Kit West (6 February 1936 – 17 April 2016) was a British

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 ...

s artist who was most known for his work in ''

Raiders of the Lost Ark ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. It stars Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ro ...

'', '' Return of the Jedi'' and ''

Dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

''.

Early life

Born in London, his early films were government and military training films produced by Realist Film Unit. He served two years in the British Army, where he gained experience in pyrotechnics.

Oscar history

All these were for Best Visual Effects. * 1981 Academy Awards-''

'', award shared with

Richard Edlund Richard Edlund, (born December 6, 1940) is an American visual effects artist and inventor. He was a founding member of Industrial Light & Magic, having already founded Pignose amplifiers, and later co-founded Boss Film Studios and DuMonde VFX. H ...

, Joe Johnston and

Bruce Nicholson Bruce Nicholson is a special effects artist who received the Special Achievement Academy Award in 1980 for the visual effects of the film ''The Empire Strikes Back'', which he shared with Brian Johnson, Richard Edlund and Dennis Muren. He won his f ...

. Won the Oscar. * 1985 Academy Awards-'' Young Sherlock Holmes'', nomination shared with

David W. Allen David W. Allen (October 22, 1944 – August 16, 1999) was an American film and television stop motion model (puppet) animator. Allen provided special effects on such productions as ''The Howling'', '' Twilight Zone: The Movie'', ''Young Sherlock ...

John R. Ellis John R. Ellis is an American Visual effects, visual effects artist. He was nominated for an Academy Awards, Academy Award in the category Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, Best Visual Effects for the film ''Young Sherlock Holmes''. In 1985 ...

and

Dennis Muren Dennis Muren, A.S.C (born November 1, 1946) is an American film visual effects artist and supervisor. He has worked on the films of George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and James Cameron, among others, and has won nine Oscars in total: eight for Be ...

. Lost to '' Cocoon''. * 1996 Academy Awards-'' Dragonheart'', nomination shared with

Scott Squires Scott Squires (born 1956) is a visual effects supervisor and director. His first film project was ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'', where he developed the Cloud Tank Effect. In 1979 Squires, Hoyt Yeatman, Rocco Gioffre, Fred Iguchi, Tom Ho ...

James Straus James Straus is a special effects artist who was nominated at the 69th Academy Awards for the film '' Dragonheart'' in the category of Best Visual Effects. His nomination was shared with Scott Squires, Phil Tippett and Kit West. He is also an an ...

and Phil Tippett. Lost to ''

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Many ...

''.

BAFTA award

* 1983–'' Return of the Jedi''-for Best Special Effects-Won, shared with

and Ken Ralston.

Death

West died on 17 April 2016 and was cremated at

Mortlake Crematorium Mortlake Crematorium is a crematorium in Kew, near its boundary with Mortlake, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It opened in 1939, next to Mortlake Cemetery. The crematorium serves the boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, ...

References

External links

* 1936 births 2016 deaths Best Visual Effects Academy Award winners Best Visual Effects BAFTA Award winners Special effects people Place of death missing {{UK-film-bio-stub