Dr. DVD

A lot of people credit Star Wars as the catalyst for a renewed focus on FX technology with the success of the films and the resulting FX house of ILM.
I was wondering, if Star Wars never occurred, and ILM never formed, where would FX in movies be today? I am sure they would eventually get to where they are now, just maybe not as soon.

Jackskeleton

I think it would be a few years behind what it is today. ILM has done leaps when it comes to the industry.

It's safe to assume someone else would have eventually stepped up, but considering the amount ILM has contributed to this field themselves, it's hard to imagine that we would be any where close to where we are today.

Rival11

There would definitely be a lag in my opinion based solely on the fact that the effects were so ahead of their time back then and there was huge interest in getting more off the ground because of the release of the original Star Wars films.

Dr. DVD

Would the LOTR movies even be around? Would we have ever gotten past the days of stop motion? Interesting stuff to think about!

What I'm trying to ask is, what would modern movies with FX look like? I think there would definitely be less movies requiring extensive FX work being made.

Rival11

I would say it definitely would be limited - movies like the Matirx Reloaded that had 15 minutes of nothing but effect shots would not exist - I just don't think it would happen as fast as it did if the latter never occured. To me it would be "here's one cool huge money shot for you to enjoy" and that's it (for a while). I know it sounds vague and a little out there but I say this because I just don't think it would be taken as serious or the interest in spending a ton of money on something that is not full proof would be worth it.

But as others have said - it would eventually pick up and be great.

Tarantino

I think we'd be right where we are today.

Jackskeleton

why do you say that?

Drop

It's really hard to predict something like this, but If Star Wars and ILM never came to be, and no one else was there to replace them, then we would definitely be behind. Not just because of how groundbreaking they were, but because of the competition and interactions between effects companies. The interaction between these companies, more than anything, really has pushed how far CG has gotten and will get. If we were one less on any of these places I bet we'd be behind. With that said I think ILM and Star Wars were the most important. They came out at such a perfect time, and really had a major affect. Time will tell how important some of the other companies will be.

calhoun07

Maybe movies would have to rely on storytelling and imagination rather than effects and big name stars to make money. Now there's a concept!

Rivero

[BillMurray] Staaar Waaaarss..........nothing but Staaaaaaaar Waaaaaaaaaaars [BillMurray/]

Rivero

Yes.

Breakfast with Girls

I think what you mean is "Where would mankind be today if Star Wars had never been made?" And the answer is: all dead. Without Star Wars, life on this planet would have ended around 1986.

mthiel

Superman and Close Encounters were still in production even before Star Wars came out, so I'd say the FX wouldn't be very far behind if Star Wars had never been made.

(Then again, I don't know how much influence Star Wars had on the FX budgets of Superman and Close Encounters)

Dr. DVD

I will say that I think there would still be more of a dependency of models and practical effects nowadays if Star Wars had never existed.

clemente

You're all assuming that the engine for todays computer effects was Star Wars and not the quantuam leaps in computing power available to everyone.

If Star Wars had never happened, but the computing power rise of the 80's had still taken place, do you not think someone would have said, "hey, lets put this to use."

Lucas was a creative gent, but he wasn't the only one, a similar film would have risen soon after, the ground work for a sfx heavy blockbuster film had been laid by Jaws.

NitroJMS

A better question, would Star Wars have been made if it weren't for the breakthroughs in 2001: A Space Odyssey and Kubrick?

Supermallet

Almost all of Superman's effects were in-camera, unlike in Star Wars, so I would say Star Wars had a minimal effect on Superman.

cruzness

Without Star Wars and ILM (and Skywalker Sound) we'd probably be about 5 years behind from the visual and audio effects perspective. The real question is if studios would be willing to drop money on sequels and trilogies? (because of the success of Star Wars' sequels)

Derrich

We'd be in the same place... maybe even ahead. Spielberg would've been the one pushing effects instead of Lucas. With Close Encounters and then ET, he would have been the reigning effects director. And instead of spaceships, more emphasis would've been put on character effects. Look at Close Encounters as a starting point with it's aliens and then ET with..well, ET.

Companies were so focused on getting spaceships looking good that other stuff was ignored until recently. Most effects shops now specifically say 'NO Spaceships' when you want to submit a demo reel.

I just see StarWars as shifting the focus to one aspect of effects, not as a catalyst for the industry.

D

QuiGonJosh

It probably wouldnt be very far behind thanks to the likes of Superman The Movie and Close Encounters of the Third Kind...but SW gave Lucas the ability to create ILM...and we all know that they are the FX behemoth in the film industry...so who knows where we'd be without them...

Supermallet

The real unasked question is where would we be without Space: 1999 and Battlestar Galactica?

Groucho

We'd be in the same place, since The Matrix and its sequels reinvented special effects from the ground up, especially the sequences that can never ever be copied.

Derrich

I've seen kids do Matrix style effects with Camcorders and a PC, so I doubt the sequences could never be copied. The Matrix wasn't groundbreaking because it created new effects, it was groundbreaking because it used the effects a differently.

D

resinrats

I don't really consider ET that high in terms of special effects. Besides the alien suit, there were not that many in the movie. The bikes were an easy blue screen and the alien ship was pretty basic.

Drexl

Groucho's post was a joke about what Joel Silver (or was it someone else?) said about Reloaded before it was released-that the SFX could never be copied.