The Empire of Effects: Industrial Light and Magic and the Rendering of Realism

320 Pages·2022·7.227 MB·English

by  Julie A. Turnock

The Empire of Effects

The Empire of Effects
JULIE A.
TURNOCK Industrial Light & Magic and
the Rendering of Realism
University of Texas Press
Austin
Copyright © 2022 by the University of Texas Press
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Printed in the United States of America
First edition, 2022
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Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Turnock, Julie A., author.
Title: The empire of effects : Industrial Light & Magic and the rendering
of realism / Julie A. Turnock.
Description: First edition. | Austin : University of Texas Press, 2022. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021036678 (print) | LCCN 2021036679 (ebook)
ISBN 978- 1- 4773- 2530- 8 (hardcover)
ISBN 978- 1- 4773- 2531- 5 (PDF)
ISBN 978- 1- 4773- 2532- 2 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Industrial Light & Magic (Studio)—History. |
Cinematography—Special effects—History. | Digital
cinematography—History. | Computer animation—History. | Realism
in motion pictures—History. | Motion pictures—Aesthetics—
History. | Motion picture industry—History.
Classification: LCC TR858 .T87 2022 (print) | LCC TR858 (ebook) |
DDC 777—dc23
LC record available at https:// lccn .loc .gov /2021036678
LC ebook record available at https:// lccn .loc .gov /2021036679
doi:10.7560/325308
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
INTRODUCTION The ILM Version 1
ONE ILM Versus Everybody Else: Effects Houses in
the Digital Age 25
TWO Perfect Imperfection: ILM’s Effects Aesthetics 59
THREE Retconning CGI Innovation: ILM’s Rhetorical
Dominance of Effects History 109
FOUR Monsters Are Real: ILM’s International Standard
of Effects Realism in the Global Marketplace 144
FIVE That Analog Feeling: Disney, Marvel Studios,
and the ILM Aesthetic 184
CONCLUSION Unreal Engine: ILM in a
Disney World 216
Appendix: List of Films Mentioned in the Text 223
Notes 229
Bibliography 273
Index 295
v

Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Senior Editor Jim Burr for making the publication
of this book possible. My experience at University of Texas Press has
been a pleasure from start to finish. Jim and former Assistant Editor
Sarah McGavick, as well as Editing, Design & Production Manager
Robert Kimzey and copy editor Jon Howard were highly professional,
efficient, and responsive. I am also grateful for the efforts and profes-
sionalism of the two peer reviewers, whose detailed, constructive, and
highly insightful comments helped me tremendously in the revising
stage. I must also express my deep appreciation for the efforts of my
research assistant Megan McSwain, who was invaluable in preparing
the manuscript, and Susmita Das, for her vital work in the last stages
of completion.
The first kernels of the idea for this book came in an article pub-
lished (in shorter and substantially different form) in Film History as
“The ILM Version: Recent Digital Effects and the Aesthetics of 1970s
Cinematography” (24:2, 2012), and I would like to thank John Belton
for including me in that issue. This book has gone through a number
of permutations before finding its final form. A great thanks to friends
and colleagues who have read or commented on portions of this book
in various iterations over the years. Most particular thanks to those
who read an early version of the manuscript and provided advice in
a deeply productive book conference: Lilya Kaganovsky, Derek Long,
Jenny Oyallon-K oloski, Dana Polan, Ariel Rogers, Robert Rushing,
and Kristen Whissel; and thank you to Susan Koshy at the Unit for
Criticism and Interpretation for organizing. My gratitude also goes
to those who read earlier drafts and offered useful critique, including
Paul Young and Bob Rehak. Invited talks and conferences provided im-
portant feedback. Thanks to Aaron Hunter and Martha Schearer, who
invited me to the Women and New Hollywood Conference, Maynooth
University, Ireland; Matthew Solomon, who asked me to speak at the
vii
University of Michigan, Charles Acland at Concordia, and Eric Faden
at Bucknell. Thanks as well to academic friends who offered support
and encouragement and with whom I have talked through ideas: Emily
Carman, Allyson Field, Doron Galili, Josh Gleich, Adam Hart, Matt
Hauske, Maggie Hennefeld, Laura Horak, Gunnar Iverson, Andrew
Johnston, Patrick Keating, Sarah Keller, Seth Kim, Alicia Kozma,
Katharina Loew, Paul McEwan, Ross Melnick, Dan Morgan, Christina
Petersen, Jennifer Peterson, Scott Richmond, Theresa Scandiffio, Ria
Thanouli, Neil Verma, Allison Whitney, Mark Williams, and Josh
Yumibe; and a special thanks to Anne Nesbit and Joel Westerdale, who
suggested aspects of the title over spritzes at Pordenone. And finally,
thanks to my effects subfield colleagues not already mentioned who
have proven to be an especially collegial and generous bunch: Tanine
Alison, Lisa Bode, Hye Jean Chung, Leon Gurevitch, Kartik Nair, Dan
North, Lisa Purse, and Anu Thapa.
I have received a great deal of institutional and collegial support
from the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign. First of all, I’d
like to thank colleagues not already mentioned in the Department of
Media and Cinema Studies, most especially Angela Aguayo, Anita Chan,
Amanda Ciafone, and CL Cole. The completion of this book would have
been significantly delayed without the support of the UIUC Center for
Advanced Studies that made a necessary full- year sabbatical possible.
The campus Research Board funded vital research trips to archives, as
did a fellowship from the Unit for Criticism and Interpretation. I am
also proud to have been selected to be a College of Media Scholar. Out-
side of the University of Illinois, the Harry Ransom Center Thomas G.
Smith Research Fellowship in the Humanities yielded a gold mine of
important research documents.
This book would truly not have been possible without the existence
of research institutions and their dedicated staff, most especially the
Margaret Herrick Library, the Harry Ransom Center at the University
of Texas at Austin, and the Media History Digital Library. Special thanks
to the time, energy, and research leads given by my interview subjects:
David Bossert, Michael Eisner, Jean Pierre Flayeux, Peter Kuran, Simon
Marinof, and Jeff Okun.
My parents, Ann and Jack Turnock, and my sisters, Jennifer Harding
and Amy McMahon, and their families have always been supportive of
my academic career and always help me to keep my work in perspective.
viii ACknowLEDgmEnTs
And as always, I am most indebted to my husband, Jonathan Knipp,
whose insights on and enthusiasm for all kinds of cinema from block-
busters to indie horror to international art cinema continue to animate
my thinking and spark my imagination. Here’s to more decades ahead
in front of the IMAX screen. I only wish we could bring Aldo.
ACknowLEDgmEnTs ix