A short drive away, we made our second stop at a commercial looking building with a misleading sign in front that read, "Kerner Co." Once through the door, there was no doubt I had arrived at ILM. Across the room from the entrance behind the receptionist was a nearly wall-size ILM logo of a magician rising up out of a gear. Then I noticed the two security guards stationed on either side of the room, inside of the door.

The receptionist acknowledged that the guards were utilized from time-to-time. Even with the decoy sign in front of the building, interested fans have been known to try to gain entrance and to scour the trash dumpsters in the rear of the building. She recounted one experience when Darth Vader appeared at the entrance and demanded to be taken to George Lucas. He was about to be admitted when a staff member forced an admission from the fellow that he was just a die-hard fan in a very good costume.

Our small group wound our way through many offices meeting several ILM staff. Many of the offices were home to awards including golden Oscars. One main hallway was home to walls filled from floor to ceiling with a myriad of storyboards. These black and white line drawings which appear very much like weekday comic strips, detailed the who, what, when, where, and why of numerous films. Major projects under way during my visit included, Star Trek IV, Howard the Duck, and Batteries Not Included.

I was shown the ILM-built Quad optical printer, a bulky piece of equipment used to composite layers of film together as well as other equipment used for go-motion animation of the type that brought the Imperial Walkers to life in Empire Strikes Back. My tour included the model shop with its hundreds of commercial model kits. We learned that in addition to making parts from scratch, ILM's model makers borrow pieces from conventional model kits. The room was filled with many work tables. As we entered the room, some staff stowed models in progress in the drawers of their work tables. Secrecy is paramount on films in progress!

Unfortunately the creature shop held secret items that wouldn't fit into a desk drawer, and this part of the tour was canceled...

Any sadness I harbored from missing the creature shop soon was forgotten when I entered a room filled with models and props used in Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Back to the Future, and the Star Trek I, II, and III films. These models, complete with working lights ranged in size from less than one foot to over six feet! At the risk of being admonished, I reached out and touched the space station audiences have seen launch the USS Enterprise. One of the ILMers walked over, grinned at me, and activated several switches that caused the more than six foot space station to glow brilliantly with internal blue neon light! Today friends groan whenever the space station comes into view during a ST film or Next Generation episode, for they know I'll shout, "I've touched that!" One ILMer left his mark on the Death Star; the surface of the model had a sticker of a tiny pair of scissors (the kind included on many commercial model decal sheets)!

One ILM staff member related the difficulty ILM had with the main Enterprise model used in the first three films. This was a large model perhaps 6 feet long or larger and was difficult to move from room to room and had even been shipped across the Atlantic several times. When ILM was approached by Paramount concerning Star Trek III, ILM indicated they would only take on the project if they could blow up the Enterprise. As you may remember, NCC-1701 was destroyed in Star Trek III Search for Spock. The ILM model crew's wish was granted! However the large Enterprise model survives today because a smaller version was sacrificed.

Next I was introduced to the newest droids in the Lucas family. First, was Sounddroid, a compact computer workstation encased in a glossy black cabinet. With monitor in the center and a trackball as the primary controller, an ILMer demonstrated a variety of digitized sound effects. He selected a sub-menu with a variety of canned R2-D2 sound effects and modified the sounds by adjusting digital on-screen settings. Even more amazing was a machine located in another room down the hall, Editdroid. It was probably the first ever non-linear editing system. Similar in appearance but larger than Soundroid, Editdroid featured the same black finish and trackball. The console included three monitors like more traditional, A-B roll videotape editing stations. But Editdroid allowed editing of film! It was explained that raw film footage was transferred to laser disks. This permitted staff to edit the film far more quickly and with digital special effects including wipes and fades. We had the opportunity to perform a few edits on a new Twilight Zone episode in the process of being edited called, "Nightcrawlers." If you're a fan of the new Twilight Zone you might remember the episode where a Vietnam Veteran suffers from dramatic flashbacks that become reality in a small roadside diner. Our small group influenced some of the edits in that episode! One day earlier, and we would have witnessed a visit by the musicians responsible for the theme music of the new Twilight Zone, the Grateful Dead.

Later we passed through a large warehouse area scattered with a mixture of empty boxes, props, and sections of old sets. I was at the back of our eight person group when George Lucas passed by, issued a brief greeting, and said, "See you back at the Ranch." This was the first confirmation that we were invited to Skywalker Ranch! The tour guide completely missed George and I don't think she believed me when I told her I ran into him and what he said. I didn't care, I was going to Skywalker Ranch!

Our last stop at ILM was the matte painting shop. Like the area we just passed through, this section of the building most resembled a warehouse. Mattes were typically 3 feet by 6 feet of painted glass. Glass allows film of live actors to be projected in strategic locations within the painted landscapes. The talent of these ILM artists was astounding. There must have been over 100 of these fragile pieces of film history stored at two levels with the top level reaching about 18' high.

ILM is in the process of relocating to 23 acres of the Presidio.  Visit the Lucasfilm Today page for more details!