ILM have sat down with artist Benton Jew to cast his mind back to his time at the company, and how one event has led to the ILM podcast being named after something that happened to him…
Listeners of the premiere episode of Lighter Darker: The ILM Podcast may be curious where the show found inspiration for its name.
27 years ago in 1997, Industrial Light & Magic was in the midst of the digital renaissance in visual effects, with projects as diverse as Men in Black, Contact, and Titanic being released that year, and others like Deep Impact (1998), Saving Private Ryan (1998), and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999) readily underway. ILM’s then home at the Kerner facility in San Rafael, California was a bustling center of creativity across both digital and practical disciplines, and arguably the most exciting time of year came during Halloween season when hundreds of employees and their families gathered for an annual costume party.
Benton Jew was asked to illustrate that year’s invitation and poster for the fabled ILM Halloween Party. Jew’s illustration depicted a visual effects artist surrounded by figures caricatured in the horror style. He frightfully grasps his computer as the onlookers share their feedback about his work. “…Lighter…” one says, while someone else contrasts with “…Darker…” Yet another recommends, “…Split the difference…”
This tongue-in-cheek bit of satire about the collaborative process of visual effects would have inspired a chuckle from just about everyone at the company, and two of its word bubbles have now become the namesake of ILM’s new podcast.
Check out the new ILM podcast here.
