Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Introduction

PART I

Before 1977

1    Optical Animation: Special Effects Compositing Up to 1977

2    Before Industrial Light and Magic: The Independent Hollywood Special Effects Business, 1968–1975

PART II

Circa 1977: Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind

3    The Expanded Blockbuster: The Auteurist Aesthetics of 1970s Special Effects–Driven Filmmaking

4    “The Buck Stops at Opticals”: Special Effects Technology on Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind

5    A More Plastic Reality: The Design and Conception of Star Wars and West Coast Experimental Filmmaking

6    “More Philosopical Grey Matter”: The Production and Aesthetic of Close Encounters of the Third Kind

PART III

The 1980s and Beyond

7    Optical Special Effects into the 1980s: A Well-Oiled Machine

8    “Not-too-Realistic” and Intensified Realistic Approaches in the 1980s: Traditional Stop Motion and Showscan

Conclusion: World-Building and the Legacy of 1970s Special Effects in Contemporary Cinema

Notes

Bibliography

Index