How to Film the impossible

I'm 25 minutes in. This is really informative.

I've never known how they did things like compositing without digital.
 
I've told this story here before, but it is a fun one, so...

Back in the early 90s, I was filming a commercial where we needed to create a minaturized desert scene - complete with 1.5" tumbleweeds. We figured everything out but those. Remembering the original Tremors, we simply picked up the phone and called Apogee - which was still in the original ILM facility from Star Wars.

We were invited there and given a tour of their Dykstraflex motion control stage, glass matte painting facility (one was actually being painted while we were there) and through their archives.

They gave us the "tumbleweed formula" and we left the tour through the parking lot where the Death Star trench sequence was filmed - from the back of an El Camino. I think that car belonged to Jon Erland, who had served as our tour guide for the day.

A few years later, I was lucky enough to go and work at the "secret" ILM facility. Living in San Francisco, it wasn't uncommon to not have a car, so when I got the call from the union, I simply took a cab up to San Rafael with the address for ILM. Except when I got there, there was no ILM.

A call to my the IA dispatcher got me a curt answer - "turn around and go inside... knucklehead." Sure enough, upon timidly entering the offices of "Kerner Optical Research", I was greeted by the ILM logo and R2-D2, who was on duty in the lobby.

I spent a few features there, doing carpentry and assistant camera work. Never saw Lucas, but did get to work with incredible analog effects guys like Steve Gawley among others.

Anyway, all this digital stuff is usually really disappointing to me. Stands out like a sore thumb. I love effects when they're used in an undetectable way - something even Spielberg can't seem to accomplish anymore.

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Cool story.

I kind of wish I was around when these special effects were just being introduced and people were blown away by them.

Now we're so used to special effects that they are very rarely impressive.
 
I just read Droid Maker. Good book about the old days at LFL, ILM and Kerner. Stories aboout developing the Alpha Channel, frame buffers, Pixar, etc.


But yeah, don't do it in post if you can do it on set.
 
Yeah I find it always amazing that you can look at movies made in the 70s without any digital help and they don´t give you that "Buck Rogers Feeling" with spacecraft on visible strings and sparkler jets. I mean they are still belivable - no mater to what digital Mabo-Jambo we are used today.

Frank
 
Great post thanks for that.
A lot of movies are made to justify the effects because of the ease of making them today. I hear a lot of movie, commercial and video clip makers brag about the special effects they use in their projects. They seam to forget that whether it is a 30 second or 110 minute project it is all about the story. Looking back at 'dem good ol days' makes me appreciate even more all these magnificent tools we've got available . Especially when the terminology is still quite similar to the old work flows, as are many of the digital versions of the analog processes, really cool thanks again.
 
Thanks for posting this great piece of video. Great documentary, worth watching.

I had always wanted to know how this thing were done. And after watching this I even understand the origins of some of the basic tools from after effects as the Screen blend mode, a clear hole in a painted piece of glass.

I also agree that digital effects are too overused, and that many films are starting to look like games.
This is a bit weird because every time you render something in a 3d app you try to get it the more photorealistic you can, but when they do digital effects for films it looks like they try to give them a surrealistic look.


again, thanks for sharing this video.
 
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