Stuart Ng Books - Cinefex - Rare and Out-of-Print Books on Illustration, Animation and Comic Art. Artists' Sketchbooks.

1982. 1st. Oblong 8vo (89" wide), 72pp, color and b&w illustrations, softcover wraps. VG+ (mild shelf wear).

1983. 1st. Oblong 8vo (89" wide), 72pp, color and b&w illustrations, softcover wraps. Fine.

Riverside: 1984. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 68pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF.

David Dryer - Never Say Never Again - Interview by Don Shay
Never Say Never Again - the maverick James Bond film starring the original 007, Sean Connery - emerged this fall as one of the series' strongest entries. To helm its postproduction opticals, producer Jack Schwartzman selected Oscar nominee David Dryer. Dryer - who utilized the high-tech facilities of Apogee - details the techniques employed to produce the pivotal cruise missile hijacking, the holographic videogame confrontation between Bond and Largo, and other less apparent illusions.

The Day After: Waging a Four-Minute War - Article by Adam Eisenberg
In a storm of protest and praise, ABC's video presentation of The Day After descended upon the American public as a grim reminder of the potential horrors of nuclear weaponry. Recalling the highly-charged atmosphere of creative enthusiasm and emotional abhorrence, effects supervisor Robert Blalack and members of his Praxis 150.

Film Works team discuss their involvement on the film augmented by Mike Minkow of Movie Magic; and with additional recollections from director Nicholas Meyer, his predecessor Robert Butler, and production designer Peter Wooley.

Photographs and Memories - Ralph Hammeras - Edited by Don Shay
In a career spanning almost half a century, effects pioneer Ralph Hammeras worked on some one thousand motion pictures - garnering, in the process, four Academy Award nominations and one Oscar. As recounted in his own words - put to paper nearly twenty years ago - Hammeras reminisces about his early days in the film business, his development of the "glass shot" and rear process photography, and his work on such significant effects productions as The Lost World, Just Imagine and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Riverside: 1984. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 68pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF. Out of Print

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom: Hell and High Water - Article by Robert P. Everett

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom marks the second blockbuster association between executive producer George Lucas and director Steven Spielberg. Unlike Raiders of the Lost Ark, which - with the exception of its cosmic finale - relied primarily on dazzling stunt work for its thrills and chills, many of the key sequences in the second Indiana Jones adventure were made possible only through the employment of elaborate visual effects. From miniature airplanes and mine cars to large-scale lava and water effects, the cinemagicians of Industrial Light & Magic stretched the limits of their experience and expertise to produce some 140 effects shots for the consummate cliffhanger. Three-time Oscar-winning effects supervisor Dennis Muren discusses the project in detail, aided and abetted by numerous members of his highly-specialized team.

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock: The Final Voyage of the Starship 'Enterprise' - Article by Brad Munson

Concurrent with their involvement in Indiana Jones, the artists and technicians of Industrial Light & Magic were also at work on a vastly different project - their second foray into Star Trek's final frontier. In Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Oscar-winning effects supervisor Ken Ralston and his team were called upon to create alien creatures, several new spacecraft, a mammoth orbiting drydock, planetary surfaces for Genesis and Vulcan - and most memorable, the destruction of the starship Enterprise. Ralston and key members of the effects unit detail the challenges involved and the techniques employed in achieving these and other cinematic wonders.

Riverside: 1985. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 68pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF. Out of Print.

Jupiter Revisited - The Odyssey of '2010' - Article by Adam Eisenberg and Don Shay

"Sixteen years ago, 2001: A Space Odyssey was launched into the cinematic firmament - a glimmering enigma which, among other things, promptly established a new aesthetic, as well as a whole new set of ground rules for motion picture special effects. Nearly a decade would pass before Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, using computerized motion control photography and advanced compositing techniques, would begin to close the technological gap established by 2001. When Arthur C. Clarke published his much anticipated sequel 2010: Odyssey Two in 1982, it was reasonable to assume that it would soon find its way onto the screen, with the full force of contemporary state-of-the-art movie magic brought to bear on its complex effects requirements. Rising to the challenge were producer-writer-director Peter Hyams, futurist designer Syd Mead and visual effects supervisor Richard Edlund. From actualizing a Russian interplanetary spaceship to devising an authentic-looking representation of Jupiter's turbulent surface, the 2010 effects unit fulfilled the demands of the production and in the process established a fresh new look in simulated space photography."

Riverside: 1985. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 72pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF. Out of Print.

When writer-director James Cameron first conceived of The Terminator, it was little more than a visceral image of a human cyborg emerging from a fire in its basic skeletal form. What it became was a modestly-budgeted blockbuster. To bring his image to life, Cameron engaged the services of Stan Winston - whose seasoned team of makeup and mechanical effects experts created the full-size robotic skeleton, as well as several lifelike representations of actor Arnold Schwarzenegger. For futuristic post-holocaust views of Los Angeles, plus contemporary pyrotechnics and stop-motion effects, the expertise and talents of Fantasy II were brought to bear. With minimal funds, but a wealth of creativity and enthusiasm, The Terminator's effects units helped transform Cameron's searing image into both a thrill-a-minute adventure and a major box office event.

Despite enormous popularity as a novel, twenty years would elapse before Frank Herbert's Dune would make the quantum leap from printed page to cinematic reality. The imposing challenge of adapting the widely-read cult classic - a saga rivaling the novel itself in epic proportion - would ultimately be met by writer-director David Lynch. In consort with cinematographer Freddie Francis, production designer Tony Masters, and a battery of high-powered effects supervisors including Carlo Rambaldi, Albert Whitlock, Barry Nolan, Kit West and Brian Smithies, Lynch would labor diligently for three-and-a-half years to bring his vision of Herbert's exotic work to life. From the worm-infested deserts of Arrakis to the murky decadence of Giedi Prime, Lynch and his production unit combined a wealth of experience with fresh innovation to weave the richly-textured tapestry of Dune.

Riverside: 1985. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 68pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF.

Return to Oz - Article by Brad Munson
It all started eighty-five years ago when L. Frank Baum first captured the hearts and imaginations of children with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The book's literary success spawned dozens of stage and screen excursions to the Land of Oz, marked most notably by MGM's immortal classic. Repudiating the popular conception of singing and dancing munchkins and vaudevillian backdrops, Walt Disney Productions and director Walter Murch have re-explored Baum's familiar and beloved fantasy world in a dedicated new adaptation - Return to Oz. Producers Gary Kurtz and Paul Maslansky, opticals expert Zoran Perisic, creature designer Lyle Conway and Claymation innovator Will Vinton - together with other members of the Oz team - discuss in detail the special brand of wizardry involved in bringing Dorothy Gale's time-honored adventures once again to life.

Baby: Bringing Up Baby - Article by Howard E. Green
In the animal-adventure genre there is nothing new under the sun - or is there? For Touchstone Films, the novel twist of casting a most unusual fauna in the title role of Baby was inspiration for the telling of an old tale in a decidedly new way. The Isidoro Raponi-designed infant brontosaurus star was born cinematically in the rain forests of Africa's Ivory Coast following an arduous three-year gestation period. For director B.W.L. Norton and producer Jonathan Taplin, the trials and tribulations of bringing the $14 million production to life involved an exhausting - often harrowing - labor. And the challenge of creating high-tech special effects in a low-tech Third World country furnished all involved with more than their share of real-life thrills and chills.

1985. 1st. Oblong 8vo (89" wide), 72pp, color and b&w illustrations, softcover wraps. Fine.

Explorers: The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of - Article by Adam Eisenberg
Every kid has dreams of adventure by way of a backyard fort or makeshift treehouse. In Joe Dante's summertime jaunt, Explorers, the dream comes true. Only this time the journey begins when a homemade spaceship devised by three young boys really does take off for parts unknown and brings the trio face-to-face with some hilariously offbeat Rob Bottin-designed aliens. With the effects expertise of Industrial Light & Magic and the computer-generated animation of Omnibus Computer Graphics, Dante and company launched a $23 million expedition into the cinematic firmament.

Lifeforce: Baring the Soul of 'Lifeforce' - Article by Glenn Campbell
Bizarre makeup and unusual opticals are prime elements of the modern horror or science fiction film, and director Tobe Hooper's Lifeforce - an incredible combination of the two genres - is replete with both. Keeping up with an effects-a-minute pace was no easy task for the international crew, and John Dykstra and key members of his Apogee organization discuss challenges faced on the visual effects front. From conventional model photography to innovative laser applications, the production team concocted an assortment of illusions to help bring Colin Wilson's tale of soul-snatching vampires to life.

Shooting for an 'A' on 'My Science Project' - Article by Stephen Rebello
Screenwriter Jonathan Betuel was certain of two things while shopping his My Science Project script around Hollywood - he wanted to direct the film, and it had to feature a terrifying tyrannosaurus rex sequence. Walt Disney Productions agreed and gave Betuel the directorial reins for his fantasy-adventure yarn about a high school science experiment gone awry. Along with effects supervisor John Scheele, dinosaur-builder Doug Beswick and other members of the effects ensemble, first-time director Betuel reflects upon the unlikely logistics of getting a prehistoric carnivore into the school gymnasium.

Riverside: 1985. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 72pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF.

Riverside: 1986. 1st. Oblong 8vo (8-9" wide), 67pp, color and b&w illustrations, softcover wraps. VG+ (covers rubbed and wrinkled).

Riverside: 1986. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 68pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF. Out of Print.

The Fly: The Fly Papers - Article by Tim Lucas
For almost thirty years, The Fly has held a cherished place in the hearts and minds of genre film enthusiasts; so the decision to remake it was not surprising. Only its essential premise, however, would be retained. Under the direction of David Cronenberg, the story became one of a scientist whose genes are scrambled with those of a common housefly producing a mutant form that evolves incessantly into something neither human nor insect. Discussing the film and its manifold complexities are director David Cronenberg, special makeup creator Chris Walas, video effects supervisor Lee Wilson and others.

Big Trouble in Little China: Putting Big Trouble into Little China - Article by Janine Pourroy
"For Big Trouble in Little China - a sprawling fantasy-adventure set in an imaginary world under a Chinatown - director John Carpenter needed a special effects facility that could respond to the demands of a script that called for a wide range of makeup and creature effects as well as precision opticals and animation. Rising to the task was Richard Edlund and his Boss Film Corporation who collectively produced a 2000-year-old evil magician, a flying fleshball covered with eyes, several monsters and spirits of indeterminate origin, plus a vast array of lightning effects and other illusions."

Short Circuit: Building the Body Electric - Article by Jody Duncan Shay
The Short Circuit script had everything - adventure, humor, warmth - and John Badham knew immediately that he wanted to direct it. All it needed for success was a very special lead player - a six-foot-tall robot with an engaging personality who could drive trucks, dance disco and chase butterflies. The task of producing this singular performer fell to robot construction supervisor Eric Allard, futurist designer Syd Mead, puppeteer Tony Urbano and physical effects coordinator Chuck Gaspar - all of whom discuss in detail the creation of a very unique Hollywood star.

1991. 1st. Oblong 8vo (8-9" wide), 59pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. Fine.

Backdraft - director Ron Howard, pyrotechnics live on stage sets and urban locations.

Cast a Deadly Spell - a made-for-cable feature produced by Gale Anne Hurd for HBO Pictures - infuses the hard-boiled detective genre with unabashed elements of supernatural horror and offbeat humor. Makeup and creature effects - including a passel of gremlins, a living gargoyle and assorted demons large and small - were created by Tony Gardner and his Alterian Studios. Opticals and miniatures - primarily matte paintings and a cataclysmic finale - were provided by 4-Ward Productions.

Riverside: 1992. 1st. 4to (11-13"), 110pp, color and b&w illustrations, softcover wraps. VF. Alien 3: Zealots and Xenomorphs
In the footsteps of Ridley Scott and James Cameron, novice director David Fincher set about to put his own personal stamp on the third installment in the Alien saga. Contributing to the Alien 3 effects effort were creature creators Tom Woodruff, Jr. and Alec Gillis, physical effects experts George Gibbs and Al Di Sarro, and visual effects veteran Richard Edlund and his Boss Film Studios.

The Lawnmower Man: Cyberworld
- Intent upon exploring the cinematic possibilities of 'virtual reality', director Brett Leonard and producer Gimel Everett scripted and obtained independent financing for The Lawnmower Man. To infuse their film with a big-budget computer graphics look - without the big budget - they engaged digital effects teams at Angel Studios and Xaos Incorporated to realize the virtual environments.
Video Beat: Morphing to the Music
Profile: Joseph Viskocil
Commercial Spot: Widebody Whales
Commercial Spot: Reflections of the Dead
Index: Cinefex 1-50.

Riverside: 1993. 1st. 4to (11-13"), 134pp, color and b&w illustrations, softcover wraps. NF.

An unusually prolonged preproduction period paid off both artistically and commercially when Steven Spielberg's much-anticipated Jurassic Park opened this summer to a dinosaur-crazed public. The creation of its amazingly lifelike dinosaurs was an odyssey into moviemaking magic led by Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Phil Tippett and Michael Lantieri. Effects techniques as old as the movies themselves were infused with new life and direction, while newer approaches were pushed to unexpected heights. The result - a quantum leap in aggregate technologies - would establish an altogether new set of standards for a venerable old genre.

Riverside: 1994. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 100pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF.

Attack of the 50 Foot Woman: The making of a 50 Foot Woman - Article by Tim Prokop

From its humorously derivative opening logo to its campy postscript, the Home Box Office remake of Attack of the 50 Foot Woman was clearly an ode to old-style moviemaking. On a scant made-for-television budget, visual effects supervisor Gene Warren and his Fantasy II team members made mountains out of molehills with forced perspective miniatures, split-screen trickery and other vintage effects.

On-set effects such as large-scale pyrotechnics, frozen human replicas and robotic action props were just part of the Demolition Man story. Racing against time, with a schedule that was essentially only eight weeks long, visual effects supervisor Michael McAlister delivered the complex cinematic illusions required for the film by tapping a wealth of talent from eight different houses.

CINEFEX #68. [SN25973] $35
Riverside: 1996. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 160pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF. Out of Print
Mars Attacks!: Martial Art - Article by Mark Cotta Vaz
In Mars Attacks!, director Tim Burton's lampoon of the alien invasion genre, hordes of flying saucers and big-headed Martians wreak havoc on earth's inhabitants. Forsaking motion control spaceships and stop-motion creatures in favor of an all-digital approach, Industrial Light & Magic and the newly established Warner Digital Studio shared responsibility for the visual effects.

T2: Battle Across Time: Battle Beyond Three Dimensions - Article by Estelle Shay
Conceived by Landmark Entertainment as a thrill-packed continuation of the Terminator saga, Terminator 2: Battle Across Time - Universal Studio's newest theme park extravaganza - redefines 3-D and special venue entertainment. Terminator 2 director James Cameron and the film's original cast teamed with effects powerhouse Digital Domain to bring the groundbreaking project to fruition.

Daylight: Burned Out and Blown Out
Michael Westmore: Behind the Masks
The Ghost and the Darkness: Bad Cats in a Bad Place
The City of Lost Children: Magic With a French Touch
The Associate: Gender Benders
The Island of Dr. Moreau: Moreau's Menagerie

Riverside: 1997. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 172pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF. Out of Print

Jurassic Park: The Lost World: On the Shoulders of Giants - Article by Jody Duncan

When it came time to select an effects team for The Lost World, director Steven Spielberg turned promptly to character creator Stan Winston, visual effects supervisor Dennis Muren of Industrial Light & Magic, and special effects supervisor Michael Lantieri - the trio that had written effects history on Jurassic Park - to once again push the boundaries of artistry and technology.

For director Barry Sonnenfeld's science fiction comedy Men in Black - about shadowy government agents who oversee extraterrestrial activities on earth - makeup effects artist Rick Baker produced a variety of imaginatively conceived aliens, supplemented by computer generated creations and other effects concocted by Industrial Light & Magic.

To impart an epic quality to The Fifth Element - his whimsical science fiction adventure about a New York cab driver who is called upon to help save the universe from annihilation - director Luc Besson turned to Digital Domain and visual effects supervisor Mark Stetson to create an array of futuristic cityscapes and distant worlds through a blend of traditional and digital imagery.

The Short Circuit script had everything - adventure, humor, warmth - and John Badham knew immediately that he wanted to direct it. All it needed for success was a very special lead player - a six-foot-tall robot with an engaging personality who could drive trucks, dance disco and chase butterflies. The task of producing this singular performer fell to robot construction supervisor Eric Allard, futurist designer Syd Mead, puppeteer Tony Urbano and physical effects coordinator Chuck Gaspar - all of whom discuss in detail the creation of a very unique Hollywood star.

Riverside: 1997. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 183pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF. Spawn: With a Little Help From Our Friends - Article by Jody Duncan

To bring the comic book sensation Spawn to the screen, a trio of young upstarts from Industrial Light & Magic donned production hats and engaged in guerrilla filmmaking in the digital realm to create a lavish effects film on a slender budget.

For Batman & Robin - the fourth feature in the Batman Series and the second for director Joel Schumacher - visual effects supervisor John Dykstra drew upon the specialties of several effects houses to produce a series-high four hundred effects shots.

Tasked with unleashing the ultimate scourge on Los Angeles for the Mick Jackson film, Volcano, visual effects supervisor Mat Beck oversaw the creation of volcano and lava effects achieved via practical, miniature and digital means.

With effects ranging from earthbound to cosmic, Contact marked the seventh collaboration between director Robert Zemeckis and visual effects supervisor Ken Ralston, now head of Sony Pictures Imageworks.

Riverside: 1997. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 184pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. VG+ (a few light creases to cover corner). Titanic: Back to Titanic - Article by Don Shay

Titanic is an apt title for the latest film from director James Cameron, denoting not only the subject matter of the picture, but the scope of the endeavor, as well. On his odyssey to bring the story of the 1912 maritime disaster to the screen, Cameron went to the bottom of the North Atlantic to photograph the actual Titanic wreck, then reconstructed the celebrated ship, almost full-size - and sank it! - at a studio built expressly to house the massive production.

Convinced that total verisimilitude was essential for Titanic, Cameron challenged Digital Domain and visual effects supervisor Robert Legato to blur the line between full-size photography and miniature work by constructing an enormous model of the ship, then placing it in a digital ocean environment and populating it with computer generated people to capture, in intimate detail, the expansive elegance of the liner at sea and the horror of its untimely demise.

During principal photography and into postproduction, as the visual effects workload for Titanic increased from 150 shots to more than 500, a production-level effects department was established to assign and monitor the overflow workload, which was farmed out to seventeen separate facilities collectively contributing everything from complex compositing and miniature photography to matte paintings and computer animation.

Riverside: 1998. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 173pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF. Godzilla: The Sound and the Fury - Article by Kevin H. Martin

As a follow-up to their Independence Day phenomenon, director Roland Emmerich and producer Dean Devlin opted to reinvent a classic Japanese film franchise with Godzilla. Under visual effects supervisor Volker Engel, the newly-formed Centropolis Effects created a twenty-story-tall digital Godzilla, supported by practical creature effects from Patrick Tatopoulos designs, plus extensive physical effects, both large and small, by Clay Pinney and Joseph Viskocil.

After a five-season run, the television sensation The X-Files leaped to the big screen in a feature film produced by X-Files creator Chris Carter and directed by series regular Rob Bowman. In addition to makeup and creature effects by Amalgamated Dynamics Inc., the motion picture featured an abundance of postproduction work - supplied principally by Light Matters and Blue Sky | VIFX - overseen by visual effects supervisor Mat Beck.

Riverside: 1998. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 148pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF. Small Soldiers: A Small Soldiers Story - Article by Jody Duncan

For the high-concept DreamWorks project Small Soldiers, centering on toy action figures implanted with high-tech military computer chips that allow them to take on a life of their own, director Joe Dante worked closely with Stan Winston Studio, which designed the Commando Elite and Gorgonite characters and then built them in puppet form for use on set, and Industrial Light & Magic, which duplicated the combative toys in digital form and computer-animated them for scenes requiring complex action.

For Armageddon, about roughneck oil drillers sent on a heroic mission into space to save earth from a killer asteroid, director Michael Bay and producer Jerry Bruckheimer needed near-nonstop visual effects to support the action. To meet the demand, the production formed an in-house effects unit, Vfx, overseen by visual effects supervisor Pat McClung, and engaged Dream Quest Images, under fellow supervisor Richard Hoover. Also making sizable contributions were Blue Sky | VIFX, Digital Domain, Cinesite and Computer Film Company.

Riverside: 1999. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 148pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF. My Favorite Martian: Martian Chronicles - Article by Kevin H. Martin

In adapting the popular sixties-era television series, My Favorite Martian, for the big screen, director Donald Petrie relied heavily on visual effects. Two principle providers were brought aboard to accomplish the visual effects: Available Light for digital cars, spacecraft and a variety of embellishments, and Tippett Studio for CG character animation. In addition to these two facilities, Rainmaker Digital Pictures, Hammerhead, 4-Ward Productions, Station X Studios, Amalgamated Dynamics, Illusion Arts, Buena Vista Imaging and Dream Quest Images provided key effects, both digital and practical, throughout the film's production and postproduction phases.

Star Trek: Insurrection, the ninth feature film in the venerable science fiction franchise - with veteran cast member Jonathan Frakes again at the helm - had many familiar elements, including prosthetic makeup effects by Michael Westmore, but employed new technologies and new companies in the creation of its abundant visual effects. Santa Barbara Studios crafted spaceship shots entirely in the digital realm - a first for the series - while Blue Sky | VIFX contributed a range of predominantly planet-bound illusions.

For his remake of the Boris Karloff horror classic, The Mummy, director Stephen Sommers was determined to present a title character far apart from the bandage-wrapped mummies that lumbered through a variety of decades-old predecessors. Engaged to design and create the mummy Imhotep as both an all-CG character and a digitally altered live actor, plus devise a host of other fabrications involving fearsome sandstorms and plagues, was visual effects supervisor John Berton and the artists at Industrial Light & Magic.

1999. 1st. Oblong 8vo (8-9" wide), 170pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. Fine. July 1999. The entire issue is devoted to Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace. George Lucas interview and three articles: production design; ILM; and creature creation.

Riverside: 1999. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 172pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF.

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace: Return of the Jedi - Interview by Don Shay

With the patience of a Jedi master, writer-director George Lucas waited sixteen years before determining the time was right to launch his much-anticipated Star Wars prequel, The Phantom Menace. Stepping back into the limelight to personally shepherd the project through its four-year production odyssey, the visionary filmmaker shares his insights on the most ambitious effects movie ever made.

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace: Phantom Visions - Article by Mark Cotta Vaz

An enormous conceptualization effort, headed by design director Doug Chiang, lent form and substance to Lucas' imaginings of The Phantom Menace's fantasy worlds. Initially comprised of just Chiang and another illustrator, the team eventually expanded to include Seventeen artists, pumping out endless sketches, paintings, sculptures and models in the Skywalker Ranch art department.

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace: Heroes' Journey- Article by Jody Duncan, Kevin H. Martin and Mark Cotta Vaz

Fittingly, it was Industrial Light & Magic, the much-honored company established by Lucas to produce the revolutionary effects in Star Wars, that would undertake the staggering task of bringing his latest opus to fruition. For The Phantom Menace, ILM would pull out all the stops, calling upon both veterans of the earlier trilogy and a newer generation of digital devotees to advance the art of visual effects to dizzying heights.

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace: Populating Planets - Article by Estelle Shay

Although computer animation would play the more prominent role in populating The Phantom Menace's alien worlds, hundreds of whimsical characters - both background and principal - were constructed for on-set use by creature creator Nick Dudman and his crew of animatronics and makeup specialists.

Riverside: 1999. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 148pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF.

Offering up a mix of stylish martial arts and cerebral science fiction, The Matrix - the brainchild of writer-directors Larry and Andy Wachowski - offered a singular vision of a world where reality is nothing more than an elaborate computer construct. Visual effects were achieved principally by Manex Visual Effects and DFilm Services, with assists from other firms in both the United States and Australia.

With source material plumbed from the popular sixties television series, director Barry Sonnenfeld's Wild Wild West offered up a comic saga of Old West derring-do pitted against outrageous villainy and bizarre gadgetry. Makeup effects by Rick Baker, physical gags by Michael Lantieri and digital creations by Industrial Light & Magic and Cinesite enlivened the proceedings.

In The Haunting, based on the novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, the malevolent spirit of a killer manifests itself in a gothic mansion, turning imagined threats into nightmarish reality for the unwitting subjects of a psychological study. Director Jan De Bont sought the talents of effects maestro Phil Tippett and production designer Eugenio Zanetti, among others, to inject new life into the eerie tale.

Mako sharks, armed with enhanced intellects and super-predatory instincts - the result of genetic experimentation on board an aquatic research station - turn on their captors in the Renny Harlin thriller, Deep Blue Sea. Animatronics innovator Walt Conti teamed with visual effects supervisor Jeffrey A. Okun and a host of digital effects facilities to complete the project.

1999. 1st. Oblong 8vo (89" wide), 146pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. VG+.

Riverside: 2000. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 172pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF. Sleepy Hollow: A Region of Shadows - Article by Mark Cotta Vaz

For his horrific, yet stylish Sleepy Hollow, director Tim Burton created a post-colonial New York village in England and assigned effects teams at Industrial Light & Magic, The Computer Film Company and Kevin Yagher Productions to supply a murderous headless horseman and a gruesome array of decapitation victims.

With this issue, Cinefex is marking its twentieth year, an occasion that has prompted us to take a wholly subjective look back - to reflect on how Cinefex came to be, how the effects industry has evolved since the magazine's inception, and to recall some of the highlights of the last two decades.

We asked a few of our friends in the business to help us celebrate our 20th anniversary by offering up their considered opinions as to the best effects sequences of the past 20 years. Also, in an unprecedented display of subjectivity, Cinefex editorial staff members picked their own personal favorites.

Under director Rob Minkoff and senior effects supervisor John Dykstra, animators at Sony Pictures Imageworks created a photoreal, if fanciful, computer generated mouse for Stuart Little that effectively carried the movie, while artists at Rhythm & Hues and Centropolis Effects supplied lip-sync to a supporting cast of talking cats.

In Fight Club, director David Fincher concocted subtle visual effects to get inside the twisted mind of his film's narrator. With oversight from visual effects supervisor Kevin Tod Haug, teams at Digital Domain, Pixel Liberation Front, BUF, Image Savant, Blue Sky, Command Post/Toybox and Gray Matter contributed to the effort.

A one-on-one interview with stop-motion maestro Ray Harryhausen by Phil Tippett.

Riverside: 2000. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 158pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF. Mission to Mars: Mission Accomplished - Article by Kevin H. Martin

For Mission to Mars, a science fiction film from director Brian De Palma, visual effects teams at Dream Quest Images, Industrial Light & Magic and Tippett Studio used motion control miniatures and a wide range of digital effects to lend dazzling verisimilitude to the cinematic depiction of NASA's first manned mission to the red planet - and the staggering revelations that follow.

Capitalizing on Y2K doomsday predictions, End of Days dramatizes the biblically prophesied return of Satan to earth on the eve of the millennium. Working with director Peter Hyams, visual effects supervisor Eric Durst oversaw the efforts of several effects companies to manifest the devil in his true form and dramatize his epic struggle with the one man determined to thwart him.

Galaxy Quest: Trekking into the Klaatu Nebula - Article by Jody Duncan and Estelle Shay

In an affectionate send-up of the Star Trek franchise and its devoted following, Galaxy Quest tells the tale of a washed-up band of actors who give the performance of their lives in a real-life space adventure. As lead effects house on the Dean Parisot film, Industrial Light & Magic relied on miniature spaceships and computer generated creatures to enliven the proceedings.

Riverside: 2000. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 160pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF. Chicken Run: Poultry in Motion - Article by Kevin H. Martin

Aardman Animations, of Wallace and Gromit renown, graduated to feature status with Chicken Run, a send-up of The Great Escape, in which a farm's resident chickens hatch a desperate plan to escape being turned into pot pies. Though the comedy employed Aardman's signature stop-motion puppeteering, it also benefited from a range of digital contributions by Computer Film Company.

The feature animation division of Walt Disney Studios created an all-new digital facility to support its first computer generated film, Dinosaur, about an orphaned iguanodon whose gentle ways come in conflict with his species' baser instincts. Contributing to the movie's novel look were deftly orchestrated visual effects that blended CG characters with digitally processed live-action backgrounds.

A real-life tragedy recounted in the book The Perfect Storm provided the basis for director Wolfgang Petersen's movie of the same name, about a swordfishing boat lost at sea during a storm of unprecedented ferocity. Raising the bar on CG water effects, Industrial Light & Magic produced the digitally engineered tempest, designed to work in concert with large-scale stage effects by John Frazier.

Riverside: 2000. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 160pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF. Hollow Man: Disappearing Act - Article by Estelle Shay

To depict the invisible protagonist at the heart of Hollow Man, veteran director Paul Verhoeven engaged Sony Pictures Imageworks and senior visual effects supervisor Scott Anderson to pull out all the stops, duplicating actor Kevin Bacon's physiology and live performance with a digital replica capable of revealing the character's anatomy from the inside out. Also assuming a sizable share of the workload was Tippett Studio, under visual effects supervisor Craig Hayes. Rounding out the effort were practical effects by Stan Parks and makeup by Amalgamated Dynamics Incorporated.

Plagued by budget and time constraints, plus a burgeoning effects slate, visual effects supervisor Michael L. Fink overcame the odds on X-Men, a fantasy based on the enduring Marvel comic books. To handle the film's array of mutant characters - all exhibiting singular mental or physical powers that distinguish them from ordinary humans - Fink divided the work among some nine visual effects companies, assigning each a particular character or type of effect. Other key contributors were physical effects coordinator Colin Chilvers and makeup effects supervisor Gordon Smith.

Riverside: 2001. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 148pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF. How the Grinch Stole Christmas: The Whos and Whys of How the Grinch Stole Christmas - Article by Mark Cotta Vaz

For his live-action version of the beloved Dr. Seuss story, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, director Ron Howard created the town of Whoville and nearby Mount Crumpit on massive soundstages at Universal, then relied upon makeup maestro Rick Baker to transform actor Jim Carrey and a huge cast of supporting actors and extras into the fictional Grinch and his Who neighbors. Adding visual dazzle to the proceedings were special effects coordinator Allen Hall, in charge of on-set gags, and Digital Domain, whose virtual set extensions and other effects lent style and verisimilitude to the fantasy world.

In Red Planet, astronauts from a dying earth encounter dire obstacles as they investigate failing terra formation experiments designed to render Mars suitable for human colonization. Faced with daunting challenges of its own - including a competing project and a ballooning effects slate that threatened to top out at nearly a thousand shots - Warner Brothers called upon visual effects supervisor Jeffrey A. Okun to oversee the massive effects effort. Also recruited were a dozen effects vendors, delivering everything from space footage and zero-gravity effects to Martian landscapes and a CG robot performance.

Riverside: 2001. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 148pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps.

Still a benchmark by which space films, old and new, are judged, 2001: A Space Odyssey has enthralled science fiction devotees for more than three decades with its purposefully ambiguous take on man's imagined first contact with an extraterrestrial intelligence. In this, its namesake year, Cinefex pays tribute to this seminal film with a comprehensive retrospective, culled from in-depth interviews with many of its principal technicians and craftsmen - some no longer with us - who were instrumental in bringing legendary director Stanley Kubrick's timeless, profound and startlingly realistic-looking vision of deep space exploration to the screen. From its inception as a novel and screenplay - a corroborative effort by Kubrick and science fiction maestro Arthur C. Clarke - through its painstaking, often frustrating, four-year-long odyssey, the epic undertaking continually tested the skills and resourcefulness of such innovators as special effects supervisors Douglas Trumbull and Wally Gentleman, production designer Tony Masters, cinematographer John Alcott, makeup artist Stuart Freeborn and others whose recollections form the foundation of this account. Challenged by Kubrick, ever the perfectionist, all rose to the occasion, exploring countless concepts and approaches, and, in an era long before computers and motion control were endemic to visual effects, devising imaginative and heretofore untried techniques and equipment that would pave the way for future generations of filmmakers.

Riverside: 2001. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 148pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF. Pearl Harbor: More War - Article by Jody Duncan

In Walt Disney Studios' epic Pearl Harbor, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay stage a tale of love and valor against the backdrop of World War II and the infamous Japanese air attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet that spelled the end of the country's isolationist doctrine. Depictions of the assault, along with earlier reenactments of air battles over Britain and the retaliatory Doolittle raid on Tokyo, were achieved through extensive use of digital battleships and planes - compliments of Industrial Light & Magic - in combination with large-scale mechanical and pyrotechnic effects by John Frazier and his crew. Stan Winston Studio contributed makeup effects.

Echoing the sensibilities of his earlier comedy hit Ghostbusters, director Ivan Reitman's newest film, Evolution, has scientists battling aliens after a meteor crashes into the Arizona desert, releasing minute extraterrestrial life forms that vaguely attempt to mimic earth's evolutionary cycle. Phil Tippett and his Tippett Studio artists designed and created, through digital character animation, much of the continuously metamorphosing extraterrestrial ecology, from single-cell microorganisms to complex air and land creatures. Also in the mix were digital effects by Pacific Data Images and practical creature work by KNB EFX Group and Amalgamated Dynamics.

Riverside: 2001. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 148pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF. A.I.: Artificial Intelligence: Mecha Odyssey - Article by Joe Fordham

After more than two decades of super-secret development by filmmaking legend Stanley Kubrick, A.I.: Artificial Intelligence - the story of a robot-child's quest for a means to become human - would finally see the light of day in the hands of Steven Spielberg, who crafted both the script and the film from notes and artwork left behind by Kubrick upon his death. Spielberg summoned Industrial Light & Magic visual effects supervisors Dennis Muren and Scott Farrar to convey onto film new and existing conceptual art of a future world ravaged by the effects of global warming and overpopulated by both humans and their mechanical creations. Spielberg also engaged Stan Winston Studio to design and build an extensive cast of robot characters.

Visionary director Tim Burton put his own singular spin of Planet of the Apes, a remake of the 1968 classic, depicting evolution turned on its ear in a world where humans are subjugated by a superior race of apes. The production would boast a stellar team of effects contributors. Cementing his reputation as the undisputed master of simian simulation was makeup maestro Rick Baker, whose Cinovation Studio team would create fourteen principal ape characters, all distinct and different, plus hundreds of secondary and background players. Spearheading the postproduction visual effects, a blend of models, paintings and digital work, were visual effects supervisors Bill George and George Murphy of Industrial Light & Magic.

Riverside: 2002. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 136pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF. Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone: Sleight of Hand - Article by Joe Fordham

Having single-handedly captured the fancy of an entire generation of adolescent readers and ignited a pop culture phenomenon, English author J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels - about a novice wizard and his magical adventures at a school for the supernaturally gifted - were ripe for translation to the big screen. With Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Warner Brothers has taken up the gauntlet, presenting the first installment in a highly anticipated movie series based on the Rowling books. Director Chris Columbus, determined to remain faithful to the source material and its legion of fans, based the production in England and assembled an all-English cast, along with a virtual army of world-class artisans and technicians tasked with producing their own brand of alchemy in the service of the show. Joining forces with special effects supervisor John Richardson and makeup effects artist Nick Dudman as Oscar-winning visual effects supervisor Robert Legato, who orchestrated the efforts of eight visual effects facilities on both sides of the ocean, creating everything from wondrous settings to magical creatures to a thrilling aerial tournament played on broomsticks.

Riverside: 2002. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 148pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: Ring Masters - Article by Jody Duncan

In a marathon effort that has won raves from critics, recognition from peers and the admiration of legions of moviegoers, New Zealand director Peter Jackson accomplished the seemingly impossible – a faithful, live-action adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, with two more installments to follow. Working with a dedicated crew at Weta, his homegrown effects facility, Jackson relied on Kiwi ingenuity to overcome unimaginable hurdles, executing some 1500 visual effects that included the development of a breakthrough crowd simulation program with 'thinking' characters capable of autonomous behavior.

In his remake of the classic tale, The Time Machine, director Simon Wells called upon visual effects supervisor James Price and lead effects house Digital Domain to help bridge a narrative gap that spanned some 800,000 years. While Digital Domain was responsible for many of the movie's signature time travel scenes, practical creature effects were the work of Stan Winston Studio and KNB EFX Group, and special effects supervisor Matt Sweeney oversaw creation of the fabled machine.

Based on a nonfiction account of a 1993 military incident that occurred in Mogadishu, Somalia, Black Hawk Down recounts the disastrous mission and daring rescue of an elite force of U. S. Army troops, whose attempts to curb terrorist tactics by a Somali warlord were thwarted when they were ambushed by thousands of his militiamen. Ridley Scott directed the harrowing cinematic reenactment, relying heavily on in-camera effects by special effects supervisor Neil Corbould, and digital enhancements by Mill Film and Asylum Visual Effects.

Riverside: 2002. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 136pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF. Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones: Love & War - Article by Jody Duncan

In Attack of the Clones, the promised second prequel to the Star Wars saga, George Lucas once again called upon the artists at Industrial Light & Magic to push the technological envelope in the service of his vision. The result is a film in which nearly every frame bursts with manufactured imagery, captured entirely on high-definition digital video – a first for the motion picture industry. Among the accomplishments were an all-new CG Yoda, visually stunning miniature and digital environments, and thrilling action sequences involving armies of battle droids.

Following in the footsteps of countless comic book tales immortalized by Hollywood, Spider-Man distinguishes itself as one of the most memorable. Director Sam Raimi brought the popular teen crime fighter to life with help from visual effects supervisor John Dykstra and physical effects supervisor John Frazier, whose efforts enabled actor Toby Maguire to perform such superhuman feats as web-slinging and wall crawling. Though live mechanical means were used whenever possible, leaps into a more fantastic realm were accomplished by Sony Pictures Imageworks.

Riverside: 2002. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 148pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF. Middle-earth Strikes Back - Article by Joe Fordham

In The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, the second installment in the epic live-action film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy, director Peter Jackson ramps up the action as the fellowship continues to battle the forces of darkness threatening Middle-earth. Academy Award-winning effects facilities Weta Digital and Weta Workshop again partnered with Jackson to produce some 800 visual effects shots for the film, running the gamut from elaborate creature effects and miniature work to sophisticated character animation. Lending a hand in the proceedings was Sony Pictures Imageworks.

With the success of Spy Kids and its equally popular sequel, Spy Kids 2, independent filmmaker Robert Rodriguez proved that high production values and a multitude of slick effects need not require a nine-digit budget. Offering up his recipe for success, Rodriguez provides an insider's view of the guerrilla-style tactics that he and his team of innovative effects vendors relied upon to achieve remarkable results working outside the traditional Hollywood infrastructure.

Director Rob Cohen and action star Vin Diesel reunite for XXX, a new breed of spy film whose secret agent - a career never-do-well recruited from the fringe culture of extreme sports - relies on death-defying feats of athleticism as his modus operandi. Special effects supervisor John Frazier staged numerous live effects on set, while Digital Domain handled the bulk of the visual effects work required to place Vin Diesel squarely in the midst of the action. Additional effects support was provided by Illusion Arts, Digiscope and Gray Matter.

Riverside: 2003. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 124pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: When Harry Met Dobby - Article by Barbara Robertson
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second in a series of films based on J.K. Rowling's popular children's books, serves up more of everything - more effects, more complex action and environments, more 3D creature work. Reuniting for the sequel were director Chris Columbus and many of the first film's core effects contributors, including special effects supervisor John Richardson, creature creator Nick Dudman and London-based vendors Mill Film, The Moving Picture Company, Cinesite and Framestore CFC. Leading the visual effects effort was Jim Mitchell of Industrial Light & Magic.
Adaptation: Twin Geeks - Article by Joe Fordham
Witty, imaginative and highly unorthodox, Adaptation, directed by Spike Jonze, pits the film's real-life screenwriter Charlie Kaufman against his fictional twin brother, Donald - both portrayed by Nicolas Cage - as the two go head-to-head in a comical search for artistic truth and familial redemption. Twinning and other effects were the work of visual effects supervisor Gray Marshall and his Gray Matter FX team, while makeup artists Joel Harlow and Kevin Yagher provided facial and body prosthetics.
Daredevil: Blind Justice - Article by Joe Fordham
Continuing the tradition of comic book characters making the leap from panel to screen, Daredevil follows the crime-fighting adventures of vigilante lawyer Matt Murdock, whose heightened sensory powers are a by-product of a freak accident in childhood that blinded him. Director Mark Steven Johnson called upon visual effects supervisor Rich Thorne and principal vendors Rhythm & Hues, Digital Domain and Pixel Magic to render his superhero's antics, making extensive use of digital doubles in combination with practical effects and live-action stunt work.
Star Trek Nemesis: Through a Glass Darkly - Article by Bill Norton
Following a lengthy hiatus, Paramount Pictures' most enduring film franchise returns with Star Trek Nemesis, the tenth installment in the series and fourth based on the Emmy-winning Next Generation television show. First-time Trek director Stuart Baird challenged veteran production personnel such as makeup head Michael Westmore and production designer Herman Zimmerman, as well as Trek rookie Mark Forker - who headed the visual effects team at Digital Domain - to infuse the show with a fresh perspective.

Riverside: 2003. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 132pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF. The Hulk: Green Destiny - Article by Joe Fordham
From the pages of Marvel Comics through a popular eighties television series and several movies-of-the-week, the Hulk has endured as one of the most memorable characters of its genre. However, his big-screen debut in The Hulk, directed by Ang Lee, promises to be his most impressive, thanks to the work of award winning visual effects supervisor Dennis Muren and a team at Industrial Light & Magic, who were charged with bringing the green-skinned behemoth to life as an entirely computer generated character.
X-Men United: Generation X2 - Article by Brad Munson
The reluctant heroes and singular villains of X-Men, a film based on the popular Marvel Comics series, are back for a return engagement in the sequel, X2: X-Men United - this time accompanied by a new generation of 'X-kids.' Also returning to the fold was visual effects supervisor Michael L. Fink and many of the original film's effects artisans, who tackled the sequel's more ambitious workload - new and improved looks for returning characters, the fleshing out of new characters and the execution of several spectacular action sequences.
The Core: Innerspace - Article by Joe Fordham
A subterranean odyssey undertaken by terranauts to save the earth from destructive magnetic forces is the focus of The Core, directed by Jon Amiel. To realize the film's fantastic premise - which included an exploration of the earth's core by the terranauts in an experimental vessel, as well as a series of spectacular natural disturbances that rock the earth's inhabitants above-ground -- visual effects supervisor Gregory McMurry relied on an international contingent of effects vendors and a panoply of effects techniques.

Riverside: 2003. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 140pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF. The Matrix Reloaded: Neo Realism - Article by Joe Fordham

Delivering the first of two sequels to their 1999 hit, The Matrix, which took audiences by storm with its tale of alternate realities, the Wachowski Brothers are back with The Matrix Reloaded. This time, returning visual effects supervisor John Gaeta and an international array of visual effects vendors - led by ESC Entertainment - advanced synthetic imaging techniques and motion capture technology. The results are virtual-world visuals that defy description and action scenes whose complex choreography and camera work reflect a total liberation from real-world constraints.

In Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, director Jonathan Mostow picks up the reins of James Cameron's futuristic tale, introduced in his breakout film The Terminator and revisited in the sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Back for a return engagement are the film's star, Arnold Schwarzenegger, as well as creature creator Stan Winston and the maestros of Industrial Light & Magic, who pushed the saga to new heights with a powerful blend of cutting-edge animatronics and digital technology used to depict the Terminator and an even deadlier threat from the future - a T-X female cyborg.

Maverick filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, whose credo of low-budget filmmaking was put to the test in the immensely popular Spy Kids series, offers up a third eye-popping installment in the franchise - Spy Kids 3D: Game Over. Having shot the film in digital video and anaglyphic stereo, Rodriguez - who wore many hats including that of visual effects supervisor - worked with an array of vendors to produce some 850 effects shots, most rendered twice for stereoscopic effect.

Written and directed by Gary Ross, and adapted from the Laura Hillenbrand best-selling book, Seabiscuit recounts the legendary rise of America's favorite Depression-era racehorse. To achieve dynamic race scenes set on authentic-looking period tracks, Ross relied heavily on live-action camera work aided by Michael Lantieri's practical effects, while visual effects supervisor Richard Hoover oversaw digital effects in some 240 shots provided by Sony Pictures Imageworks, Pixel Playground, The Orphanage and New Deal Studios.

Riverside: 2004. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 148pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: Journey's End - Article by Joe Fordham

In The Return of the King, the stirring finale to New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson's acclaimed adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, the director pulls out all the stops, bringing the epic fantasy to its long-awaited conclusion. Once again, Jackson's homegrown effects facilities, Weta Digital and Weta Workshop, faced daunting challenges in creating more creatures, more environments and even greater epic battles. Chief among the accomplishments were the depictions of Shelob, Gollum and a host of other fantasy CG characters, the super battle at Pelennor Fields, the majesty of Minas Tirith and the final assault on Mount Doom.

In an exclusive interview, Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson reflects on the odyssey of the past eight years that has taken him from relative obscurity to world-class status. Included are insights into Jackson's philosophic and creative choices in adapting Tolkien's material, as well as his approach to the increasingly sophisticated visual effects challenges inherent in the final epic installment.

A rousing tale of adventure based on the seafaring novels of Patrick O'Brian, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World depicts life aboard an early nineteenth-century British sailing vessel navigating the dangerous seas of the Napoleonic era. Determined to capture the same degree of historically accurate detail as the novels, director Peter Weir called upon visual effects supervisors Nathan McGuinness of Asylum and Stefen Fangmeier of Industrial Light & Magic to oversee visual effects, which were used in combination with full-scale ship replicas and miniatures to recreate two major ship-to-ship battles and a raging storm at sea.

A perennial favorite, Peter Pan has seen many incarnations on both stage and screen during the hundred years since J. M. Barrie first penned his children's tale of perpetual youth in Never Never Land. In the latest film adaptation, director P. J. Hogan takes advantage of modern visual effects technology to bring a live-action Peter Pan to the screen, heightening the story's magical elements with the use of sophisticated flying rigs by special effects supervisor Clay Pinney and visual effects by artists at Industrial Light & Magic, Digital Domain and Sony Pictures Imageworks, who brought to bear all of their tools and talents in the service of the story's fantasy settings and characters.

Riverside: 2005. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 124pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF.

Exploring the untapped early years of famed aviator and industrialist Howard Hughes in The Aviator, director Martin Scorsese called upon Oscar-winning visual effects supervisor Rob Legato to oversee effects that involved the re-creation of historic aircraft and the reenactment of thrilling aerial sequences through a blending of contemporary digital technology with old-school in-camera filmmaking techniques. Heading up the digital work was Sony Pictures Imageworks and a handful of ancillary vendors, while miniatures were the purview of New Deal Studios, and full-scale effects were provided by special effects supervisor R. Bruce Steinheimer.

State of the Business: A Cinefex 25th Anniversary Forum - Article by Jody Duncan

Cinefex continues its visual effects forum, begun in Issue 100 as a 'roundtable discussion' on the state of the art. This time around, some 35 industry luminaries share their experiences and insights into the highly volatile nature of visual effects as a business. Their entertaining and often brutally frank assessments of the challenges they have encountered in the past and envision for the future are accompanied by cartoons from the portfolio of freelance visual effects supervisor John Van Vliet, whose witty observations on life in the visual effects trenches have earned him a devoted following.

In a zany sequel to The Mask, the 1994 comedy hit that provided fertile ground for the comic contortions of actor Jim Carrey, Son of the Mask introduces an all-new plot and cast of characters, whose encounters with the transformative Mask wreak havoc on their household. Director Lawrence Guterman, in search of Chuck Jones-inspired animation and a classic cartoon aesthetic, turned to visual effects supervisor Jamie Price, and a team that included special effects supervisor Brian Cox, makeup effects and animatronics artists at Captive Audience Productions and animators at Tippett Studio, Industrial Light & Magic and nearly a dozen other digital vendors.

Riverside: 2005. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 128pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. VG (3" closed tear to the cover otherwise NF).

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith: Toward a New Hope - Article by Jody Duncan

For Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, the final installment in his space saga, George Lucas called upon Industrial Light & Magic to unleash, once again, the full extent of its firepower. Visual effects supervisors John Knoll and Roger Guyett led the mammoth effort, working with an army of artists - many of them veterans of Episodes I and II - to create a staggering 2,151 shots designed to thrill audiences with exotic, never-before-seen worlds, fanciful new characters and breathtaking space battles.

Celebrated filmmaker George Lucas discusses the completion of his Star Wars epic, the state of visual effects and digital filmmaking, and his own personal plans for the future in an exclusive interview with Cinefex editor Jody Duncan.

In Sin City, maverick filmmaker Robert Rodriguez shared directing credit with Frank Miller in a cinematic adaptation of Miller's graphic novels about a dark underworld of crime and retribution. Determined to match, panel by panel, the stark, high-contrast, future-noir look of his source material, Rodriguez turned to a trio of effects houses - Hybride, The Orphanage and CaféFX - to devise the film's highly stylized, signature look, achieved through a melding of green-screened live-action and digital environments. Makeup effects to transform key actors into a host of gritty characters were the work of KNB FX.

To adapt Alan Moore's graphic novel, about a world-weary investigator of supernatural mysteries, to the screen in Constantine, first-time feature director Francis Lawrence relied on veteran visual effects supervisor Michael Fink to oversee an assemblage of effects companies - led by Tippett Studio and ESC Entertainment - tasked with digitally depicting key elements of the film's chilling demonic imagery. Creature designs and makeups were the work of Stan Winston Studio, while practical interactive effects were created by physical effects supervisor Allen Hall.

After years as a popular radio and television show, author Douglas Adam's science fiction satire about a bewildered earthling stranded in space following the destruction of his home planet, made the leap to the big screen in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, directed by Garth Jennings. Favoring in-camera trickery Jennings enlisted Jim Henson's Creature Shop, Bill Pearson and Asylum Models and Effects to handle a host of specialty props, animatronics, miniatures and makeup, while Cinesite was enlisted to produce a variety of strategic digital effects.

Riverside: 2005. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 124pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. Fine.

In War of the Worlds, a gritty, contemporary retelling of the 1950s George Pal film, adapted from the novel by H.G. Wells, director Steven Spielberg reunites with longtime collaborators at Industrial Light & Magic and actor/producer Tom Cruise to put a modern spin on the classic alien invasion story, told from a more intimate point of view. Working at breakneck speed to accommodate a compressed shooting and postproduction schedule, ILM crews, under senior visual effects supervisor Dennis Muren and visual effects supervisor Pablo Helman, took advantage of upgraded digital tools and a revamped pipeline to produce the fearsome army of extraterrestrial tripod war machines intent on destroying the world.

Following an eight-year hiatus, D.C. Comics' masked crusader returns to the big screen in Batman Begins, directed by Christopher Nolan. For the newest installment, which traces the traumatic events of Wayne's childhood and his early adulthood as a means of exploring the psychological underpinnings of a superhero, Nolan rooted the film in a real-world sensibility that serves as a counterpoint to its comic book origins. Dan Glass and Janek Sirrs headed up the visual effects work, which included elaborate miniatures by Cutting Edge and Steve Begg, and digital effects by Double Negative, The Moving Picture Company and Buf Compagnie. Chris Corbould supervised the film's extensive physical effects, including a radically remodeled Batmobile.

Director Rob Cohen once again demonstrates his penchant for visceral displays of speed in Stealth, a cautionary tale of technology run amuck in a not-too-distant-future where computer-controlled drone fighter jets are used in combat. For thrilling aerial scenes involving the drone and a fleet of futuristic stealth bombers, Cohen turned to a Digital Domain crew headed by visual effects supervisor Joel Hynek, tasked with creating digital planes and environments, as well as a host of miniature effects for the film. Physical effects supervisor John Frazier led the practical work, which included construction of an elaborate hydraulic gimbal enabling Cohen to shoot his actors in dynamically moving cockpits.

Fantastic Four: Overview: Kurt Williams on Fantastic Four - Article by Jody Duncan

Visual effects supervisor Kurt Williams discusses makeup and visual effects employed by a dozen vendors to create the superheroes and villains for director Tim Story's film adaptation of the Marvel Comics favorite, Fantastic Four.

Industrial Light & Magic visual effects supervisor Eric Brevig re-teams with director Michael Bay to create futuristic effects for The Island, about two members of a clone community who discover that they have been bred and raised as involuntary organ donors.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: Overview: Nick Davis on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Article by Jody Duncan

Visual effects supervisor Nick Davis delves into the creation of Oompa Loompas and a fanciful candy factory for director Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Herbie: Fully Loaded: Overview: John Van Vliet on Herbie: Fully Loaded - Article by Estelle Shay

Visual effects supervisor John Van Vliet goes behind-the-scenes with a discussion of the physical and visual effects needed to manufacture a Volkswagen with a mind of its own in Herbie: Fully Loaded.

Riverside: 2006. 1st. Square small 4to (9-11"), 124pp, color illustrations, softcover wraps. NF. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: Beneath the Barnacles - Article by Joe Fordham.

In Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, a rousing sequel to the immensely popular original, Curse of the Black Pearl, returning director Gore Verbinski once again joins forces with Industrial Light & Magic and a host of supporting visual effects vendors to deliver all-new adventures on the high seas with Captain Jack Sparrow and his cohorts. ILM visual effects supervisor John Knoll, whose work on the original garnered an Academy Award nomination, this time pushes the boundaries of motion capture and CG animation in depicting a tentacled sea monster and legendary pirate Davy Jones and his crew, hideously mutated by an ancient mariner's curse. Other key contributors include conceptual artist Mark 'Crash' McCreery, makeup supervisor Ve Neill and physical effects supervisors Michael Lantieri and Allen Hall.

Exploring metaphysical themes of life, death and rebirth interwoven in a narrative that spans past, present and future, The Fountain follows one man's quest for the Fountain of Youth and eternal life. Writer/director Darren Aronofsky, who favored a traditional optical approach over CG, called upon visual effects designers Dan Schrecker and Jeremy Dawson to oversee the effects work, which ranged from ancient Mayan battles to a futuristic starship's exploration of uncharted space. Heading up the roster of visual effects vendors was Intelligent Creatures, a Toronto-based company assigned the majority of shots, many of them featuring spectacular cosmic vistas derived from macrophotographic imagery. Zero-gravity rigs and other practical effects were the work of Les Productions de l'Intrigue.

The iconographic photograph of six young soldiers raising the American flag during World War II's bloody battle of Iwo Jima serves as the focal point of Flags of our Fathers, director Clint Eastwood's latest film, based on the bestselling nonfiction book by James Bradley. Production visual effects supervisor Michael Owens and a team of artists at Digital Domain were challenged to re-create the famous battle and flag-raising, as well as views of 1940s-era New York and other period settings for scenes of the surviving soldiers on a cross-country tour to promote the sale of war bonds. Seeking a gritty photorealism, digital artists augmented live-action, shot mostly in Iceland, with everything from CG environments and set extensions, to virtual ships and assorted atmospheric effects.

World Trade Center: Overview: John Scheele on World Trade Center - Article by Jody Duncan

New Line Cinema founder Robert Shaye called upon visual effects supervisor Eric Durst and a contingent of effects vendors headed by The Orphanage to design and create fanciful, yet realistic effects for The Last Mimzy, a metaphysical tale of two children who rescue mankind from a bleak fate with the help of a strange box of futuristic toys.

Lady in the Water: Overview: Mike Elizalde and Ed Hirsch on Lady in the Water - Article by Jody Duncan

For Lady in the Water, a scary bedtime tale adapted to the big screen by writer/director M. Night Shyamalan, creature effects supervisor Mike Elizalde of Spectral Motion and visual effects supervisor Ed Hirsh of Industrial Light & Magic share their approach to the design and creation of the story's array of mythical creatures.

A Scanner Darkly: Overview: Sterling Allen on A Scanner Darkly - Article by Estelle Shay

Lead animator Sterling Allen elaborates on the novel technique of digitally rotoscoping live-action performances to achieve the uniquely stylized, yet realistic look of Richard Linklater's all-animated film, A Scanner Darkly.

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