Very special effects

Industrial Light and Magic has always been associated in my mind with Lucasfilm projects, for obvious reasons-- it was founded in the 70's by Lucas himself, after all.

But in addition to the obvious Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises, IL&M has also done work on other Spielberg productions such as E.T., Henson productions (Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal), competing sci-fi franchises (most of the Star Treks), the Back to the Future trilogy, and frankly almost every other major effects film up through the Hunger Games and the Avengers.  I knew they were a major player, but that's just ridiculous.

In other news, this is my 200th post since the move to Blogger.

Yay.

Magic hour

This is another one that I imagine several of you are already familiar with, and are going to laugh at me because I had never heard of it until I heard Wil Wheaton talking about it on his YouTube show.

What?

Anyway, the magic hour (also sometimes called the golden hour) is a particular time of day, generally early morning or late afternoon, when the light from the sun comes in at a low angle, bathing everything in a soft, warm, friendly light.  The lighting is less direct, so shadows are minimized.  Everything looks beautiful.  Ah.

Anyway, it's apparently a big deal in photography and cinematography, neither of which I have much experience with, so-- it's new to me!