the-art innovations that have driven moviemaking magic, the book features candid stories from the filmmakers, artists, and technicians who were there, breaking barriers and changing the history of cinema with their early work on cultural landmarks, such as the Star Wars saga, the Indiana Jones series, E.T., Terminator 2, and Jurassic Park.
Industrial Light & Magic: The Art of Innovation is the first and only book to focus on the company’s work during the last sixteen years, detailing its creative and technological innovations on dozens of blockbuster films. Through firsthand accounts of the problem solving that has pushed the art form of visual effects to its limits and created visual experiences that could only have been dreamed of in the past, the book features extensive commentary by George Lucas, Dennis Muren, John Knoll, Scott Farrar, Roger Guyett, Ben Snow, Rob Coleman, Lorne Peterson, and many others. Their accounts are supplemented by more than 400 images from many of ILM’s breakthrough movies, such as the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, Transformers, Iron Man, and the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, offering a crash course on the most groundbreaking visual effects created today.
Praise for Industrial Light & Magic:
“If you loved the movies, chances are good you’ll love this book.” —Georgia Times-Union
Industrial Light & Magic: The Art of Innovation is the first and only book to focus on the company’s work during the last sixteen years, detailing its creative and technological innovations on dozens of blockbuster films. Through firsthand accounts of the problem solving that has pushed the art form of visual effects to its limits and created visual experiences that could only have been dreamed of in the past, the book features extensive commentary by George Lucas, Dennis Muren, John Knoll, Scott Farrar, Roger Guyett, Ben Snow, Rob Coleman, Lorne Peterson, and many others. Their accounts are supplemented by more than 400 images from many of ILM’s breakthrough movies, such as the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, Transformers, Iron Man, and the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, offering a crash course on the most groundbreaking visual effects created today.
Praise for Industrial Light & Magic:
“If you loved the movies, chances are good you’ll love this book.” —Georgia Times-Union
360 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 15, 2015
I cannot saw how much i have been looking forward to reading this book. Without disappearing off in to a convoluted history of Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) or the fact that I stumbled across their first book in a random book sale held in a the conference room of a rather beaten up hotel I just happened to be walking past - but lets say that I loved the films (Star Wars and Indiana Jones to name but a few) but also it gave an in depth and open tour-de-force of how special effects are created and achieved, back in the days when models were really blown up and miniature sets were dressed with as much attention to detail as the actors and their set pieces.
Well time moved on and the digital age approached- and rather than be left behind ILM embraced it and made it their own and so ILM in to the digital age was made. This book pretty much follows the path you would expect with a title like that - models and camera work still are in use but now augmented with cutting edge technology. One of the things about ILM was the mentality of if its not averrable yet, someone better invent it. And this is true for computer work, first with controlling cameras and their movement and then on to full blown computer generated graphics.
And finally we have the third instalment - the Art of Innovation. Now first of all I will point out this is not really third in the series, the publisher is different the format is different and even the book size has changed. Also as you start to read the book you will see that the material is presented differently - there is a lot of duplication to the previous books (which does show that even with the differences the material contributed to the books is still the same, which even though made me realise there was a lot of DUPLICATION that I was still on familiar ground).
Even with these reservations the book is amazing there is still the massive amounts of previously unreleased material and insights. The artwork is glossy and details often with double page spreads and the information on the films is still incredible, I love looking out for their work but even I was surprised at some of the projects they have been involved with and where.
So for fans of ILM this book is a must and well worth the wait - but do not think it is the third instalment carry on from the previous books, it may look it, it may even be treated as such but it does not have the same feel. That said it does make a huge impression on its own and I think that may not be such a bad thing.
Well time moved on and the digital age approached- and rather than be left behind ILM embraced it and made it their own and so ILM in to the digital age was made. This book pretty much follows the path you would expect with a title like that - models and camera work still are in use but now augmented with cutting edge technology. One of the things about ILM was the mentality of if its not averrable yet, someone better invent it. And this is true for computer work, first with controlling cameras and their movement and then on to full blown computer generated graphics.
And finally we have the third instalment - the Art of Innovation. Now first of all I will point out this is not really third in the series, the publisher is different the format is different and even the book size has changed. Also as you start to read the book you will see that the material is presented differently - there is a lot of duplication to the previous books (which does show that even with the differences the material contributed to the books is still the same, which even though made me realise there was a lot of DUPLICATION that I was still on familiar ground).
Even with these reservations the book is amazing there is still the massive amounts of previously unreleased material and insights. The artwork is glossy and details often with double page spreads and the information on the films is still incredible, I love looking out for their work but even I was surprised at some of the projects they have been involved with and where.
So for fans of ILM this book is a must and well worth the wait - but do not think it is the third instalment carry on from the previous books, it may look it, it may even be treated as such but it does not have the same feel. That said it does make a huge impression on its own and I think that may not be such a bad thing.
January 19, 2013
ILM is one of those dream companies that are extremely hard to get into. They are considered the best special effects company to work for and credit their start to George Lucas when he started making the first Star Wars movie. ILM creates the movie worlds that audience members are starting to take for granted. They create the dream-like escapes that we come to expect now in films that very few could ever come up with on our own. They are the wizards that make the dreamers' (directors) dreams come to life.
This was a wonderful book to read because it explaines what ILM did on each film in the book. This book is a showcase of what it took to create some famous shots in each film and how much work was involved. For example, the computing power needed to create the 22 second opening shot of Avatar was more than any other film they had ever done before, going from thirty render processors to over 800 for just this one shot that lasted less than half a minute.
There are many film buffs that like to learn what it took to make certain films and how a shot was created in order to make it look real. This is one of those books you should take the time to read. There is a lot of work involved in making a film, and I think people don't really understand that the people who make the impressive special effects in movies are the ones who are top of their field, especially if they work at ILM. The ILM people are the cream of the crop and its not an easy road to get there, unless you have such an impressive body of work that they feel will benefit them in someway.
The nice thing about this book is that throughout each movie, there are little bios of individuals that explain how they got to work at ILM. Many (if your a parent reading this, take NOTE) all were influenced at a young age (usually under 10) from a movie they saw that influenced their interest in movie magic. They all mention one or two movies that influenced them to want to work in movies. A few artists themselves started going out and teaching themselves how to do it at home using just a basic hand-held camera or a still camera.
Movies have a strong influence in our lives and do not turn your brain into mush like many parents like to teach their little ones today. Movies teach, influence and inspire, and it is the ones who watched them as little kids (when their imagination is most active) that they got new ideas for creating better effects, creatures, and stories. If it weren't for those great parents who took the senior staff of ILM today when they were kids to see movies (that conservative parents would say today are too scary for their little ones) we would not have Avatar, Jurassic Park, Star Wars, King Kong, Iron Man and Transformers because they would all be working in other jobs but because their parents took them, we have those movies and can enjoy their inspiration and imagination those movies have given us.
If you want to learn more about how films are made, what techniques they used to create the monsters in War of the Worlds, or if you are wondering if the child in Lemony Snicket's is real, then read this book. You will learn about all the scientific advances that ILM has created for our world. Understand that it is not just special effects houses that benefit from these advances, but other industries as well. The only difference is that the film industry has the money and interest to build and invest in new technology, it just so happens that other fields can learn from them afterwards without the huge expense. The next time you think Film and TV shows are a waste of time (or turn your brain to mush), remember that if it weren't for the technology that the entertainment industry creates everyday, other career fields out there would suffer because of the loss of research and development. Special effects houses create advances that are so far ahead of most fields that many technology companies look to them for ideas.
If you think about that carefully, it's true. Look at the movie, "Minority Report" directed by Mr. Spielberg. A lot of the hand-motion technology in that film was so amazing to see when it came out in 2002, but we have that technology today and think nothing of it. It was the special effects people who inspired the computer programmers, computer engineers to create that for us. Without the world of Star Trek to inspire, we would not have many of the gadgets that we once thought were so cool to see, but now use in our everyday lives, such as the mobile tablet, and think nothing of them anymore.
I, for one, am glad I grew up at a young age on films and TV shows and thank my parents for introducing them to me without any restrictions. Because of that, today I help inspire others to think in creative ways on how to fix their problems in many different fields. Movies/TV Shows Inspire, just read this book to see just how creative people in the entertainment industry are and you will see.
This was a wonderful book to read because it explaines what ILM did on each film in the book. This book is a showcase of what it took to create some famous shots in each film and how much work was involved. For example, the computing power needed to create the 22 second opening shot of Avatar was more than any other film they had ever done before, going from thirty render processors to over 800 for just this one shot that lasted less than half a minute.
There are many film buffs that like to learn what it took to make certain films and how a shot was created in order to make it look real. This is one of those books you should take the time to read. There is a lot of work involved in making a film, and I think people don't really understand that the people who make the impressive special effects in movies are the ones who are top of their field, especially if they work at ILM. The ILM people are the cream of the crop and its not an easy road to get there, unless you have such an impressive body of work that they feel will benefit them in someway.
The nice thing about this book is that throughout each movie, there are little bios of individuals that explain how they got to work at ILM. Many (if your a parent reading this, take NOTE) all were influenced at a young age (usually under 10) from a movie they saw that influenced their interest in movie magic. They all mention one or two movies that influenced them to want to work in movies. A few artists themselves started going out and teaching themselves how to do it at home using just a basic hand-held camera or a still camera.
Movies have a strong influence in our lives and do not turn your brain into mush like many parents like to teach their little ones today. Movies teach, influence and inspire, and it is the ones who watched them as little kids (when their imagination is most active) that they got new ideas for creating better effects, creatures, and stories. If it weren't for those great parents who took the senior staff of ILM today when they were kids to see movies (that conservative parents would say today are too scary for their little ones) we would not have Avatar, Jurassic Park, Star Wars, King Kong, Iron Man and Transformers because they would all be working in other jobs but because their parents took them, we have those movies and can enjoy their inspiration and imagination those movies have given us.
If you want to learn more about how films are made, what techniques they used to create the monsters in War of the Worlds, or if you are wondering if the child in Lemony Snicket's is real, then read this book. You will learn about all the scientific advances that ILM has created for our world. Understand that it is not just special effects houses that benefit from these advances, but other industries as well. The only difference is that the film industry has the money and interest to build and invest in new technology, it just so happens that other fields can learn from them afterwards without the huge expense. The next time you think Film and TV shows are a waste of time (or turn your brain to mush), remember that if it weren't for the technology that the entertainment industry creates everyday, other career fields out there would suffer because of the loss of research and development. Special effects houses create advances that are so far ahead of most fields that many technology companies look to them for ideas.
If you think about that carefully, it's true. Look at the movie, "Minority Report" directed by Mr. Spielberg. A lot of the hand-motion technology in that film was so amazing to see when it came out in 2002, but we have that technology today and think nothing of it. It was the special effects people who inspired the computer programmers, computer engineers to create that for us. Without the world of Star Trek to inspire, we would not have many of the gadgets that we once thought were so cool to see, but now use in our everyday lives, such as the mobile tablet, and think nothing of them anymore.
I, for one, am glad I grew up at a young age on films and TV shows and thank my parents for introducing them to me without any restrictions. Because of that, today I help inspire others to think in creative ways on how to fix their problems in many different fields. Movies/TV Shows Inspire, just read this book to see just how creative people in the entertainment industry are and you will see.
June 25, 2012
This is a terrific look at the past decade-and-a-half of ILM's work. Each entry is fairly brief and can therefore be consumed in bite-sized chunks, but you do get a good feel for how the technology has progressed and the company has grown.
It has many of the most recent movies, including Avatar and the Marvel superhero movies, with some nice behind-the-scenes information on their productions. Books like this don't delve into company politics or gossip about the artists, which is how it should be. It's about project complete and problems solved, with hundreds and hundreds of pretty pictures.
If you're the kind of person who watches the behind-the-scenes stuff on your DVDs, then this is exactly up your alley. This is a company that has long been the best at what they do: bringing dreams to glorious life, and this book is a great chronicle of that journey.
It has many of the most recent movies, including Avatar and the Marvel superhero movies, with some nice behind-the-scenes information on their productions. Books like this don't delve into company politics or gossip about the artists, which is how it should be. It's about project complete and problems solved, with hundreds and hundreds of pretty pictures.
If you're the kind of person who watches the behind-the-scenes stuff on your DVDs, then this is exactly up your alley. This is a company that has long been the best at what they do: bringing dreams to glorious life, and this book is a great chronicle of that journey.
September 19, 2013
If you live in Marin county you should check out this book. This is a fun, picture filled book capturing a slice of Industrial Light & Magic's work. From their earlier work with George Lucas on to semi-recent films like Avatar and Rango.The book details processes,techniques and some challenges, but in no way is a hand book for the digital film student.It's light reading with plenty of eye candy for film and special effect buffs.
December 24, 2013
This book was really great with covering movies that were pretty big for ILM from 1995 to 2011. It was really detailed which is why I liked it. The book is easy to read. It talks about how their programs, and techniques developed over the years. It was a really fun read. Overall, can't wait for the next book which is I'm most likely have to wait another 15 to 20 years for most likely :P
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September 13, 2012Not sure of I'll ever get to 'Read' this book all the way through... Too busy looking at all the movie prints inside... Every film Industrial Light and Magic have been involved in...
November 18, 2018
I give it 4 out of 5 stars only because I want to read more about and see more photos from each movie. The book is heavy enough as it is, if it was to my liking I would need helpers to carry it. ;)
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews