Howie Weed | |
---|---|
Born | Harold S. Weed December 23, 1962 |
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Visual/special effects artist |
Known for | Special effects artist |
Harold "Howie" S. Weed (born December 23, 1962) is an American visual and special effects artist known for his work on Hollywood films and franchises. His most notable works have been Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back , Star Trek , and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl . Weed started his career in films in the 1980s with an uncredited model making job for the film Gremlins .
Weed has gained a cult following for his involvement with the Star Wars Universe. Weed works with George Lucas' company Industrial Light and Magic [1] and has appeared in Episode IV as multiple characters and worked on multiple Star Wars films behind the scenes with his special effects work.
In the 1997 Special Edition re-release of Star Wars: A New Hope , Weed played Ketwol, a character created with a costume and mechanical stilts. [2]
Also in the re-release, Weed appeared as the Wampa, replacing actor Des Webb, [3] and then as character Melas. [2]
Weed worked on Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace as a digital model development and construction artist and then Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith as a digital modeler.
Weed has been interviewed for the Star Wars: Insider magazine [4] and Jedi News. [1]
Weed appears in:
Year | Film | Credit |
---|---|---|
2014 | Transformers: Age of Extinction | Digital Artist |
2013 | Pacific Rim | Digital artist |
G.I. Joe: Retaliation | Senior digital artist | |
2012 | Battleship | Digital artist |
2011 | Cowboys & Aliens | Digital artist |
Super 8 | Digital artist | |
I Am Number Four | Digital artist | |
2009 | Star Trek | Digital models and simultaneous |
2008 | Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull | Digital modeler and simulator |
2007 | Transformers | Character modeler |
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End | Technical director: Light | |
2006 | Eragon | Digital modeler |
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest | Digital modeler | |
Poseidon | Computer graphics modeler | |
2005 | War of the Worlds | Modeler and texture artist |
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith | Digital Modeler | |
xXx: State of the Union | Digital artist | |
The Island | Digital models | |
2003 | Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines | Digital modeler |
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl | Digital modeler | |
Dreamcatcher | Digital modeler | |
2002 | Minority Report | Digital modeler |
The Time Machine | Lead digital modeler | |
2001 | A.I. Artificial Intelligence | Digital model development |
1999 | Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace | Digital model development & construction artist |
1997 | Men in Black | Model maker: saucer crash miniature & blue screen unit |
The Lost World: Jurassic Park | Digital effects artist | |
1996 | Dragonheart | Sculptor |
1995 | Congo | Chief model maker: miniatures unit |
1994 | Star Trek Generations | Model maker |
The Flintstones | Model maker | |
1993 | Fire in the Sky | Creature technician |
1991 | Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country | Model maker |
Naked Lunch | Anamatonics technician | |
1990 | Bird on a Wire | CWI special makeup effects |
Look Who's Talking Too | Animatronics | |
Arachnophobia | Animatronic engineer (creature effects) | |
RoboCop 2 | Chris Walas Inc crew member | |
1989 | Ghostbusters II | Character performer |
1988 | The Blob | Designer |
1987 | The Witches of Eastwick | Creature construction |
1986 | Nutcracker: The Motion Picture | Sculptor |
House | Creature effects | |
The Fly | Fly creature effects | |
1985 | Enemy Mine | Special creature effects technician |
1984 | Gremlins | Creature crew |
1980/1997 | Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back Special Edition | Chief creature maker |
Incomplete lists of Weed's visual effects works appear on the websites Hollywood.com [9] and the New York Times. [10]
Jar Jar Binks is a fictional character from the Star Wars saga created by George Lucas. A member of the Gungan race, Jar Jar appears throughout the Star Wars prequel trilogy—as a major character in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and with a supporting role in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith—as well as having a role in the television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The first fully computer-generated supporting character in a live-action film, he has been voiced by Ahmed Best in most of his appearances, who also acted out the character with prosthetics prior to the CGI work. He also appears in various other media.
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace is a 1999 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas in his first directorial effort since 1977. The film stars Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Ahmed Best, Ian McDiarmid, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Pernilla August, and Frank Oz. It is the fourth film in the Star Wars film series, the first film of the prequel trilogy and the first chronological chapter of the "Skywalker Saga". Set 32 years before the original trilogy, during the era of the Galactic Republic, the plot follows Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi as they try to protect Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo in hopes of securing a peaceful end to an interplanetary trade dispute. Joined by Anakin Skywalker—a young slave with unusually strong natural powers of the Force—they simultaneously contend with the mysterious return of the Sith. The film was produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by 20th Century Fox.
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones is a 2002 American epic space opera film directed by George Lucas and written by Lucas and Jonathan Hales. The sequel to The Phantom Menace (1999), it is the fifth film in the Star Wars film series and second chronological chapter of the "Skywalker Saga". The film stars Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Ian McDiarmid, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, and Frank Oz.
Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi is a character in the Star Wars franchise. In the original film trilogy, he is a Jedi Master who trains Luke Skywalker in the ways of the Force. In the prequel trilogy, he mentors Luke's father, Anakin Skywalker. Obi-Wan is portrayed by Alec Guinness in the original trilogy and by Ewan McGregor in the prequel films. McGregor also plays the character in the television series Obi-Wan Kenobi. Guinness' performance in Star Wars (1977) earned him the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor, as well as a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Qui-Gon Jinn is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He was introduced as a Jedi Master in the prequel film The Phantom Menace (1999), and is portrayed by Liam Neeson. He appears in the series Tales of the Jedi, and is featured as a Force spirit in the animated series The Clone Wars (2008) and the live-action miniseries Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022). Qui-Gon also appears in novels, comics and video games.
Yoda is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He is a small, green humanoid alien who is powerful with the Force. He first appeared in the 1980 film The Empire Strikes Back, in which he is voiced and puppeteered by Frank Oz, who reprised the role in Return of the Jedi (1983), the prequel trilogy, the sequel trilogy, and the animated series Star Wars Rebels. Other actors who voice Yoda are Tom Kane, Piotr Michael, John Lithgow, Tony Pope and Peter McConnell. In addition to films and television series, Yoda appears in comics, novels, video games and commercials.
Tatooine is a fictional desert planet that appears in the Star Wars franchise. It is a beige-colored, desolate world orbiting a pair of binary stars, and inhabited by human settlers and a variety of other life forms. The planet was first seen in the original 1977 film Star Wars, and has to date featured in a total of seven Star Wars theatrical films, three live-action television series, and four animated series.
Kenneth George Baker was an English actor, comedian and musician. He portrayed the character R2-D2 in the Star Wars franchise and also appeared in The Elephant Man, Time Bandits, Willow, Flash Gordon, Amadeus and Labyrinth.
The Electric Image Animation System (EIAS) is a 3D computer graphics package published by EIAS3D. It currently runs on the macOS and Windows platforms.
Coruscant is an ecumenopolis planet in the fictional universe of Star Wars. It was first described in Timothy Zahn's 1991 novel Heir to the Empire. The planet made its first on-screen appearance in a scene added to Return of the Jedi for its 1997 re-release. It has gone on to become an important location in the Star Wars universe and appears frequently in Star Wars media. In-universe, Coruscant is a politically and strategically important planet, serving as the capital and seat of government for the Republic and the Galactic Empire, as well as the headquarters of the Jedi Order. It is depicted as a bustling, yet highly stratified planet-spanning metropolis. Throughout the city's centuries-long development, new city blocks were built on top of old ones, forming levels. Coruscant has 5127 levels, with the top being the wealthiest and the lowest being the poorest.
Cinefex was a quarterly journal that debuted in 1980 and covered visual effects in films. Each issue featured lengthy, detailed articles that described the creative and technical processes behind current films, the information drawn from interviews with the effects artists and technicians involved. Each issue also featured many behind-the-scenes photographs illustrating the progression of visual effects shots – from previsualization to final – as well as the execution of miniatures, pyrotechnics, makeup and other related effects.
The original Star Wars trilogy, formerly marketed as the Star Wars Trilogy, is the first set of three films produced in the Star Wars franchise, an American space opera created by George Lucas. It was produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by 20th Century Fox, and consists of Star Wars (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983). Beginning in medias res, the original trilogy serves as the second act of the nine-episode Skywalker Saga. It was followed by a prequel trilogy between 1999 and 2005, and a sequel trilogy between 2015 and 2019. Collectively, they are referred to as the "Skywalker Saga" to distinguish them from spin-off films set within the same universe.
The Star Wars prequel trilogy, colloquially referred to as the prequels, is a series of epic space-opera films written and directed by George Lucas. It was produced by Lucasfilm Ltd. and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The trilogy was released from 1999 to 2005 and is set before the original Star Wars trilogy (1977–1983), chronologically making it the first act of the Skywalker Saga. Lucas had planned a prequel trilogy before the release of the original film, but halted major Star Wars films beyond the original trilogy by 1981. When computer-generated imagery (CGI) had advanced to the level he wanted for the visual effects he wanted for subsequent films, Lucas revived plans for the prequels by the early 1990s. The trilogy marked Lucas's return to directing after a 22-year hiatus following the original Star Wars film in 1977, as well as a 16-year hiatus between the classic and prequel trilogies.
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Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace is a 1999 action-adventure video game developed by Big Ape Productions and published by LucasArts for Windows and the PlayStation. An adaptation of the film of the same title, players take on the role of Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi and several other characters in a near-identical retelling of the film. Each playable character has a unique weapon and ability.
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Terrence Masson is a computer graphics educator, producer, and lecturer, specializing in animation, storytelling and executive leadership. He is the chair of the MFA Computer Arts Department at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City. He was also founder and CEO of Building Conversation, an augmented reality company located in Boston, MA. He was both the ACM SIGGRAPH 2006 Computer Animation Festival Chair and 2010 Conference Chair. He also wrote the book CG 101: A Computer Graphics Industry Reference, and has contributed to films, television programs, and video games.
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