Kenneth Ralston (born 1954) is an American visual effects artist, currently the Visual Effect Supervisor and Creative Head at Sony Pictures Imageworks. Ralston began his career at the commercial animation and visual effects company, Cascade Pictures in Hollywood, where he worked on over 150 advertising campaigns in the early 1970s. In 1976, he was hired at

Industrial Light & Magic Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American Film, motion picture visual effects, computer animation and stereo conversion digital studio founded by George Lucas on May 26, 1975. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lu ...

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 Bes ...

to help

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...

create the effects for ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

''. He remained at ILM for 20 years before joining Sony Pictures Imageworks as president. Ralston is best known for his work in the films of

Robert Zemeckis Robert Lee Zemeckis (born May 14, 1952) is an American filmmaker known for directing and producing a range of successful and influential movies, often blending cutting-edge visual effects with storytelling. He has received several accolades incl ...

. Ralston has won five

Academy Award for Best Visual Effects The Academy Award for Best Visual Effects is presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the best achievement in visual effects. It has been handed to four members of the team directly responsible for creatin ...

, including a Special Achievement Academy Award for the visual effects in ''

Return of the Jedi ''Return of the Jedi'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi'' is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas. The sequel to '' The Empire ...

'' (1983), and regular awards for his work on '' Cocoon'' (1985), ''

Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. It is loosely based on the 1981 novel ''Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' by Gary K. Wol ...

'' (1988), ''

Death Becomes Her ''Death Becomes Her'' is a 1992 American satirical surrealistic black comedy fantasy film directed and produced by Robert Zemeckis and written by David Koepp and Martin Donovan. The film stars Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, Bruce Willis, a ...

'' (1992) and ''

Forrest Gump ''Forrest Gump'' is a 1994 American comedy-drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis. An adaptation of the Forrest Gump (novel), 1986 novel by Winston Groom, the screenplay of the film is written by Eric Roth. It stars Tom Hanks in the title rol ...

'' (1994). He was nominated three more times for '' Dragonslayer'' (1981), ''

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; both wrote the story. It is a sequel to the 1985 film ''Back to the Future'' and the second installment in the Back ...

'' (1989) and ''

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

'' (2010). Ken has contributed to several DVD commentaries: *''

King Kong King Kong, also referred to simply as Kong, is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. The character has since become an international pop culture icon,Erb, Cynthia, 1998, ''Tracking Kin ...

'' (1933) - with visual effects creator

Ray Harryhausen Raymond Frederick Harryhausen (June 29, 1920 – May 7, 2013) was an American-British animator and special effects creator who is regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of both fields. In a career spanning more than 40 ...

*'' Mighty Joe Young'' (1949) - with visual effects creator

and actress Terry Moore *''

'' (1988) - with director

, producer Frank Marshall, associate producer Steve Starkey, screenwriters Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman *'' Contact'' (1997) - with visual effects supervisor Stephen Rosenbaum *''

Cast Away ''Cast Away'' is a 2000 American survival drama film directed and produced by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, and Nick Searcy. Hanks plays a FedEx troubleshooter who is stranded on a desert island after his plane cras ...

'' (2000) - with cinematographer Don Burgess, visual effects supervisor Carey Villegas, sound designer and supervising sound editor

Randy Thom David Randall Thom (born August 21, 1951) is an American sound designer and the director of sound design at Skywalker Sound. Career Thom started his film career with a phone call to Walter Murch, who invited him to visit a re-mix of ''American ...

Filmography

* ''

'' (1977) (assistant cameraman: miniature and optical effects unit) * ''

The Empire Strikes Back ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back'') is a 1980 American epic film, epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based o ...

'' (1980) (visual effects cameraman: miniature and optical effects unit) * '' Dragonslayer'' (1981) (dragon supervisor: ILM) * '' Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan'' (1982) (visual effects supervisor: ILM) * ''

'' (1983) (visual effects) * '' Star Trek III: The Search for Spock'' (1984) (visual effects supervisor) * '' Cocoon'' (1985) (visual effects supervisor) * ''

Back to the Future ''Back to the Future'' is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Set in 1985 ...

'' (1985) (visual effects supervisor) * '' Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home'' (1986) (visual effects supervisor) * '' The Golden Child'' (1986) (visual effects supervisor) * ''

'' (1988) (visual effects supervisor) * ''

'' (1989) (visual effects supervisor) * ''

Dreams A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5–20 minutes, althou ...

'' (1990) (visual effects supervisor) * '' Back to the Future Part III'' (1990) (visual effects supervisor) * '' The Rocketeer'' (1991) (special visual effects supervisor, second unit director) * ''

'' (1992) (visual effects supervisor) * ''

'' (1994) (visual effects supervisor) * '' The Mask'' (1994) (visual effects consultant) * ''

The American President ''The American President'' is a 1995 American political romantic comedy drama film directed and produced by Rob Reiner and written by Aaron Sorkin. The film stars Michael Douglas as President Andrew Shepherd, a widower who pursues a romanti ...

'' (1995) (visual effects supervisor) * ''

Jumanji ''Jumanji'' is a 1995 American fantasy adventure film directed by Joe Johnston from a screenplay by Jonathan Hensleigh, Greg Taylor, and Jim Strain, based on the 1981 children's picture book by Chris Van Allsburg. The film is the first ins ...

'' (1995) (visual effects supervisor) * ''

Phenomenon A phenomenon ( phenomena), sometimes spelled phaenomenon, is an observable Event (philosophy), event. The term came into its modern Philosophy, philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which ''cannot'' be ...

'' (1996) (visual effects supervisor: SPI) * ''

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

'' (1996) (visual effects supervisor: SPI) * '' Contact'' (1997) (visual effects supervisor) * '' Patch Adams'' (1998) (visual effects guru) * ''

'' (2000) (visual effects supervisor) * '' America's Sweethearts'' (2001) (visual effects consultant) * ''

Men in Black II ''Men in Black II'' (stylized as ''MIIB'') is a 2002 American science fiction action comedy film based on the Marvel Comics series of a similar name based on the conspiracy theory. Produced by Columbia Pictures and Amblin Entertainment in ass ...

'' (2002) (visual effects supervisor: SPI) * '' The Forgotten'' (2004) (visual effects consultant) * '' The Polar Express'' (2004) (visual effects supervisor) * ''

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ) is an Old English poetry, Old English poem, an Epic poetry, epic in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 Alliterative verse, alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and List of translat ...

'' (2007) (visual effects supervisor) * ''

'' (2010) (visual effects supervisor) * ''

Men in Black 3 ''Men in Black 3'' (stylized as ''MIB³'') is a 2012 American science fiction action comedy film based on the comic book series, in turn based on the conspiracy theory. It is the third installment in the ''Men in Black'' film series. Direct ...

'' (2012) (visual effects supervisor) * '' Alice Through the Looking Glass'' (2016) (visual effects supervisor)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ralston, Ken 1954 births Living people American special effects people Visual effects supervisors Best Visual Effects Academy Award winners Best Visual Effects BAFTA Award winners Special Achievement Academy Award winners American stop motion animators Industrial Light & Magic people