With the recent Disney Plus series Light & Magic wowwing audiences worldwide and the 25th anniversary of The Phantom Menace reminding us that high-quality VFX have now been with us for a quarter of a century, this chat with John Knoll on the Team Deakins Podcast (hosted by cinematographer Roger Deakins and wife James) couldn’t be better timed. Hear John discuss his early days at ILM, his work for the company which continues to today and much more besides.
SEASON 2 – EPISODE 88 – JOHN KNOLL – VFX SUPERVISOR
On this episode of the Team Deakins Podcast, VFX supervisor John Knoll (THE BATMAN, ROGUE ONE, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN) joins us to talk about his career and his craft. Despite growing up among an academic family of engineers, scientists, and medical professionals, John fell in love with the fantastic imagery of cinema and television, and he saw miniature work as his way into filmmaking. From cold-calling Industrial Light & Magic at 15 to later working for them, John reflects on his life as one who turns hobbies into professions, and we learn how John fuses technology with art in his work. John reveals, with great clarity, how slit-scans are actually composed and shares how he used the effect to generate the illusion of the Starship Enterprise entering and exiting warp speed. We later discuss the leadership responsibilities of being a supervisor, including giving negative feedback in such a way that elevates a collaborator’s work. Towards the end, we also discuss the enduring appeal of miniatures for audiences and filmmakers alike. In addition to his work in VFX, John (alongside his brother Thomas) invented Photoshop, the popular photo-editing software used around the world.
