Another member of that original, ground-breaking crew who were there at the genesis of ILM and helped change the visual effects industry with the 1977 original has passed away. Dave Jones worked on Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind (he added the infamous R2-D2 to the Mothership), Buck Rogers and Battlestar Galactica, and fellow model maker Gene Kozicki remembers his friend.
It’s with a heavy heart that I share the news that Dave Jones, one of the original ILM model guys and a stand up guy and good friend, passed away last week from a (thankfully) short bout with cancer. (F’ that thing.)
Dave got his start in the business on the original “Star Wars”, at first working part time, then full time. He was known as a detail guy and also did painting and weathering on all those ships that have come to influence lives and careers. After “Star Wars”,
he went down to Trumbull’s place and soon found himself working on the Mothership from “Close Encounters”. The R2D2 that you see and the TIE fighter (that you don’t see) were his handiwork. After that show wrapped, he found himself working on “Buck Rogers” for Universal. The show had a rocky start, but thankfully they recognized his value and talent and kept him on. He served as an Art Director and VFX Supervisor on both the Feature and TV versions of “Buck Rogers” and the later episode of “Battlestar Galactica” over at Universal Hartland. He even found time to contribute to “Space Academy”/”Jason of Star Command” somewhere in there.
I met him at BOSS Film when I applied for a job in the model shop. Didn’t get the gig, but it was fun talking to him. And we connected again years later when I started doing my archive work. Really nice guy. Modest – almost too modest. He worked on a ton of stuff. Movies, theme park rides, displays – a huge list of stuff. Gonna miss having him over and watching him “holding court” with the out of towners that come over.
Thanks, Dave. You’ve influenced more people than you can even imagine.
