Martian Chronicles

Article by Kevin H. Martin

In adapting the popular sixties-era television series, My Favorite Martian, for the big screen, director Donald Petrie relied heavily on visual effects. Two principle providers were brought aboard to accomplish the visual effects: Available Light for digital cars, spacecraft and a variety of embellishments, and Tippett Studio for CG character animation. In addition to these two facilities, Rainmaker Digital Pictures, Hammerhead, 4-Ward Productions, Station X Studios, Amalgamated Dynamics, Illusion Arts, Buena Vista Imaging and Dream Quest Images provided key effects, both digital and practical, throughout the film's production and postproduction phases.

Star Trek: Insurrection

Lost in the Briar Patch

Article by Jody Duncan

Star Trek: Insurrection, the ninth feature film in the venerable science fiction franchise -- with veteran cast member Jonathan Frakes again at the helm -- had many familiar elements, including prosthetic makeup effects by Michael Westmore, but employed new technologies and new companies in the creation of its abundant visual effects. Santa Barbara Studios crafted spaceship shots entirely in the digital realm -- a first for the series -- while Blue Sky | VIFX contributed a range of predominantly planet-bound illusions.

The Mummy

Thoroughly Modern Mummy

Article by Estelle Shay

For his remake of the Boris Karloff horror classic, The Mummy, director Stephen Sommers was determined to present a title character far apart from the bandage-wrapped mummies that lumbered through a variety of decades-old predecessors. Engaged to design and create the mummy Imhotep as both an all-CG character and a digitally altered live actor, plus devise a host of other fabrications involving fearsome sandstorms and plagues, was visual effects supervisor John Berton and the artists at Industrial Light & Magic.

T-Rex - Back to the Cretaceous: The Five-Terabyte Solution

Babe - Pig in the City: Mean Streets

Wing Commander: Space Ace Engagement

This came from the collection of Steve Sherman, a writer,artist, puppet-maker, puppet-performer, and avid collector. Steve worked as Jack Kirby's assistant, at Filmation, and Sid and Marty Krofft, before forming his own company Puppet Studio in 1984 contributing to "Pee-Wee's Playhouse", "Men in Black 1 & 2", "Mighty Joe Young", "Muppets" and numerous other TV series and feature films.