Edlund, Richard

views updated May 21 2018

EDLUND, Richard

Special Effects Technician. Nationality: American. Born: Fargo, North Dakota, 6 December 1940. Education: Attended high school in California; University of Southern California film school, Los Angeles. Military Service: Made training films while serving in the U.S. Navy. Career: Assistant to special effects technician Joe Westheimer; then worked as cable car driver and photographer; designed Candy Apple Neon lettering while working for Bob Abel; 1975–83—worked for George Lucas's company; founded the Industrial Light and Magic Company; 1983—joined Douglas Trumbull's Entertainment Effects group, the Boss Film Corporation. Awards: Academy Award, for Star Wars, 1977, The Empire Strikes Back, 1980, Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1981, and Return of the Jedi, 1983; Academy Technical Award, 1981 (2 awards); British Academy Award, for Poltergeist, 1982, and Return of the Jedi, 1983.

Films as Special Effects Technician:

1977: Star Wars (Lucas)
1979: The China Syndrome (Lumet)
1980: The Empire Strikes Back (Kershner)
1981: Raiders of the Lost Ark (Spielberg)
1982: Poltergeist (Spielberg)
1983: Return of the Jedi (Marquand)
1984: 2010 (Hyams); Ghostbusters (Reitman)
1985: Fright Night (Holland)
1986: Big Trouble in Little China (Carpenter); The Boy Who Could Fly (Castle); Legal Eagles (Reitman); Solarbabies (Johnson); Poltergeist II (Gibson)
1987: Date with an Angel (McLoughlin); Leonard, Part 6 (Weiland); Masters of the Universe (Goddard); The Monster Squad (Dekker)
1988: Big Top Pee-Wee (Kleiser); Die Hard (McTiernan); Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (Signorelli); Vibes (Kwapis)
1989: Farewell to the King (Milius) (ph—special water unit)
1990: Ghost (Zucker); Solar Crisis (Sarafian) (+ co-pr)
1992: Alien 3 (Fincher)
1995: Species (Donaldson)
1996: Multiplicity (Ramis)
1997: Air Force One (Petersen)
1998: Desperate Measures (Schroeder)
2000: Bedazzled (Ramis)

Publications

By EDLUND: articles—

Cinefantastique (New York), Spring 1978.

American Cinematographer (Hollywood), June 1980.

Filmmakers Monthly (Ward Hill, Massachusetts), June 1980.

Cahiers du Cinéma (Paris), June 1982.

Ecran Fantastique (Paris), October 1983.

Film Comment (New York), July/August 1984.

Screen International (London), 15–22 December 1984.

Photoplay (London), March 1985.

On Location (Hollywood), April 1985.

American Cinematographer (Hollywood), December 1988.

American Cinematographer (Hollywood), August 1993.

American Cinematographer (Hollywood), July 1996.

On EDLUND: articles—

Aisenberg, Adam, in American Film (Washington, D.C.), June 1983.

American Cinematographer (Hollywood), April and June 1984.

American Cinematographer (Hollywood), January 1985.

Cinefex (Riverside, California), no. 25, February 1986.

American Cinematographer (Hollywood), June 1986.

Cinefantastique (Forest Park), vol. 27, no. 7, 1996.

Cinefex (Riverside, California), March 1996.

Cinefex (Riverside, California), September 1996.

Variety (New York), 21 July 1997.

* * *

Richard Edlund's career as a special effects expert began when he was hired as part of the visual effects team for Star Wars. The film, a phenomenal critical and popular success, breathed life into the science-fiction genre, and established the director/producer George Lucas as a powerful member of Hollywood's new generation of filmmakers. It was a significant film in the history of Hollywood for other, less apparent reasons as well. With its innovative visual effects, it changed the course of that aspect of the industry. Edlund's career has developed as rapidly as the special effects business itself.

The backbone of the science-fiction film is the matte shot, which can combine a prepositioned live-action sequence with separate footage of painted backgrounds to create the illusion that the characters are existing in another time and place; or matte shots can also bring together several individual components, such as animated sequences, model shots, and shots with miniatures, to create scenes impossible to produce in another manner. Some of the first matte shots were done in the camera, while later ones were produced using an optical printing process. Because of the complex space battles that Lucas planned for Star Wars, neither of these methods were adequate.

The system developed for Star Wars was a combination of producing the mattes inside the camera and optical printing. It was Edlund who helped develop the motion-control camera which was used for creating the in-camera mattes. This camera, linked to a computer, was capable of repeating the same movements with an exact precision. Few viewers realize the complexities of producing one shot of a flying spaceship. The ship, the lights on the ship, and the flame coming from the tail are all shot separately. With the motion-control camera, these components, which must all move on the same perspective, are recorded one at a time on a single piece of film with each pass of the camera. Once this image of the spaceship is complete, it then becomes a component in a larger matte, perhaps of a battle with many ships, assembled on the optical printer. Before Star Wars and the development of the motion-control camera, and other technical innovations, this type of complex process shot was not possible.

Given the complicated nature of the special effects and the time and technology it took to produce them (there were more than 300 special effects shots in Star Wars), it is no wonder that a different approach to assembling an effects crew was necessary. A large group of experts (including Edlund) was gathered for Star Wars, resulting in the formation of Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), a visual effects company, where the equipment and crew needed to produce the effects for a given film were housed together.

The success of Star Wars and its sequels, and of Close Encounters of the Third Kind to some extent, caused a renaissance in the special effects industry. Edlund believes that that renaissance is still peaking and that "the new grammar of special film effects is still being developed." Since Star Wars, leaps and bounds have been made in the technology, and Edlund's motion-control camera has been modified and improved many times.

Edlund himself has developed a number of pieces of effects equipment, including a snorkel lens, which is used inside a cloud tank. On big-budget science-fiction or adventure films, visual effects houses have replaced the lone special effects expert as the creators of large-scale effects. After Star Wars, ILM, (including Edlund), went on to do the visual effects for The Empire Strikes Back, The Return of the Jedi, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. On each of these films, Edlund and other members of the ILM crew won Academy Awards for their innovative work. While at ILM, Edlund also headed the special effects unit on Poltergeist. His work for that film was also nominated for an Oscar.

In the early 1980s Edlund boosted his career when he became the head of the large special effects crew for 2010, the sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey. Though he worked with a crew of 100 for 16 months and was associated with the effects house Entertainment Effect Group, he was virtually in charge of most of the effects. For 2010 Edlund made decisions concerning the special type of cameras and camera equipment necessary for the effects shots, the cloud tanks, the motion-control system, how to shoot the mattes, at what camera speed to shoot the miniatures, what size film stock to use, and the effects of the different types of film emulsion for various shots.

At the request of special effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull, Edlund became the supervising head of Trumbull's effects house, Boss Film, in the mid-1980s. Boss is a completely self-contained effects company, with a number of departments—including a creature department, an animation and rotoscope division, a matte department, and much more—headed by experts in the field. When a studio hires Boss Film, it is in charge of producing all the special and mechanical effects for that film, with each department handling the appropriate effect. Edlund heads the whole creative force.

Because of the complex nature of today's special effects, the large number of people needed to produce them for each film, and their technical nature, it would seem that any attempt to discuss an overall approach to a film's effects would be impossible. Edlund, however, likes to group his films into two categories—those that are complete fantasies, that have little basis in the world as the audience knows it (the Star Wars trilogy, Masters of the Universe); and those that depend on the audience's familiarity with certain characters, situations, and locales (2010, Poltergeist, and the smash hit, Ghost). Edlund seems to have a certain fondness for the latter, as they present more of a challenge in terms of making the effects more believable. For example, Edlund went to great pains in 2010 to make the images of Jupiter familiar to the audience by playing off their expectations based on NASA footage from Voyager 2, which had been shown on television.

In the 1990s, Edlund continues to dominate much of the special effects industry, and has taken advantage of recent developments in digital technology. Films such as ILM's Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park show how fantastical images can emerge on-screen via computer enhancement, and look completely realistic. Edlund and Boss Films have not fallen behind. In 1992, IBM delivered to Boss a $1.2 million Power Visualization System (PVS), whose output data of 100 megabytes per second (roughly 100 times the average Ethernet networked work station), make models and matte shots nearly obsolete. With a PVS to create digital images, anything within the effects expert's imagination can be reproduced on film. Edlund marvels at the new technology: "Suddenly we have a godlike capability." And yet he has not abandoned more traditional methods. For Species, Edlund supervised construction of an animatronic monster equipped with motion sensors. This fierce, agile creature leaps and growls with the speed of a jungle cat. As with many of Edlund's creations, it remains the sole spark of originality in an otherwise mediocre film.

Edlund is a pivotal figure in the visual effects renaissance brought about by the success of techniques and innovations pioneered in Star Wars. Since then, Edlund has moved up the ladder from being one member of a visual effects team to becoming board chairman of one of Hollywood's largest special effects houses.

—Susan Doll, updated by Ken Provencher

International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers Doll, Susan

Edlund, Richard 1940–

views updated May 17 2018

Edlund, Richard 1940–

PERSONAL

Born December 6, 1940, in Fargo, ND. Education: Attended University of Southern California, c. 1961–63; also attended U.S. Naval Photographic School. Avocational Interests: Studying Japanese culture.

Addresses: Office—Richard Edlund Films, 2710 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90403. Agent— Marsh, Best, and Associates, 9150 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 220, Beverly Hills, CA 90212.

Career: Visual effects technician, designer, and producer. Industrial Light and Magic, founding member of design team and photographer of miniatures and optical effects, 1975–83; Entertainment Effects, designer, 1983; Boss Film Studios (also known as Big Boss Films), Marina Del Rey, CA, founder, president, chief executive officer, designer, producer, and visual effects supervisor for numerous films, 1983–97; Richard Ed-lund Films, Beverly Hills, CA, principal. Home Box Office, segment producer and production designer of opening sequences for dozens of television specials between 1989 and 1996; also worked as second unit director. Inventor, including development of a beam-splitter optical composite motion picture printer, the Empire Motion Picture Camera System, the Zoom Aerial 65mm Optical Printer, a snorkel lens, and a portable amplifier for guitarists. Eastman Kodak lecturer in China and Japan, 1988; College of the San Francisco Academy of Art, lecturer, 2001. Candy Apple Neon, worked as letter designer; still photographer for rock bands and album covers; also worked as cable car driver. Military service: U.S. Navy, producer of training films; served in Japan.

Member: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (member of board of governors, 2006–07; past chair of Visual Effects Branch), American Society of Cinematographers.

Awards, Honors: Academy Award (with others), best visual effects, 1978, for Star Wars; Emmy Award (with others), outstanding individual achievement in creative technical crafts, 1979, for Battlestar Galactica; Special Achievement Award (with others), Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and Saturn Award (with Brian Johnson), best special effects, Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films, both 1981, for The Empire Strikes Back; Academy Award (with others), best visual effects, and Saturn Award, best special effects, both 1982, for Raiders of the Lost Ark; Scientific and Engineering Award, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 1982, for concept and engineering of a beam-splitter optical composite motion picture printer and the engineering of the Empire Motion Picture Camera System; Academy Award nomination (with others), best visual effects, and Film Award, best special visual effects, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, both 1983, for Poltergeist; Special Achievement Award (with others), Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Film Award (with others), best special visual effects, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and Saturn Award (with others), best special effects, all 1984, for Return of the Jedi; Academy Award nomination (with others), best visual effects, and Film Award nomination, best special visual effects, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 1985, for Ghost-busters; Academy Award nomination (with others), best visual effects, and Saturn Award nomination, best special effects, 1985, for 2010; Saturn Award nomination, best special effects, 1986, for Fright Night; Academy Award nomination (with others), best visual effects, and Saturn Award nomination, best special effects, both 1987, for Poltergeist II; Scientific and Engineering Award (with others), Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 1987, for design and development of the Zoom Aerial 65mm Optical Printer; Saturn Award nomination, best special effects, 1988, for Masters of the Universe; Academy Award nomination (with others), best visual effects, 1989, for Die Hard; Fuji Gold Medal Award, 1989; Saturn Award nomination (with others), best special effects, 1991, for Ghost; Academy Award nomination (with others), best visual effects, Film Award nomination (with others), best special effects, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and Saturn Award nomination (with others), best special effects, all 1993, for Alien 3; Saturn Award nomination, best special effects, 1994, for Solar Crisis; Catalonian International Film Festival Award, 1995, and Saturn Award nomination, 1996, both best special effects (with Steve Johnson), for Species; honorary doctorate, College of the San Francisco Academy of Art, 2001; Emmy Award nomination (with others), outstanding special visual effects for a miniseries, movie, or special, 2004, for Angels in America; John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 2007; President's Award, American Society of Cinematographers, 2008.

CREDITS

Film Producer:

(And uncredited special effects technician) Solar Crisis (also known as Crisis 2050 and Kuraishisu nijugoju nen), Trimark Pictures, 1990.

Film Work; Visual Effects Supervisor:

Raiders of the Lost Ark (also known as Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark), Paramount, 1981.

Poltergeist, Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer/United Artists, 1982.

2010 (also known as 2010: The Year We Make Contact), Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer, 1984.

Poltergeist II (also known as Poltergeist II: The Other Side), Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer, 1986.

The Boy Who Could Fly, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1986. Legal Eagles, Universal, 1986.

(And effects producer) Leonard, Part Six, Columbia, 1987.

Ghost, Paramount, 1990.

Species, Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer, 1995.

Air Force One (also known as AFO), Columbia, 1997.

Bedazzled, Twentieth Century–Fox, 2000.

Charlie Wilson's War, Universal, 2007.

(And director) Anamorph, IFC Films, 2008.

Film Work; Visual Effects Producer:

Fright Night, Columbia, 1985.

(And effects coordinator) Solar Babies (also known as Solar Warriors), Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer, 1986.

Big Trouble in Little China (also known as John Carpenter's "Big Trouble in Little China"), Twentieth Century–Fox, 1986.

Date with an Angel, DeLaurentiis Entertainment, Group, 1987.

The Monster Squad, TriStar, 1987.

Die Hard, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1988. Vibes (also known as Vibes: The Secret of the Golden Pyramids), Columbia, 1988.

The Judas Project, RS Entertainment, 1990.

Alien 3,Twentieth Century–Fox, 1992.

Film Work; Visual Effects Technician:

Star Wars (also known as Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope), Twentieth Century–Fox, 1977.

The Manitou, 1978.

The Empire Strikes Back(also known as Star Wars: Episode V—The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back), Twentieth Century– Fox, 1980.

Return of the Jedi (also known as Star Wars: Episode VI—Return of the Jedi), Twentieth Century–Fox, 1983.

Ghostbusters, Columbia, 1984.

Masters of the Universe, Cannon, 1987.

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, New World,1988

Big Top Pee–Wee, Paramount, 1988.

The Silver Stallion: King of the Brumbies (also known as The Silver Brumby), Skouras, 1993.

Film Work; Other:

Photography director for special water unit, Farewell to the King (also known as Goodbye to the King and L'adieu au roi), Orion, 1989.

Film Appearances:

(Uncredited) 2010: The Odyssey Continues (documentary), 1984.

The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story (documentary), Buena Vista, 1999.

Cinematographer Style, 2006.

Television Special Visual Effects Designer:

(Also production designer and producer of opening sequence) Tales from the Crypt (series), HBO, multiple episodes, 1988, 1989.

Earth Star Voyager (miniseries), ABC, 1988.

Television Visual Effects Work; Other:

Director of miniature photography, Battlestar Galactica (series), 1978.

Effects supervisor, Angels in America (miniseries), HBO, 2003.

Television Appearances; Specials:

SPFX: The Empire Strikes Back, 1980.

Reflections on "Citizen Kane, " BBC, 1991.

The Making of "Alien 3, " 1992.

Empire of Dreams: The Story of the "Star Wars" Trilogy, Arts and Entertainment, 2004.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

"Motion Control: Unforgettable Shots," Movie Magic, 1994.

"Alien Life Forms: No Place like Home," Movie Magic, 1995.

"Twinning: Four Hears Are Better than One," Movie Magic, 1996.

"Ghost Effects: Ghost Stories," Movie Magic, 1996.

Television Appearances; Awards Presentations:

The 50th Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 1978.

The 54th Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 1982.

RECORDINGS

Videos:

King Kong 60th Anniversary Special: "It Was Beauty Killed the Beast," Turner Home Entertainment, 1992.

Ben–Hur: The Making of an Epic, Warner Home Video, 1993.

Ghostbusters' SFX Team Featurette, 1999.

The Light and Magic of "Indiana Jones, " Paramount Home Video, 2003.

The Making of "Alien 3, " Twentieth Century–Fox, 2003.

Ray Harryhausen: The Early Years Collection, Sparkhill Production, 2005.

Vision of a Future Passed: The Prophecy of 2001, Warner Home Video, 2007.

WRITINGS

Contributor of articles and photographs to periodicals, including American Cinematographer, Cinefantastique, Film Comment, Filmmakers Monthly, On Location, Photoplay, and Screen International.