Industrial Light & Magic: The Art of Special Effects

From Library Journal Author Smith was general manager for Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) which provided astounding special effects for the sf/horror films of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, beginning with Star Wars. This book is something of a puff-piece for the renowned company (and a panegyric to Lucas) and includes a history of the company, profiles of its artists and technicians, and solid explanations of the various techniques, from animation to matte painting to models. The writing is competent but repetitious. The filmography of ILM work includes each film's poster, a nice touch. . David Bartholomew, NYPLCopyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. However, the volume has been designed as a fan-oriented, large-format tome, and it is lavishly

"An amazing read. Love that it was written by someone within ILM." according to R. Wise. I found this book to be an absolutely fascinating read. It's written by an ILM insider which adds to the credibility of the book. The copyright is 1986 so it's cool to read this book with some measure of hindsight to know that ILM was truly ahead of it's time. I found one passage near the end of the book to be incredibly prophetic. The author is discussing CGI enhancement. Remember that this book was written in 1986 when the technology was in it's infancy. He speculated way back then that CGI would one day become the norm in film making. This more than anything else convinces me that IL. The art & so much more This ,like the other 2 books in this seris it is chock full of behind the scenes & stunning photographs of movie Icons. It goes further into detail of the 'how' than the other books which are understandably more general.The 3 books cover Foundation of ILM to the start of the digital realmThe digital realm & the art of FX. The fourth book though not part of the seris is for me 'Inside the model shop' ,a companion to the other three.Together the three books chart the rise of ILM to close to the Present day.Highly recommended for Film buffs , modellers & those who just like this feild pres. This is a very good coffee-table picture book John M Hollowwa This is a very good coffee-table picture book. The info contained inside is um, questionable. Statements like "Animation was used when the Evil Emporer was firing lightning bolts at Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi" well, I can't argue with it!

From its early days in a large empty warehouse in Southern California's San Fernando Valley, to its Oscar-winning accommplishments creating special effects for the STAR WARS trilogy, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, ET, POLTERGEIST, and a host of others.. A lavish, profusely illustrated volume that tells the remarkable story of the organization whose name has become synonymous with state-of-the-art special effects: Industrial Light & Magic