Industrial Light & Magic

Industrial Light & Magic, typically abbreviated as ILM, is a visual effects production house. It was founded by George Lucas as a subdivision of Lucasfilm, initially to supply effects for the Star Wars trilogy but branching out to do work for films by other studios and companies (including E.T., Poltergeist, Conan the Barbarian, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, and Back to the Future). While the company developed camera techniques and effects and supplied practical physical effects at various times, it became best known for its development of computer graphic, animation, and digital effects. 
Jim Henson had a passing association with Industrial Light & Magic early on, when he consulted on Yoda, made at ILM (and performed by Frank Oz) for the second Star Wars film The Empire Strikes Back (1980).
Industrial Light & Magic received screen credit for supplying scenic matte paintings for The Dark Crystal (which had no Lucas association), creating many of the backgrounds of Thra for the film. The credited ILM matte painters were Mike Pangrazio (who had worked on Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark) and Chris Evans (the Star Trek sequels II through IV) and the scenic matte photographers were Neil Krepela and Craig Barron, with other matte work done by a different studio (Optical Film Effects Ltd.) 
ILM did the same on Labyrinth (for which Lucasfilm shared production company credit, listed right below Henson Associates, Inc.), again alternating with Optical Film Effects. Credited ILM painted matte artists were Sean Joyce and Caroleenn Green, and matte photographers again included Barron.
By the 1990s, Industrial Light & Magic was an industry leader and often either competed against or worked on the same films as Jim Henson's Creature Shop. On The Flintstones, Dino was reworked so most of the full body shots were created in CG by ILM, while the Creature Shop puppet was still used for close-ups.Bacon, Matt. No Strings Attached.p. 108 Shots of the Brontocrane alternated between the full-sized Creature Shop rig (of the animatronic head, and Fred riding its back) and computer animated ILM footage.Duncan, Jody. The Flintstones: The Official Movie Book. Modern Publishing, 1994. p. 59. On 101 Dalmatians, ILM again supplied digital animal shots or effects while the Creature Shop provided animatronics.
ILM received screen credit for its visual effects work on the Frank Oz directed The Indian in the Cupboard (while the Creature Shop went uncredited for supplying a rat). The Creature Shop had been involved in the early production phase of Dragonheart, testing animatronics for the dragon, but for the final 1996 film, Industrial Light & Magic created the character via computer animation (receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects). 
Industrial Light & Magic's visual effects credits for Lucasfilm projects beyond the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises include Twice Upon a Time (photographic effects), Young Sherlock Holmes (early computer character animation), and the Ron Howard directed Willow (including digital morphing sequences). Work for other films include the first three Jurassic Park movies, Forrest Gump (digitally integrating stock footage of historical figures), Men in Black, Transformers, The War of the Worlds, and scores of others.
==References==
*Describing his father's accent as a "Chuck Yeager twang" in the book Farscape: Ship of Ghosts, John Crichton notes that many astronauts have perfected that accent, including himself. Crichton says he can do it in his sleep, "with Industrial Light and Magic special effects."
==Sources==
==External links==
*Matte Shot blog - breakdown of matte paintings used in Dark Crystal, by ILM and others
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Category:Production Companies
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