Legendary VFX Supervisor Phil Tippett talks ‘Jurassic Park’, AT-ATs, collaborating with James Cameron & 3D

MakingOf made a visit to Tippett Studio and sat down with legendary visual effects supervisor Phil Tippett to discuss his illustrious career. Tippett got his start at Industrial Light and Magic, working as head of the animation department on ‘Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.’ He was put in charge of the famed Lucasfilm Creature Shop and went on to earn two Academy Awards for his work on ‘Return of the Jedi’ and ‘Jurassic Park.’ In 1983, Tippett left ILM and started Tippett Studio from his garage. The Tippett Studio has since created visual effects and animations on over 50 feature films and commercials, including ’Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,’ ‘Twilight: New Moon,’ and ‘Twilight: Eclipse.’

Highlights from the interview include:

— Tippett makes the decision to switch the effects of the film ‘Jurassic Park’ from stop-motion animation to computer generated graphics. (0:18)
— Realizing that the CGI in ‘Jurassic Park’ could mean the end of stop-motion animation, Tippett tells director Steven Spielberg, “I feel extinct.” Spielberg uses the line in the film. (5:12)
— His experience working at George Lucas’s Industrial Light and Magic. (2:46)
— Going head to head with James Cameron over water effects in the film ‘The Abyss.’ (3:40)
— Tippet debunks a myth behind the AT-AT walkers from ‘Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.’ (5:50)
— His disdain of “the stereoscopic issue” of 3D. (6:55)

(click title on the right for the video)