John Knoll (born October 6, 1962) is an American

visual effects supervisor In the context of film and television production, a visual effects supervisor is responsible for achieving the creative aims of the director or producers through the use of visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process ...

and

chief creative officer A chief creative officer (CCO) is the highest ranking position of the creative team within a company. Depending on the type of company, this position may be responsible for the overall look and feel of marketing, media, and branding associated wit ...

(CCO) at

Industrial Light & Magic Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American motion picture visual effects company that was founded on May 26, 1975 by George Lucas. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lucas founded, and was created when he began pr ...

(ILM). One of the original creators of

Adobe Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the industry standard not only in rast ...

(along with his brother, Thomas Knoll), he has also worked as

on the ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

'' prequels and the 1997 special editions of the original trilogy. He also served as ILM's visual effects supervisor for ''

Star Trek Generations ''Star Trek Generations'' is a 1994 American science fiction film and the seventh film in the Star Trek (film series), ''Star Trek'' film series. Malcolm McDowell joins cast members from the 1960s television show ''Star Trek: The Original Ser ...

'' and '' Star Trek: First Contact'', as well as the ''

Pirates of the Caribbean ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' is a Disney media franchise encompassing numerous theme park rides, a series of films, and spin-off novels, as well as a number of related video games and other media publications. The franchise originated with the ...

'' series. Along with Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and Allen Hall, Knoll and the trio's work on '' Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest'' earned them the

Academy Award for Best Visual Effects The Academy Award for Best Visual Effects is an Academy Award given for the best achievement in visual effects. History of the award The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences first recognized the technical contributions of special effects ...

. Knoll has been praised by directors

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post- New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability ...

Gore Verbinski Gregor Justin "Gore" Verbinski (born March 16, 1964) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and musician. He is best known for directing '' The Ring'', the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' films, and '' Rango''. He won the Academy Awar ...

Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born October 9, 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and actor. He directed the Academy Award–winning fantasy films ''Pan's Labyrinth'' (2006) and '' The Shape of Water'' (2017), winning the Academy Awards for ...

, and

Brad Bird Phillip Bradley Bird (born September 24, 1957) is an American film director, animator, screenwriter, producer, and voice actor. He has had a career spanning forty years in both animation and live-action. Bird was born in Montana and grew up ...

. Del Toro, who worked with Knoll for the first time on ''

Pacific Rim The Pacific Rim comprises the lands around the rim of the Pacific Ocean. The '' Pacific Basin'' includes the Pacific Rim and the islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Rim roughly overlaps with the geologic Pacific Ring of Fire. List of ...

'', stated "He basically has the heart of a kid and the mind of a scientist, and that's a great combination." Knoll is also the inventor of Knoll Light Factory, a

lens flare A lens flare happens when light is scattered or flared in a lens system, often in response to a bright light, producing a sometimes undesirable artifact in the image. This happens through light scattered by the imaging mechanism itself, for ex ...

generating software inspired by his work at Industrial Light and Magic. He was the Computer Graphics Project Designer on ''

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 tea ...

'', an achievement which earned ILM its tenth

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

, and worked on two ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

'' episodes: '' Star Trek: The Next Generation''s pilot episode ("

Encounter at Farpoint "Encounter at Farpoint" is the pilot episode and series premiere of the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', which premiered in syndication on September 28, 1987. It was written by D. C. Fontana a ...

") and the ''

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (abbreviated as ''DS9'') is an American science fiction television series created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller. The fourth series in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise, it originally aired in syndication from ...

'' episode " Explorers". Knoll had a cameo appearance in '' Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace'' as a fighter pilot, helped pitch the story of ''

Rogue One ''Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'' (or simply ''Rogue One'') is a 2016 American epic space opera film directed by Gareth Edwards. The screenplay by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy is from a story by John Knoll and Gary Whitta. It was produced by L ...

'', a feature film set in the ''Star Wars'' series, for which he also worked as writer and executive producer. In 2016 John (alongside with and his brother Thomas) were inducted into the

International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum The International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum in St. Louis, Missouri honors those who have made great contributions to the field of photography. History In 1977 the first Hall of Fame and Museum opened in Santa Barbara, California and ...

. At the 2019 Oscars, John and his brother Thomas were awarded a Scientific and Engineering Award for the original architecture, design and development of Photoshop.

Feature films

Books

* John Knoll,

J. W. Rinzler Jonathan W. Rinzler (August 17, 1962July 28, 2021) was a film historian and writer, known for publishing books about the behind the scenes of blockbuster movies such as '' Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones''. Rinzler also wrote the novel ''Indiana ...

: Creating the Worlds of Star Wars: 365 Days with CDROM; Book about the Making of the Star Wars Saga;

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Knoll, John 1962 births Living people Best Visual Effects Academy Award winners Best Visual Effects BAFTA Award winners Computer graphics professionals Visual effects supervisors Special effects people Industrial Light & Magic people Artists from Ann Arbor, Michigan USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni