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Wes Takahashi
Wes Ford Takahashi is an American visual effects animator and animation supervisor who has worked for motion picture visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic. He is known for his special effects work on numerous films; his efforts includes animating the time travel sequences for all three ''Back to the Future'' films and the "boy on the moon" in the DreamWorks logo. He is the former head of ILM's animation department. Education and career Takahashi attended Hampshire College in Massachusetts, as well as the University of California, Los Angeles, both of which enabled him to study computer graphics and animation. He began working at Industrial Light & Magic in the early 1980s and subsequently rose to become the head of its animation department. After essentially ceasing work with ILM in the 1990s, he helped to establish the New Zealand-based effects studio Weta Digital with filmmaker Peter Jackson. He has been with International Technological University since 2011 and c ...
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Special Effect
Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual world. Special effects are traditionally divided into the categories of mechanical effects and optical effects. With the emergence of digital film-making a distinction between special effects and visual effects has grown, with the latter referring to digital post-production and optical effects, while "special effects" refers to mechanical effects. Mechanical effects (also called practical or physical effects) are usually accomplished during the live-action shooting. This includes the use of mechanized props, scenery, scale models, animatronics, pyrotechnics and atmospheric effects: creating physical wind, rain, fog, snow, clouds, making a car appear to drive by itself and blowing up a building, etc. Mechanical effects are also often inco ...
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Eragon (video Game)
''Eragon'' is a third-person video game released for PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows, developed by Stormfront Studios and published by Vivendi Games. Also released are unique versions of Eragon for the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, and mobile phone handheld gaming systems, primarily developed by Amaze Entertainment. The game is based upon the 2006 ''Eragon'' film, which is loosely based on the 2002 book ''Eragon'', by Christopher Paolini. The game was released on November 14, 2006 in the United States of America, on November 24, 2006 in European Countries and on November 23, 2006 in Australia in order to coincide with the release of the film. In the game the player takes on the role of the protagonist from the book and film, Eragon, and occasionally controls his dragon Saphira. The game was generally received poorly by critics. The combined sales in North America were over 400,000 copies. Gameplay The majority of the game is take ...
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Tail To The Chief
The tail is the section at the rear end of certain kinds of animals’ bodies; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage to the torso. It is the part of the body that corresponds roughly to the sacrum and coccyx in mammals, reptiles, and birds. While tails are primarily a feature of vertebrates, some invertebrates including scorpions and springtails, as well as snails and slugs, have tail-like appendages that are sometimes referred to as tails. Tailed objects are sometimes referred to as "caudate" and the part of the body associated with or proximal to the tail are given the adjective "caudal". Function Animal tails are used in a variety of ways. They provide a source of locomotion for fish and some other forms of marine life. Many land animals use their tails to brush away flies and other biting insects. Most canines use their tails to comunicate mood and intention . Some species, including cats and kangaroos, use their tails for balance; and some, such as ...
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The Meteor Man (film)
''The Meteor Man'' is a 1993 American superhero comedy film written, directed, co-produced and starring Robert Townsend with supporting roles by Marla Gibbs, Eddie Griffin, Robert Guillaume, James Earl Jones, Bill Cosby, and Another Bad Creation. The film also features special appearances by Luther Vandross, Sinbad, Naughty by Nature, Cypress Hill, and Big Daddy Kane. Townsend stars as a mild-mannered schoolteacher, who becomes a superhero after his neighborhood in Washington, D.C. is terrorized by street gangs. It is one of the earliest superhero films to feature an African-American in a starring role. Plot Jefferson Reed ( Robert Townsend) is a mild-mannered school teacher in Washington, D.C. His neighborhood is terrorized by a local gang called ''The Golden Lords'', led by Simon Caine (Roy Fegan) and allied with drug lord Anthony Byers ( Frank Gorshin). One night, Jeff steps in to rescue a woman from the gang only to end up running from them himself. Hiding in a garb ...
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Hook (film)
''Hook'' is a 1991 American adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by James V. Hart and Malia Scotch Marmo. It stars Robin Williams as Peter Banning / Peter Pan, Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook, Julia Roberts as Tinker Bell, Bob Hoskins as Mr. Smee, and Maggie Smith as Granny Wendy. It acts as a sequel of sorts to J. M. Barrie's 1911 novel ''Peter and Wendy'' focusing on an adult Peter Pan who has forgotten all about his childhood. In his new life, he is known as Peter Banning, a successful but unimaginative and workaholic lawyer with a wife (Wendy's granddaughter) and two children. However, when Captain Hook, the enemy of his past, kidnaps his children, he returns to Neverland to save them. Along the journey, he reclaims the memories of his past and becomes a better person. Spielberg began developing ''Hook'' in the early 1980s with Walt Disney Productions and Paramount Pictures, which would have followed the Peter Pan storyline seen in the 1924 silent fil ...
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The Undiscovered Country
The Undiscovered Country may refer to *'' Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country'' * ''The Undiscovered Country ''(album), an album by Destiny inspired by the film {{DEFAULTSORT:Undiscovered Country, The ...
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The Rocketeer (film)
''The Rocketeer'' (released internationally as ''The Adventures of the Rocketeer'') is a 1991 American Period film, period superhero film from Walt Disney Pictures and Touchstone Pictures. It was produced by Charles Gordon (producer), Charles Gordon, Lawrence Gordon (producer), Lawrence Gordon, and Lloyd Levin, directed by Joe Johnston, and stars Billy Campbell, Bill Campbell, Jennifer Connelly, Alan Arkin, Timothy Dalton, Paul Sorvino, and Tiny Ron Taylor. It is based on the Rocketeer, character of the same name created by comic book artist and writer Dave Stevens. Set in 1938 Los Angeles, California, ''The Rocketeer'' tells the story of Aerobatics, stunt pilot, Cliff Secord, who discovers a hidden rocket pack that he thereafter uses to fly without the need of an aircraft. His heroic deeds soon attract the attention of Howard Hughes and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, who are hunting for the missing rocket pack, as well as the Nazism, Nazi operatives that stole it fr ...
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Back To The Future Part III
''Back to the Future Part III'' is a 1990 American science fiction Western film and the final installment of the ''Back to the Future'' trilogy. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis, and stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Mary Steenburgen, Thomas F. Wilson, and Lea Thompson. The film continues immediately following ''Back to the Future Part II'' (1989); while stranded in 1955 during his time travel adventures, Marty McFly (Fox) discovers that his friend Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown (Lloyd), trapped in 1885, was killed by Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen (Wilson), Biff's great-grandfather. Marty travels to 1885 to rescue Doc and return once again to 1985, but matters are complicated when Doc falls in love with Clara Clayton (Steenburgen). ''Back to the Future Part III'' was filmed in California and Arizona, and was produced on a $40 million budget back-to-back with ''Part II''. ''Part III'' was released in the United States on May 25, 1990, six months after the previous ins ...
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Back To The Future Part II
''Back to the Future Part II'' is a 1989 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay by Bob Gale and a story by both. It is the sequel to the 1985 film ''Back to the Future'' and the second installment in the ''Back to the Future'' franchise. The film stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Thomas F. Wilson, Elisabeth Shue (replacing Claudia Wells), and Jeffrey Weissman (replacing Crispin Glover), and follows Marty McFly (Fox) and his friend Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown (Lloyd) as they travel from 1985 to 2015 to prevent Marty's son from sabotaging the McFly family's future. When their arch-nemesis Biff Tannen (Wilson) steals Doc's DeLorean time machine and uses it to alter history for his benefit, the duo must return to 1955 to restore the timeline. The film was produced on a $40 million budget and was filmed back to back with its sequel ''Part III''. Filming began in February 1989, after two years were spent building the sets and w ...
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The Abyss
''The Abyss'' is a 1989 American science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron and starring Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Michael Biehn. When an American submarine sinks in the Caribbean, a US search and recovery team works with an oil platform crew, racing against Soviet vessels to recover the boat. Deep in the ocean, they encounter something unexpected. The film was released on August 9, 1989, receiving generally positive reviews and grossed $89.8 million. It won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and was nominated for three more Academy Awards. Plot In January 1994, the U.S. USS ''Montana'' has an encounter with an unidentified submerged object and sinks near the Cayman Trough. With Soviet ships moving in to try to salvage the sub and a tropical cyclone, hurricane moving over the area, the U.S. government sends a United States Navy SEALs, SEAL team to ''Deep Core'', a privately owned experimental underwater drilling platform near the Cayman ...
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Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade
''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'' is a 1989 American action film, action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, from a story co-written by executive producer George Lucas. It is the third installment in the Indiana Jones, ''Indiana Jones'' franchise and a sequel to ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' (1981). Harrison Ford returned in Indiana Jones (character), the title role, while Henry Jones, Sr., his father is portrayed by Sean Connery. Other cast members featured include Alison Doody, Denholm Elliott, Julian Glover, River Phoenix, and John Rhys-Davies. In the film, set largely in 1938, Indiana searches for his father, a Holy Grail scholar, who has been kidnapped and held hostage by the Nazis while on a journey to find the Holy Grail. After the mixed reaction to ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'', Spielberg chose to lower the dark tone and graphic violence in the next installment. During the five years between ''The Temple of Doom'' and ''The Last Crusade'', he and ...
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Willow (film)
''Willow'' is a 1988 American high fantasy adventure film directed by Ron Howard and produced by Nigel Wooll. The film was executive produced by George Lucas and written by Bob Dolman from a story by Lucas. The film stars Warwick Davis, Joanne Whalley, Val Kilmer, and Jean Marsh. Davis portrays the title character, an aspiring magician who teams up with a disaffected warrior (Kilmer) to protect a baby from an evil queen (Marsh). Lucas conceived the idea for the film in 1972, approaching Howard to direct during the post-production phase of '' Cocoon'' in 1985. Bob Dolman was brought in to write the screenplay, coming up with seven drafts before finishing in late 1986. It was then set up at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and principal photography began in April 1987, finishing the following October. The majority of filming took place in Dinorwic quarry in Wales with some at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire, as well as a small section in New Zealand. Industrial Light & Magic created the CGI ...
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