ILM Legends Share Fun Stories About Making Star Wars in Interview With Newsys Clayton Sandell

Earlier this week, Disney released Light & Magic, a documentary series directed by Lawrence Kasdan that explores the rich history of legendary visual effects studio Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), from its origins to today (you can read John Hoey's review of the series here). Newsy's national correspondent Clayton Sandell visited Skywalker Ranch recently to chat with some of the key players in the documentary, including ILM legends Joe Johnston, Ben Burtt, and Kasdan himself.



Kasdan explained the work dynamics inside ILM as follows:

Scene from Lucasfilm's LIGHT & MAGIC, exclusively on Disney+. © 2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.



Johnston, who worked as a designer at ILM in the early days before moving on to become a filmmaker himself (he's since directed films like The Rocketeer or Jumanji), was also interviewed by Sandell. When looking back upon the early days of the company, he said:

He also added that there is a time capsule under the foundations of the main house at Skywalker Ranch. When asked about what it contains, he said:

(L-R): Joe Johnston, John Dykstra and Dave Jones in a scene from Lucasfilm's LIGHT & MAGIC, exclusively on Disney+. © 2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.



Also interviewed in the documentary, legendary sound designer Ben Burtt explained how they recorded some of the most iconic sound designs in movie history over there, at Skywalker Ranch. At a particular point, he found himself in a spot where many years ago they'd worked on another iconic Lucasfilm movie:

He also explained how inserting the sounds in the original Star Wars finally gave them the satisfaction they were looking for:

Scene from Lucasfilm's LIGHT & MAGIC, exclusively on Disney+. © 2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.



Ed Catmull, former VP at ILM Computer Division, said the following about the transition to digital at ILM:

John Goodson, ILM model maker and digital artist, weighed in on the topic as well:

Scene from Lucasfilm's LIGHT & MAGIC, exclusively on Disney+. © 2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.



Doug Chiang, executive creative director at Lucasfilm, said:

Here is the full video of Clayton Sandell's interview with the legends of ILM:







All six episodes of Light & Magic are currently streaming on Disney Plus, featuring long interviews with all of the above, as well as many more guests, including George Lucas himself.



SOURCE: Newsy



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