From “Star Wars,” “Back to the Future,” and “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” to current films like “Captain America: Civil War,” Industrial Light & Magic has been the leading special effects house for over 40 years. Perhaps the largest film they’ve ever worked on was the recent “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” In the film, ILM created stunning backgrounds, environments, and fully digital characters. In a just-released SFX reel, the company showcases many of the most impressive work they’ve done in what ended up being the highest grossing film ever domestically.
When director J.J. Abrams began production on the latest film in the “Star Wars” franchise, he stressed how he was ditching the almost entirely green-screen filming that George Lucas utilized for the prequels in favor of a lot more practical effects and characters. Set photos showed full recreations of the Millennium Falcon and aliens formed from prosthetics. However, when you watch the reel released by ILM, you can see that even with all those practical effects, many of the shots were at least embellished with CGI.
With computer effects dominating most of the blockbusters released, it’s refreshing to see when a movie that relies so much on visual effects, like ‘The Force Awakens,’ tries to use CGI where it’s most effective. Utilizing large sets and real actors as much as possible allowed Abrams and the team at ILM focus much more on the backgrounds and the enhancements that CGI can lend a hand with, without turning the movie into a cartoon.
Industrial Light & Magic is currently busy working on post-production for the upcoming films, “Doctor Strange” and “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” Watch the fruits of their acclaimed work below.