On Saturday, June 17, at Industrial Light and Magic's main theater in Marin County, the Executive Com­mittee of the DGA's San Francisco Coordinating Committee sponsored "Visual Effects Revisited," a three-hour Educational Seminar presented by award-winning DGA AD/UPM member and visual effects (VFX) producer Susan Zwerman. 

Zwerman, who just completed work as VFX producer on director George Tillman's upcoming film Men of Honor, gave a presentation that included a short history of Hollywood's visual effects. Her presentation featured 98 clips from famous and lesser known films spanning the period from 1926 to the present, including Metropolis, King Kong, Citizen Kane, Jason and the Argonauts, Star Wars, Alien, The Terminator, The Abyss, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Jurassic Park and Men in Black. 

Zwerman explained the different effects used in the clips which included matte painting, miniatures, green/blue screen composites, stop-motion animation, puppets/animatronics, front and rear projection, motion control and in-camera practical effects. An additional short film detailed the making of the comedy Mafia, showing the process of marrying live-action with matte painting, 3D computer-generated building extension, miniatures and green screen compositing.

After a brief discussion of those effects, the members were treated to some of the best visual effects work being done in the world today. The guest speaker was an ILM VFX supervisor, Stephen Rosenbaum, who won an Academy Award for his work on Forrest Gump. His presentation focused on 3D Computer Generated Images (CGI), starting with the trailer from The Perfect Storm, in which the latest 3D CGI techniques were used to create the 55-foot sword-fishing boat, the storm and its mountainous waves. In addition, he showed behind-the-scenes and final footage from The Phantom Menace, Mighty Joe Young, The Mummy and Sleepy Hollow.

At the close of the presentation in ILM's garden patio adjacent to the main theater, a lunch was served and members spoke with the presenters and ILM's publicity rep Suzy Starke about the future of visual effects.

Each attendee was given a three-ring binder containing 55 pages of collateral material prepared by Ms. Zwerman. Among the materials were lists of shots shown during the presentation (and the movies from which they came), an explanatory list of processes used in the clips shown, a bibliography as well as a comprehensive glossary of visual effects terms.

Many members expressed hope for a similar event next year. If 'exit comments' are reliable, Bay Area members will certainly be looking forward to upcoming events sponsored by the SFCC's Executive Committee.

The next scheduled SFCC event for the Bay Area will be the Annual Autumn Networking Mixer featuring internet companies making film or tape product.

-David Hakim