ILM celebrates Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Lucasfilm livestreamed a conversation with visual effects luminaries from Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) who worked on Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica.

This is a must-see for fellow Star Wars fans and anyone with a modicum of interest in film production. Of particular note is the AT-AT attack utilising stop motion animation pioneered by Ray Harryhausen.



"A special livestream conversation with effects legends Dennis Muren, Joe Johnston, Phil Tippett, and Lorne Peterson in celebration of the 40th Anniversary of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. ILM's VFX Supervisor Bill George will moderate the discussion."

I vividly remember reading The Empire Strikes Back Official Poster Monthly Issue 2, which focussed on the Empire. Learning that Stormtroopers were in fact clones and not robots, as I'd erroneously thought, was quite the revelation for my young mind.

Ray Harryhausen signing at Forbidden Planet

Forbidden Planet is pleased to announce that Ray Harryhausen and his co-author Tony Dalton will be signing A Century of Model Animation at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR, on Saturday 22nd November 2008.

Inspired at 13 years old by seeing King Kong, Ray knew his future lay in special effects. Following on from his mentor Willis O'Brien, creator of Kong, Ray took the art of stop-motion animation one step further, weaving his magic on every concept from dinosaur to alien. Probably the single best-known name in special effects, Ray Harryhausen is both visionary and artist and has written two previous and very successful books on the subject.

A Century of Model Animation traces the history of the genre from its earliest days, through movies like Jurassic Park right up to Aardman Animation. Readers receive a fascinating insight into the patience and ingenuity of the animators, discover the development and refinement of the technology, and are treated to tantalising glimpses of the many abandoned projects. Lavishly illustrated with stills, this is the ultimate glossy guide to the special effects industry.

Forbidden Planet is the largest store of its kind in the world. Some of the biggest names in Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Comics and Cult Entertainment have come to our London Megastore for signing events, including: Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Simon Pegg, William Gibson, Mark Millar, Guillermo Del Toro, Brian Froud and Stephen King.

For more news about signings, please go to: http://www.forbiddenplanet.com/Signings.html