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MythBusters Grant Imahara Inducted into the 501st

April 7, 2011

words & photos: Bonnie Burton

Amongst the cosplayers, droids, and comic book fans attending this year’s WonderCon in San Francisco, California, MythBusters Build Team member Grant Imahara was inducted as a 501st Legion Honorary Member by the Golden Gate Garrison (with special help from the Southern California Garrison.)

WATCH VIDEO: The 501st induct Grant Imahara at WonderCon

Grant is well-known on Discovery Channel’s hit show Mythbusters, but he started at THX then went on to make some amazing sets, droids and props at Industrial Light and Magic as a modelmaker. His robot-building skills are legendary — not only for his work on R2-D2 alongside ILM’s Don Bies, but for the lovable Energizer Bunny, his intimidating fighting robots, and his latest creation of first robotic talk show sidekick Geoff Petersen, for Craig Ferguson on The Late Late Show.

I first met Grant way back in 2004, when I was sent down to Los Angeles for StarWars.com to cover Junkyard Mega-Wars: At The Movies which the ILM rock stars were asked to compete in. Grant and his ILM team made a gigantic, flame-throwing R2-D2, and of course won the competition.

You can see that awesome R2-D2 in action here:
WATCH VIDEO: Junkyard Mega-Wars: At the Movies

Grant has also been featured over the years on StarWars.com for Putting Star Wars to the MythBusters Test, for being a big fan of The Clone Wars and for his w00tstock spoken word performance about dressing up as C-3PO.

So it was a real treat to see my old friend and past co-worker Grant get inducted into one of the coolest Star Wars groups in the galaxy — The 501st Legion. I chatted with Grant about his induction and whether this means we can expect his droids to be moonlighting for the Empire…

Was it a complete surprise?
Actually yes! You kept hinting at a surprise during WonderCon, with a specific time and place that I needed to be. If you watch the video, I don’t actually realize what’s happening until they announce it! You know, I talk on camera all day long and I’ve done tons of public speaking, but I was so surprised and overwhelmed in that moment that I feel like I was a bit tongue-tied.

If you’re now in the 501st, does that mean all robots you build will be secretly working for Darth Vader?
Ha! I think all my robots secretly work for me! Think about it: the Energizer Bunny, Geoff Peterson (the robot skeleton sidekick from The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson), my combat robot Deadblow, and certain R2 units… that would be a pretty formidable army!

Why are you proud to be part of the 501st Legion?
It’s a real honor to be inducted into a group that not only strives for accuracy in representing these characters from a saga that I love, but also does volunteer community service and is considered a part of Lucasfilm’s “extended family.”

Be sure to follow both Grant Imahara and The 501st Legion on Twitter.

14 Comments » | Celebrities, ILM, The 501st Legion, WonderCon, events | Permalink
Posted by bonniegrrl

Marooned in Space!

November 30, 2010

Replica Prop Forum recently posted a pretty cool find that sheds light on a little-known corner of Star Wars behind-the-scenes history. According to a post by “GKvfx”, A New Hope’s TIE fighters once donned maroon paint, at least in some recently unearthed test shots revealed in the post. The find is further bolstered by supporting images of the TIE pod in The Making of Star Wars book by J.W. Rinzler, also cited in the post.

It’s unclear if the paint scheme was abandoned for practical or aesthetic reasons, but the thought could send shudders down the spine of color-scheme snobs —

Fuchsia paint and chartreuse lasers? Puhleeeeze.

Be sure to check the second page for some rare test shots of the TIEs’ ion engines too.

No Comments » | Behind-The-Scenes, ILM, Retro | Permalink
Posted by pvilmur

Rare ILM Behind-the-Scenes Photos at Vanity Fair

November 12, 2010

With tonight’s premiere of the new ILM documentary Industrial Light & Magic: Creating the Impossible on Encore, VanityFair.com has posted several rare behind-the-scenes photos from films worked on by ILM’s Dennis Muren –

Eight-time Oscar winner Dennis Muren is the first visual-effects artist to earn a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ahead of Encore’s November 12 documentary about Industrial Light & Magic—the visual-effects arm of Lucasfilm where he is creative director—Muren shares behind-the-scenes photos from five of his famous projects: Terminator 2, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Empire Strikes Back, Jurassic Park, and E.T.

The new documentary airs Nov. 12 at 9 pm on Encore.

Head on over to VanityFair.com to check out the photos, and see the StarWars.com interview with documentary director Leslie Iwerks.

No Comments » | Behind-The-Scenes, ILM, TV, in the media | Permalink
Posted by pvilmur

Walter Cronkite Visits ILM in Early 1980s Video

June 28, 2010

TheBehindtheScenes.blogspot.com recently posted a heads-up for a rare video gem from the ‘80s offering a glimpse inside the Industrial Light & Magic facility during the classic trilogy era.

Legendary newsman Walter Cronkite, who hosted a news science magazine show called “Universe” between 1979 and ’82, took cameras inside the cloistered environs of Industrial Light & Magic where it appears at least one “making of” Empire set-up was re-enacted for the benefit of Cronkite and his audience. Some great chatter between Cronkite and George Lucas, too, who personally hosted the tour.

Check it out — the audio/video quality is pretty sketchy, but the rare look inside the ILM studio during the company’s early days is worth the watch!

No Comments » | Behind-The-Scenes, ILM, Retro | Permalink
Posted by pvilmur

Jon Favreau Tweets His ILM Visit

March 2, 2010

Last week director Jon Favreau came up to Lucasfilm in San Francisco to meet with Industrial Light & Magic about Iron Man 2.

As he took a tour of ILM, Favreau tweeted about who he ran into (Hey is that a Wookiee?!), some of his favorite props and a cup of Joe at Javva the Hutt. Check out all his photos here.

(more…)

No Comments » | Celebrities, ILM | Permalink
Posted by bonniegrrl

Director Richard Kelly Visits Skywalker

October 29, 2009

The week director Richard Kelly visited Skywalker, as well as the Lucasfilm-ILM San Francisco campus, to screen his latest film The Box, as well as indulge us as we (me included) asked uber-geeky questions about his new movie, his breakout hit Donnie Darko and about filmmaking in general.

Richard blogged about his visit on the MTV Movies Blog:

The good people of Skywalker Sound and Industrial Light & Magic hosted a screening of The Box an invited me to stay at the legendary Lucas ranch for the night and tour the facilities.

The property itself is everything a fanboy could dream and more – as an alumni of USC and an acolyte in the church of Lucas – I was speechless when I was granted access to the Sergei Eisenstein apartment, a spacious lodge with a vaulted ceiling and fireplace.

It was then on to visit the wonderful folks at ILM in San Francisco. We did a post-screening discussion on The Box (opening November 6th!) which was moderated by Kate Shaw – Director of Training and Education – who asked a series of insightful and thoughtful questions about the film.

It was an honor to be among fellow artists and technicians who appreciate the art of science-fiction and open to exploring the themes of the film. I have to say it was probably my favorite Q+A that I have ever done.

Read the full blog entry here:
Richard Kelly’s Latest Guest Blog Takes Us To Skywalker Ranch! (via MTV Movie Blog)

Be sure to follow Richard Kelly on Twitter.

No Comments » | Celebrities, ILM, Twitter | Permalink
Posted by bonniegrrl

Star Wars to Harry Potter: Secrets of ILM F/X

July 16, 2009

Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) and Co. may have audiences under their spell in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, but the real wizards are the ones who created the movie’s special effects. Industrial Light & Magic, the biggest F/X studio in the business, gave the News a sneak peek behind the wizards’ curtain to see how they made some of the greatest magic in film history.

Read the full article here:
Star Wars to Harry Potter: Secrets of movie special effects

5 Comments » | ILM, Movie News, in the media | Permalink
Posted by bonniegrrl

ILM: The Early Years on Super 8 Video

July 9, 2009

A long time ago (’70s), in a galaxy far, far away (San Fernando actually) there existed a ragtag group of individuals (ILMers) who would go on to transform movie making and ignite imaginations in fans for decades to come.

Lucky for us, one of those old timers — David Berry — posted this behind-the-scenes video he made back in the day of his fellow ILMers in action — working hard and having fun.

Berry describes it as:

“Crude home movies from the 1970s depicting activities at a certain location in the San Fernando Valley.”

WATCH VIDEO: 5757 (via Vimeo)

(more…)

9 Comments » | ILM | Permalink
Posted by bonniegrrl

ILM Puts Optimus Prime in Tonight’s “Late Show”

July 6, 2009

Tune in to The Late Show with David Letterman tonight, July 6 (CBS, 11:30PM) to see a different side of Optimus Prime, as the heroic Autobot reads the infamous Top Ten list. ILM turned around roughly 3,000 frames of animation composited onto the Letterman stage in record time. Congratulations to all of those at ILM who went above and beyond to make this happen! See it now at Lateshow.cbs.com.

1 Comment » | ILM, Uncategorized | Permalink
Posted by Pabawan

R2-D2 in Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen

June 24, 2009

Our beloved astromech seems to be popping up everywhere. First R2-D2 shows up in Star Trek. And now the film’s visual-effects supervisor, who also worked on Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace, and the same screenwriting team who wrote him into Star Trek, are saying Artoo is in their new movie Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

MTV News reports:

“There’s an R2-D2 flying around in there somewhere,” revealed ILM’s Scott Farrar, the film’s visual-effects supervisor, who also worked on the Star Wars episodes Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace. “There’s a little bit of space junk thrown in there; see if you can find it. It’s a scene in the desert.” Interestingly enough, George Lucas’ charismatic droid also had a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo in Star Trek, which shares the same writing team as Transformers. Is it a coincidence? “Perhaps,” screenwriter Alex Kurtzman grinned mischievously. “Perhaps not.”

Read the full article here:
Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen Cheat Sheet: Everything You Need To Know (via VH1/MTV)

3 Comments » | ILM, Movie News | Permalink
Posted by bonniegrrl