ILM - Disney+ 6 part documentary series — Page 3

Ronster said:

The Star Wars Purist said:

A lot of the unfinished FX shots in there could be great resources for fanedits!

What unfinished effects shots?

could someone list them out?

the holochess table shot looks better than in the film more vibrant.

I don’t have a list, but I will say that, throughout the series - I’ve only watched the first 4, but that’s the end of the OT - any shots they use from the OT are definitely the original, optically composited effects. No SE or later changes! I’m sure others have noted this, and it’s obviously extremely necessary for a documentary like this, but it’s so great to see nonetheless. That is probably why the holochess table looks more vibrant.

Yeah what if they cover the prequels and give us some never-before-seen deleted footage? Here’s hoping!

Yeah hopefully they do more with the 90’s and 2000’s era. The 1st season seemed to focusing on a 20 year timespans ealy/mib 70’s to early/mid 90’s. With a teaser on the future of ILM. So the next season should be Mid 90’s to 2010’s.

We already know they officially still have the original elements of the original effects for the different catalog of movies.

For this season I’d love to see how they made the water effect for that 100foot wave for “The Perfect Storm” in 2000.

‘Light And Magic’ - Season 2 (only 3 episodes) - airs on 18th April on Disney+.

 
Collider article: https://collider.com/light-and-magic-season-2-release-date

Film Stories article: https://filmstories.co.uk/tv/light-magic-season-2-confirmed-for-april-release-on-disney

Star Wars official twitter announcement: https://x.com/starwars/status/1900319346431582294

Edit: an S2 Trailer released on the 18th April - by the official Lucasfilm youtube channel…
 

Light and Magic | Season 2 Trailer | Now Streaming on Disney+

www.youtube.com/watch?v=68YdtaKRO7M - a 2 minute video.

Season 2 was quite an enjoyable watch (only 3 episodes, chiming in at under 3 hours of content) - though I did find myself more invested in stories highlighting ILM’s work on the films outside of Star Wars (though even that was quite ‘showcase-y’ / PR-like).

The sale and closure of the model shop are covered, as well as the final curtain for it in 2023 (The 32Ten Studios) - you could really sense the emotions there from the numerous talented people who’d worked there over the years.

I felt S2 glossed over previous films which used cgi characters and digital films (Windhorse, Young Sherlock Holmes, then that 2000 Clooney comedy - ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’) - if we didn’t know any better this portrays George as the founder of all that (instead of being a fellow pioneer and innovator who embraced and enhanced it). We also get another ‘quicker, better, cheaper’ quote from GL again too re the digital process - though was it really ‘better’? We all know in certain places the 1997 SEs and Prequels look awful in places (unsurprisingly not shown in this).

The pre-1997 SE scenes were shown in the worst quality - though the 1997 SE and PT seemingly in the best quality. It turns out John Knoll may have been a bit of cheat, too 😉 (in trying to prove what can and can’t be done digitally - and how quickly it takes; the story of this did raise a few smiles from both the people featured in this - and likely us viewers).

The art departments and what they came up with for the PT were just superb - their fantastic art (and even the storyboards) are shown very well in this - all kudos to them - and for the other films since.

Found it a little weird that the digital Yoda was ‘bigged up’ as being so much better in TPM - though not too much focus on how bad and inferior the TPM puppet sculpt was… and how it affected filming and Frank Oz’ performance (+ using a heavier and denser silicon based Yoda instead of a re-sculpt with the materials used in the unaltered theatrical OT).

It does come across that George couldn’t reign himself in with the 1997 SE (and Prequels) when it came to inserting digital alterations - playing with all his new toys just because he could - yet seemingly didn’t take into account the effect of the different tone and that impact in and upon the story.

Indeed, any issues and problems from introducing newly replaced scenes into the Special Editions… are glossed over quickly or ignored (Han Shoots First being replaced - and George’s debunked claims on it since, the insertion of Jabba into SW - and debunked claims by George since, Luke’s scream in '97 ESB, Vader’s ‘Noooo’ in ROTJ, Hayden inserted into ROTJ - as well as content such as this - scroll down to Cat. #17 - which Lucasfilm are very much aware of, etc); obviously Lucasfilm don’t want to spotlights, yet a pity they re knot acknowledged or talked about in this documentary.
 

Overall, I’m glad I watched it - an enjoyable 2nd season and an intriguing watch for anyone interested in film history and Lucasfilm… though as posted above… the non-SW content captured and held my interest more than the SW material (probably because much of the SE and PTs have been covered well before - and non-SW work by ILM less so).
 

One thing I would say… Andor is proof there is much to be said from using real sets and locations in Star Wars - and simply using digital technology as a quality and useful tool to enhance the immersion of the story where/when needed - to say nothing of the negative impact the digital process / endless greenscreen sets had on the actors and the acting performances in the PT era (which was not mentioned in the series). Balance and control are key ingredients in attempting to make compelling storytelling - who knew? 😉

 
I hope Season 2 of ‘Light & Magic’ is a part of ILM’s 50th anniversary - founded 26th May, 1975.
 

Otherwise it unfortunately seems much like Lucasfilm’s 50th anniversary in 2021 - an opportunity to sell merch & little else…?

• ILM 50th Anniversary Merchandise Now Available Online - at ILM

• ILM Celebrates 50th Anniversary and Announces New Book at ‘Star Wars’ Celebration Japan - at ILM

• ILM’s 50th Anniversary web portal - at ILM (currently only featuring the two above ILM articles selling merch)

• ILM 50th Anniversary Merchandise Now Available Online - at Lucasfilm

• ILM Pioneer Dennis Muren Visits Company’s Original Home for the First Time in Decades - a 2 minute video from ILM
 

and from Celebration 2025: Japan…

Lighter Darker | EP 017: ILM 50th Anniversary Panel

www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4P8s8o7c3s - a 56 minute video from Celebration 2025 - at the official ILM youtube channel.
 

The blurb: ‘How did John Knoll decide to pitch the story for Rogue One? What does Rob Coleman recall about the audience’s reaction to Yoda’s first lightsaber fight? What was it like for Fon Davis on his first pyrotechnic model shoot on the Star Wars prequels? How did Masa Narita decide to quit his job as a businessman in Japan and become an artist at ILM in San Francisco? You’ll hear all these stories and more in Episode 17 of Lighter Darker, featuring ILM’s exclusive video coverage of our 50th anniversary panel at Star Wars Celebration Japan, now on YouTube.’
 

^ unfortunately featuring nobody from ILM at the start back in 1975 - or even anyone from the Original Trilogy era.

Hopefully we’ll see some new content (a doc or short - or detailed article) on the 50 years of ILM, from ILM, come the 26th May…?

Edit: we did get this 4 minute youtube video from ILM: Industrial Light & Magic: 50 Years of Innovation - on the 28th May.
 

I watched s2e1 today. Worth watching, like season 1. Very fun to watch them try to not exactly say TPM had problems while still saying it. It’s a real shame they went with all-CG for Jar Jar, but honestly that wasn’t the main problem; the problem was that no matter talented Ahmed Best is (and I believe he is), the jokes and direction were coming from George Lucas. Also very fun to see them try to tell you “We all hate Rick McCallum” without exactly saying it.

Afterward, I watched the pod race. What a great sequence, if a little long in its home video extended edition form. I still have no idea why Aurra Sing exists, but I guess that’s for a different thread somewhere.

Oh and it is just always great to hear from Doug Chiang. I remember fondly pouring over his work in the “Art Of” books, much like he loved Joe Johnston’s work in the OT art books. The difference of course being that I did not then become an artist myself and work on the Sequels. But anyway, enjoyed s2e1.