Over more than two decades with ILM, Lewin has seen the company grow from a facility of some 200 people working mainly in model shops and on stage sets to a computer graphics–driven network of four studios with 2,000 people in San Francisco, London, Vancouver and Singapore. Janet LewinĪs the Star Wars empire has expanded, so has the role of VFX: it’s now bigger than the films’ other departments combined. We were doing 2,000 shots on that movie, which was very large for a film at that time” compared to the standard 350 shots. Revenge of the Sith “was a giant machine. Lewin is also the ILM executive producer of visual effects for Star Tours, the motion-simulator ride at Disney theme parks, and for the Millennium Falcon ride in Star Wars Land. The films are the heart of a multibillion-dollar, Disney-owned franchise that also encompasses several TV series, a slew of books, video games and comics, a king’s ransom in merchandise, and theme park attractions like Star Wars Land, opening in Disneyland and Disney World in 2019. Star Wars is one of the most beloved and highest grossing series in history, hauling in worldwide box office receipts of more than $7.5 billion. Millions of kids-and grown-up kids-would probably do Lewin’s job for free. She hires the people who pull off the computer graphics (CG) magic, checks in on-set, and keeps schedule and budget on track. When filmmakers and effects supervisors first brainstorm how to stage epic space battles or make audiences fall for a cute droid, Lewin helps them determine what technology to use, and how. She’s also executive VFX producer on the movies for Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), Lucasfilm’s VFX and animation studio. She’s the VFX producer on the production company’s Star Wars films, including the forthcoming eighth episode- The Last Jedi (December 2017)-a spin-off Han Solo movie (2018), and a ninth installment scheduled for 2019. Taking groundbreaking visual effects (VFX) from ambitious ideas to fully executed realities is part of Lewin’s job as vice president of visual effects for Lucasfilm. All rights reserved bottom: © 2016 Lucasfilm Ltd. Top: Jonathan Olley, © 2016 Lucasfilm Ltd. “It’s the art (and deceit) of CGI taken to new and perfected lengths,” said the Hollywood Reporter.Īctor Guy Henry (top) wore a head camera that captured his movements to help create a CG version of the character Grand Moff Tarkin (bottom). Under the oversight of Janet Lewin (CGS’90, COM’92), visual effects artists spent two years creating computer graphics versions of Leia and Peter Cushing’s villainous Grand Moff Tarkin for the movie. In fact, it was a brand-new shot-generated by computer. When Fisher first saw a shot from the scene, she thought it was an outtake from her performance in the original Star Wars movie. Yet Fisher, who found stardom playing the role of Leia in the 1970s, was in her late 50s when Rogue One was being made. The closing scene of 2016’s Star Wars spin-off Rogue One showed one of the canon’s most beloved characters-Carrie Fisher’s wisecracking, gun-toting royal-in her youthful prime. Princess Leia, sporting the hair buns that launched a thousand costume wigs, smiles in full view of the camera. Janet Lewin on the women behind the Force.Directing Rogue One, guerrilla-style (video included).Video: Behind the scenes of a Star Wars space battle.
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