hardly a computer in sight!

thanks for posting this.

I am in absolute friggin' awe about this video. Such an inspiring and incredible look at the kids (now men & women) behind the biggest film of all time. So inspiring. Thank you so much for sharing.

That was sweet.

thanks so much for posting this!

freaking amazing! those were different times, for sure. thanks for posting!

gee whiz, these are the people that painted my childhood memories. so special to see. thank you for sharing.

Some familiar faces in this piece. Seen during my days at 'SC. Great people. Fond memories. Thanks for sharing, Dave.

Goes to show.. get into the action.. surround yourself with people doing interesting things...do something new and different... push yourself... have fun! These people were all "mildly" successful doing just that! ;)

You guys and gals changed EVERYTHING! THX!

Amazing. Thanks for sharing. I really loved it!!

Fantastic! Ebullient! Thanks, man.

Gosh, people sure moved fast back in the 70s!

I hope you realize that this is going on the Star Wars Blog, pronto! AWESOME video. We need to get a waterslide over at Presidio!

Wonderful! It's inspiring to see these (and you) pioneers in their natural habitat :D

beardtastic

Those beards are AMAZING.

Epic!!!

Wow, so inspiring!

What a great video, THANKS for posting! But wow, watching those people fly off the end of the water slide and land on the asphalt was painful.

Maybe that water slide is what inspired the Death Star final battle scenes?

thank you thank you thank you!!!! this is SO awesome.

Now that's how movies are made!

This reminds me of a quote along the lines of "I don't like computer graphics so much, I prefer the satisfaction of knowing that something actually blew up."

Oh man! I just got the feeling, you know the one... The one that only Star Wars gives you!!!

Thank you so much.

Thanks Dave. Fond memories.
RIP Adam.

Best Vimeo clip ever

thank you for sharing! beautiful beautiful memories

WOW! Dennis had hair??? hehe..

God, the 70's really were the good old days...

Would ya look at all that facial hair!

These were the origins of gods and men. Fantastic stuff.

Loved the posh screening room you guys had!

That's so funny that ILM was in Van Nuys!

I'm a little misty-eyed. What a great video.

As my brother says, "Made of win, dipped in awesome."

L

You deserved those oscars, every single one. What you made was so cool. You just can't do that in a computer. At least you had fun doing it :-)

That is beyond awesome. Too see how much fun you guys had while revolutionizing filmmaking forever, is priceless.
Thanks so much for posting this. I was seven when this came out and I saw it 20 times. (and hundreds more since)

Very awesome film! Glad someone documented the behind the scenes stuff!

Thanx for sharing this! Totally Awesome!!

thank you for posting this. that most of been an awesome time.

This is amazing. I used to hang out at that place as a kid when Grant McCune made it Apogee - still had all that stuff - x wing models, y-wings, drawings, bashkits, bluescreens and big pieces of the deathstar getting rained on in the parking lot. Is the building still a vfx place? History lived there! Majorly cool to see this - your work is fantastic. Big thanks!

The Egg Factory

Absolutely amazing! WOW!!! Thank you so very much for uploading this!!!

The music! nice! what is it? sounds like Holst and Williams. great stuff. anyone know ??

That film inspired me to go on the google earth snoop to find this place...

maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=6842+Valjean+Ave,+Los+Angeles,+Los+Angeles,+California+91406,+United+States&sll=34.194956,-118.485647&sspn=0.001706,0.002473&ie=UTF8&ll=34.195147,-118.485832&spn=0.000768,0.002473&t=h&z=19&iwloc=A&layer=c&cbll=34.195148,-118.485833&panoid=bSDgunyxrxQ2_LKAyZ-Liw&cbp=11,99.04,,0,-2.07

Sure looks like its seen better, happier days...

I used to daydream of this place as a kid, wanting to work there.

Im betting that the company there now have no idea of its heritage. NEIMAN & CO is in the Commercial, Industrial, and Institutional Electric Lighting Fixtures industry... a far cry from the magic that was!

What fun! "Gone are the days of dirty hands film making!" It's what inspired me to get into the biz only to find it change into what it is today. :-( Now get back to your cubical and your proprietary software!
:-P

Too Cool! Thanks for sharing!

I kept expecting to see a young Mickey Rooney and
Judy Garland...

**********************************************

"Hey, kids! Let's put on a show!"

"Aw, I dunno, Andy. Can there be spaceships innit?"

"Sure! That'd be swell! Sally, you're in charge of the starfield. Johnny, we're gonna need a buttload of plastic model parts. Woody, we need a band for the Cantina scene... and it's gotta sssswinng! Are you hep? Oh yeah, and GREEN PAINT! Let's bring all we can find!"

**********************************************

Yup. Only missed it by a couple, three decades... X-D

Fantastic film! Thanks for posting!

Thanks so much for sharing LOVED IT!

Thank you David for this home movie of yours it gives me tears, I’m 11 again with my super 8 camera in my hand. If anyone needs any inspiration they need not look any further!!!

Wow, that's about the most amazing piece of "home" footage I've ever seen. Too cool! The only thing missing is the infamous hot tub.

It was all so physical back then! F**k Maya! Can't believe those guys used to be kids.

i've not ever watched a black swan in progress before.
at first just thought it was old footage before reading the comments here. wow. heavy.
thanks for the thrills.
=
c

This is how building a parallel universe looks like, or maybe I'll settle for the work dream.

Inspiring...

This S8mm movie did what great movies do - it took me away, or in this case, back to a special time. I worked in that supergarage later, when it was Apogee, also at Boss Film and Film Effects and Disney and a bunch of other places, building / operating cameras and printers, roto rigs and animation stands. Filmmaking was heavy work.

I remember Dick Alexander and Jon Erland, Doug and Pappy Trumbull, John Dykstra, and the late Adam Beckett. Richard Edlund, Doug Smith, Sandy Kennedy, Robbie Blalack, Stuart Ziff, Jerry Jeffress, Jamie Shourt, Jim Nelson, Dennis Muren, Kris Brown, and all the ILM and Apogee guys later at Boss and elsewhere. Still in contact with many. They're such kids in this movie! I laughed out loud.

Before I went to Hollywood, I yearned to work in that biz with those people, building cameras and shooting film of models and art. Your wonderful little movie made me remember something - I did.

Thank you David Berry!
-- Sam Longoria

"Crude" and "Home" ?!!! I'm impressed with the camera work and digital transfer. Great exposure and colours throughout and filming a TV no less! (unless that's a mask) Must have had help from some sort of photographic film processing facility nearby. ;)

Sitting here with my 7 year old, telling her I was 5 years old when all this was going on. These are hardly "crude" videos, and I'm telling you now, please... this needs to be on the next DVD. Perhaps Blue Ray?

Thank you so much for this... makes me truly proud of all of you.

So nostalgic, even if you were just a third grader in Texas at the time!

AWESOME video.

thank-you for then and now inspiring me again!!!
should def. be on blu-ray extras!!!

Thanks for the Video David. It takes me back 31 years to when a friend of mine got me into ILM when it was still in Van Nuys. His old girl friend and her current boy friend both worked there and they were able to get us in for a look see one evening. Got to meet John Dykstra and Lorne Peterson and see the famous 'Dykstra Cam'. They were just starting the special effects work for the first Battle Star Galactica..... or was that Cattle Car Galactica? Anyway, got to see the various production sets, props and creatures, very cool! Anyway Thanks again!

thank you thank you thank you!

that ska remix is awesome, please share info on that track!!! and thanks for this too!

That was fully awesome! Thank for posting it and sharing.

Thanks for helping shape the future. The future thanks you.

Was the man in the red vest in the screening room Brian Johnson?

My God... It's full of beards!

great!

I loved it. The 70's, the mitical studio, the special effects people, the great film they were making, the 8mm look... its so touching for me! I wish I had lived there at that time. It's nostalgic, even when I haven't been born yet.
Thanks!!

The respect and gratitude I have for those folks is inestimable. What's so clear watching that is how much of that good energy and care is in the film and how much of it transferred into the viewers - many of whom now make visual effects for a living too.

I appreciate being able to see this, thanks!

Very cool. It's fun seeing people I know, now, the year I was born LOL.

This is awesome! Thanks for sharing...

Thank You for sharing. Made me tear up a bit seeing some of these casual moments. Must have been a magical albeit stressful time.

great historical document!

hmm....i'd rather see the raw footage in real time i think. still interesting. dude's right....beardtastic!

Man thats so cool. Old tech, but I bet its more rewarding than watching a 'rendering' bar slide across your screen. So jealous!! Thanks for posting!

Well, well, well, new and 'undiscovered' material keeps popping up. Just fantastic to see a small glimpse into a world lost to the mists of time... So well put together David B. Is there anymore???

Thank you, thank you, thank you

Very cool- it's nice to finally see how these effects were created. Bravo to all involved.

Thank you Mr Berry. You and your lot saved me from being a lawyer. For that, and for so much joy, I thank you.

damn this was cool.

Any chance that we'll see an ESB clip in the future?

I never get tired of watching it... thanks for posting it, David!

No, thank you, sir!

classic!

Absolutely amazing!!!

I began to love movies because of your first little big project. Thank you!

David!
Thanks for this film. You have no idea how important this footage is for us. It is the window to the mysteries of how that magic was created. This footage is as important as the film itself. it would just be great to see more. I just finished the book "Star Wars- The Definitive History in the Making of the Movie". So, I wanted to go online to see about the Original ILM studio Van Nuys. Instead I found this film! It was great to finally see the names in the BOOK and connect the faces to them in your film. Di you officailly shoot this film? and were you the optical printer on Star Wars or was that Blalack?

Star Wars is and ever will be my greatest movie experience! Thank you.

That was just plain fun to watch you all making history and having a blast doing it.

Hehe... I'll never tell! ;)

PS: Jonathan Erland is still the same wild man!