An Interview With Former Star Wars Modeler Lorne Peterson
Adam Savage interviews Academy Award-winning special effects artist Lorne Peterson, whose work includes Jurassic Park, Raiders of the Last Ark, Star Wars and E.T. An industry veteran, Lorne gives Adam his thoughts on the current state of filmmaking and shares what it was like being a pioneer of modern-day cinema, thinking out of the box and mastering the art of creative problem solving. What an honor!
NOTE: This video was filmed before 32TEN Studios was closed permanently, and its contents auctioned off. More interviews conducted by Adam in this iconic building are forthcoming; more on the closure here: www.northbaybusinessjournal.c...
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Intro bumper by Abe Dieckman
Thanks for watching!
NOTE: This video was filmed before 32TEN Studios was closed permanently, and its contents auctioned off. More interviews conducted by Adam in this iconic building are forthcoming; more on the closure here: www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/article/article/its-a-fade-to-black-for-historic-marin-county-movie-studios-known-for-sta/
I hope you did a shop tour!
Still can't believe its gone and its history pulled apart and sold in scraps via auctions. So sad that no one in the industry was able to save the facility which housed THX, Skywalker Sound and the ILM model shop plus the loss of the Lucasfilm digital animation facility abroad. It's like watching George's legacy being erased from history. It's very bittersweet with love and history we all enjoyed growing up and countless people inspired has completely shifted to digital "film" making and giving thousands of people more control to make movies. But who will see them, as much as pencil and paper drawing or a photograph in a frame. There could be incredible work out there right now, but who will see it and how can an artist survive? Will movie makers be part time hobby jobs like many musicians? It's sad that's its moved on so far and so fast. So thank you Adam for these interviews they're a true treasure for us to hold on too.
I've seen a video of the last day the shop was open about a month ago , and found myself realizing why this room looked familiar to me. Mr. Savage is uniquely suited to record this kind of legendary history and the individuals who made it. These videos honestly belong in some kind of historical film archive , if such a thing exists.
@@subliteral is that the one with Joe Johnson and Dennis giving their speeches? I absolutely agree that these video should be on more than just KZhead (should anything ever happen to it). The interview with Ben Burt was amazing, just seeing that room and thinking of all the behind the scenes clips like the famous "I may have gone to far, in a couple of places." Shot from George. I'm glad they've been made and again Thank you Adam. Can't wait for the next one.
Historically significant. And I think Adam and everyone understands it... profoundly.
I need a coffee table book "The Models of Star Wars" by Adam Savage
The Models of Science Fiction movies and TV shows! 😂 That's gotta be a big book!
Lorne Peterson already wrote one, ‘Sculpting A Galaxy: Inside The Star Wars Model Shop’.
I have the deluxe edition and I treasure it.
@@davidstrutt77 I was unaware of the existence of his book! Used starting at >$100, uhg..
@@davidstrutt77I own that one and yep it sits on my coffee table.
20 minutes in. I'm drawing in Photoshop and listening to two masters talking about their craft and wishing it would just go for hours. This is bliss.
Please do this again with Loren. He probably will think of a thousand more stories in the time it takes to get together again.
We’d LOVE that.
Yessssss He is a gem 💎
I really appreciate the fact that all these years later the people who did all this work are getting some of the appreciation they deserve. They've always been appreciated by fans even if the fans didn't always know who they were. Adam's fanboy enthusiasm is a stand-in for all of us who have loved this franchise and who consider it an important and meaningful part of our lives. Thank you, Adam...and thank you, Lorne, for the inspiration and joy you've provided us across the decades. May the force be with both of you always.
The people that worked on Star Wars got appreciation from the jump. If you're too young then you would see this all differently. It's perception not fact.
@@mematron Sure-Star Wars was popular but for the majority of its history the main people who got appreciation were the main actors. I'm three years older than the franchise so I've been around and it really has only been the nerdy types like me who gave a shit and besides-I don't get what purpose coming in here and 'correcting' my perception serves. Like, learn to let people compliment others. It's not like it's hurting anyone.
Exactly, it's true. Although it won Oscars back then I do think all the focus should concentrate on the visual effects team and craftsmen working like hell with that production - John Dykstra, Richard Edlund, Phil Tippett etc. - and most IMPORTANTLY youngsters of today should be reminded, that the Star Wars they see is NOT THE ORIGINAL.@@ZiddersRooFurry
Im not even sure the awards shows had category for them or other things back then.
Star Wars was promoted before its first night on screens via the effects and Lucas always pumped the technicians and artists and modelers up any chance he got. It was his main business, after all. @@ZiddersRooFurry
Boba Fett‘s Slave I is my favorite ship
Oh a video on the model builder who built SLAVE 1 ! awesome 😎
In case anyone is confused, the name of the ship is SLAVE 1, and nothing else.
Perhaps they didn't want that word in their thumbnail.
I came here specifically to see this in the comments. Thank you.
Fact.
The free West ending the transatlantic SLAVE TRADE run by Africa has really upset those who want to change history. Its Slave One, get the hell over it .
@@brianmulligan5956so did i. Glad someone else did
It's crazy how this man influenced the lives of millions of people. Star Wars, Jurassic Park, India Jones, E.T., those are legendary movies.
The Slave 1 is such a cool and iconic design... glad to see the people behind the legendary props and miniatures are getting time on the spotlight It's important to keep these stories alive so newer generations get inspired to make more amazing stuff... specially if those are practical effects
They always have, you only started paying attention recently.
I live for this stuff. Thank you for doing these in-depth, personal interviews with ILM-ers. PLEASE DO MORE!
I'd also love if each of these interviews ended with a shop tour!
doesnt exactly need to be video, just hours upon hours of audio would work. great to work to
Yes especially, we should direct all our thankfulness to the ILM original Star Wars staff, who worked 24/7 without sleep to finish this milestone breakthrough film back then, their original unaltered unspecialized handcraft art should have been archived as original, not as CGI mockup.
@@semirecumbentoneYT Despite what has been said, they do exist. Library of Congress has prints, 'clean' plates would have been made digitally to do the cg stuff and so on.
Conclusion: Up to Lucas now (he is blocking all this, don't know about coorporate rules enough but Disney owns Lucasfilm that I know). So if he accepts one day the originals to be seen as true and unaltered, then it would be possible to publish the true original Star Wars saga (1,2,3) in Bluray 4K/8K@@halfvader8015
Always something special to revisit that golden age of model SFX. SLAVE ONE was a beautiful design, so distinctive. They literally don't make them like that anymore
Agreed! SLAVE ONE was an exceptionally unique starship design - from concept right thru to the realized model that made it to the big screen!
Lorne IS ILM Royalty!!! Thank you, Lorne, for making our imagination flow through space, jungle, desert, rivers, mountains, islands!! Your designs and models will last forever on the silver screen!! Thank you, Adam, for filming the last days of 32TEN Studios and preserving cinema history!! I feel greatful and sad.....
I could honestly listen to another four hours of this conversation. Thank you Adam and thank you Tested team for bringing us this slice of film history.
I think one of the most ingenious things about the work these guys did (before technology made it much easier) was how they’d draw inspiration/ideas from the most random things.
Go Team Venture!
Just to remind everyone: yes technology made it much easier, but you can see that too. CGI video game effects can be descerned by the eyes of the old school veterans, and it looks horrible (major focus on spaceship movements). I have critically compared the new Star Wars flms to the original and can only say it's a fiasco.
@@semirecumbentoneYT I remember seeing footage of a con where someone asked adam about the importance of practical fx over CGI and Adam went on a long rant defending CGI. Everyone in the room was smiling politely as he spewed nonsense
Right! Easier, not necessarily better.@@calumryan6328
I could listen to Lorne's stories for day on end!!
Lorne has a voice for audio books, could listen to him for days!
What a great conversation. Lorne seems like such a kind and humble man. So nice to see.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for another one of these amazing interviews! These conversations with the original experts at ILM are in my opinion the cream of the crop in terms of film history. Their work really is as brilliant and important as any major artist and should be celebrated on the same level. I hope we see a lot more of these videos in the future! Thanks again for taking the time to capture these moments with the true masters of their medium.
I bet it is just like two friends getting together and discussing work! 😂 Brilliant!
Listening to Lorne is like have a warm glass of milk and fuzzy blanket. Love hearing his stories. Thanks for contributing to an awesome childhood Lorne!
Hearing Lorne talk and seeing him, gives me such great nostalgia from watching the special features from the OG Star Wars trilogy and wanting to get into prop building as a kid. He really is a legend. Thank you for this interview! Would of course LOVE to have him chat with Adam (or others) again.
this was incredible, i love when you sit down and chat with your industry friends, Lorne is such a cool guy and you can tell he loves what he did at ILM. more of this! and more of Lorne!
I got to see Lorne in person at Wonderfest 2023 talking about this sort of thing. Very inspirational for a fellow model maker. Thanks for sharing.
Man Slave I is such a badass ship.
Glad you captured some interviews and more stories from within 32Ten and "uptown model" room! I miss working there! Great times. Enduring, inspiring place! Looking forward to more of the forthcoming videos!
We poured love and adulation on the actors and George, but the people that made Star Wars the believable thing we loved, were Lorne and others who made it look convincing and gave it life. Thanks Adam.
I could watch both of you talk for an entire day and not get tired. You guys hold within you a multitude of stories about the joy and magic that I feel Hollywood severely lacks nowadays. I absolutely love these videos.
As part of my final disertation from my modelmaking degree I sent research questionaires to several modelmaking companies (architectural, naval, special effects, ...) and one went to ILM. Never crossed my mind ILM would answer it, and it was Mr Lorne Peterson himself who answer and sent it back to me, along with an invitation to visit them after graduation. Never went as life got in the way, but I hold that memory close to my heart, and he must be as kind and approachable, or even more, as he seems to be.
You guys put out real gems right now. Finishing 2023 very strong!
2 of the absolute legends talking about their legacies.
Lorne Peterson is just wonderful… thanks for this great interview!
I love that Adam is always immensely interested in what his guests have to say and listen to their story.
Thank you Mr. Peterson!
Here's what I've noticed, that I find makes Adam such a great interviewer compared to some others - bear in mind, I don't watch all *that* many interviews: He _emotes_ over certain things that have been said; be it audible or visual (body language)... Which I think is important because he's the one with the knowledge/expertise going into this, and *_I'm_* just asking for the ride! So if helps convey the importance to things said, and I really appreciate that! Whereas other interviewers seem to be more reserved or quiet, mainly out of respect, in letting the person speak/answer. I've said it multiple times before, but Adam's energy is just *infectious,* and I sure do enjoy watching and listening to him! Even if it's about things that are of no concern or interest to me, watching *_him_* be excited or interested just... magically becomes my own! Makes _anything_ he's in enjoyable to watch! ♥️
what an absolute legend! made my childhood icons
Been looking forward to this for years. Glad to see Adam finally getting around to this interview.
Listening to you two reminisce over shared collaborations was wonderful to hear, and to hear fully, what Lorne experienced. it's so important these memories are preserved.
I'm glad you are documenting these people before they are all gone and we lose their experiences.
I love the enthusiasm than Adam always has for his work, great to see another industry legend share in that enthusiasm and let us vicariously share in it too
What a fantastic video and human being, I could listen to his stories all day. Light & Magic was such a great series to showcase guys like this, and these types of interviews/videos are just icing on the cake.... Please do more!!
Amazing memories. I love how he bypassed the 3D printing question.
This is fantastic, thank you! I've been a huge Star Wars fan forever (I was 9, when it hit the UK in 1978) and was an avid reader of everything behind the scenes from then, so Lorne, Edlund, Muren, Steve Gawley and Ken Ralston are faces I instantly recognise!
This conversation was amazing to watch, two legends kicking it back and reminiscing together is such a joy to see.
This was really wonderful. Thank you! I've seen Lorne interviewed many times over at the PierceFilm Productions Channel. He's always fascinating.
I could just sit there and listen to these two talk for hours.
I’ve heard so many amazing stories about the Van Nuys early Star Wars days when no one knew what they were doing, and everything was being invented on the fly… From my dear friend, Robert BLALOCK, recently deceased… Love this,, loved him… Miss him so much! Treasure these people, while They’re still among us.
Couldn’t agree more. And no matter how many stories we hear, there are others as yet untold!
@@Daveyboy100880 indeed! I was working on a film with Robert when he died about the making of Star Wars… It was very, very interesting… We have a lot of incomplete projects, which I hope someday will see the light of day, because it really deserves to… His last series of things were absolutely spectacular!
Yes, Slave-1 was certainly a memorable design.
I only worked at ILM for a couple of short periods but Lorne is one of the friendliest guys I met there.
Great Interview with Lorne Adam! His memory for every little detail always astounds me.
The art, the history, and the people that made it. Will never get tired of interviews like these. Someone here in the comments stated people like this should be held up to the same level as da Vinci, Van Gogh, etc. And they were absolutely right. This stuff may have been collaboration, but each person brought a piece of an enduring and amazing legacy.
I met Lorne at Celebration II back in the day. Just the nicest man! He looked a little embarrassed when I told him he was one of my heros.
Joe Johnston & Ralph McQuarrie were my Mentors from afar for my new found love of Sci-Fi when I was 14 in 1977. From drawing Hot Rods since I was a pea, to Sci-fi from 14 years old to 60 and the few years in-between as a Conceptual Designer. In 1977, I moved back to California and in the month of May, Star Wars changed my life (and the album *Kansas* "Point of Know Return"). I lived on Van Nuys Blvd. in Panorama City, and it would be DECADES later that I learned that the 1st incarnation of ILM was maybe less than 10 miles away in warehouse units off of Van Nuys Blvd. in the city of Van Nuys. Lorne, Dykstra and crew were a brilliant team that changed everything :).
This is absolutely fantastic. I have Lorne's Sculpting A Galaxy book, which is amazing. Hearing him tell these stories and seeing Adam's genuine joy, is heartwarming and fascinating!
It's videos like this that blow my mind. That fact Adam brings us this level of insight for FREEEEE is insane.
Love it, I had the slave 1 toy when I was a kid.
Lorne-! I am ever happy having a few lunches & screenings with you back in the EMPIRE days when I was at 20th Century-Fox in San Francisco. I especially remember your model comments on the models for OUTLAND. Hope this finds you well. D.A.
What an absolute treat of an interview. Interesting topic, with a history recounted by fantastically passionate creators.
Wow -- one of my greatest inspirations being interviewed by one of greatest inspirations ... what a great day today is!!!
Great interview, and thank you both so much for doing it. I had the pleasure of working at Lucasfilm for 9 years, and got to meet Loren and the rest of the model shop crew (including Nelson and Grant!), and they were always my heroes. This is priceless, and brought back so many memories.
Excellent video! Huge fan of his work. Complete gentleman, thank you for sharing.
@Tested Thanks for posting this interview. I worked at Kerner ILM from 1996-2003. I was in editorial prepping film dailies under C theater. I remember being so amazed at all the practical effects the model shop, pyro and stage teams came up with. So many great memories.
God i could listen for hours to wonderful craftsmen and artists telling stories about their lives.. it is so inspiring and fascinating. Thank you Adam for finding all those wonderful people.
What an amazing interview. It felt more like a conversation.
An absolutely wonderful interview Adam… I enjoyed it immensely. WOW!
YES YES YES! I LOVE these long format deep dives! Keep them coming
This is the best type of video, as a kid I always wanted to work in a model shop and used to watch all the behind the scenes with these guys
I could watch this conversation go on for hours.
I can't say how much ive loved these interviews. Adam is a natural interviewer, allowing the guest to speak and tell their stories, teasing out more details, using his own experience to develop more detail. But not only that, Ben and Lorne are such gentlemen as well and a delight to watch/listen to. I feel like i could listen to them for hours and just soak up their knowledge and stories. Absolutely great interviews guys, well done to the whole team!
I love this interview Adam. Your team should do more of these interviews with folks in the industry!
Thank you, Adam and Lorne, for this excellent interview/chat. I love listening to/watching this kind of video - masters discussing their craft and reminiscing.
I have to go rewatch all these movies again... just to watch the special effects more closely. Really great to see the honest joy in his work.
I haven’t seen Mr Peterson in years. Probably 30 years maybe more. In my mind’s eye he was the same age until today I’ve see him, He sounds exactly like him but my lord, am I that old? My grandson just chimed in, “Pa! You’re really old!” 😂 That answers that
Ha!
Thank you, Adam & Tested for this. I could listen to this for hour upon hours. Wonderful!
This was a fascinating interview, could listen all day.
What a grwat interview. He is a true master and helped develop techniques that lasted for decades. There HAS to be a part two. And best of all, he's Canadian!
Everytime I get a glimpse of the process, it's like Christmas morning!!!
Great interview with an icon of the industry. Looking forward to more. Hopefully, someday Adam can get access to the ILM Slave 1 model. Only a handful of great pics available compared to the other SW ships, it would be awesome if you could give the world some up-close vid/pics of that one. The paintjob/design is right up there with the 5' Falcon. Here's hoping.
This was an absolute delight to watch and listen to. Those 40 minutes seemed to disappear in an instant. What wonderful stores and memories you both were able to share! I work in a different industry (software), but I connected very much with your and Lorne’s comments on the best sort of work environments - a highly collaborative and congenial team, and the real pleasure of being able to pour your utmost concentration into a project. In particular Lorne’s description of how someone trying to break your concentration to get your attention felt like they were calling from far away was immediately familiar. My thanks to you Adam, your crew, and Lorne for making this! I enjoyed every moment and I very much hope that you’ll have the chance to do more interviews like it.
His telling of the first time they saw their work played back to them on projector is spine tingling.. never before seen special effects , and they werent movie people either. They were quite stunned
Oh, man. Total legend in the model building community.
I didn’t want this to end! 40 minutes just felt like 10 seconds! 🙌 Thank you two for sharing! 🙌 🚀🚀🚀
This was such a treat to watch. The amount of problem solving they get/have to do is incredible. So glad this information gets shared to younger professionals.
Encore! Encore! More stories , please.
More to come!
Absolutely delightful. Thanks for this interview, what a wonderful retrospective
I could listen to this guy all day
Living legend! Thank you for this video!
lovely conversation with two people who love their work. Thanks Adam and Lorne
I did not want that to end, thank you so much.
Really interesting interview thanks Adam and the Tested team.
I could listen to these two talk for hours…
Wow this is an awesome interview. Lorne is an absolute legend.
Lorne and the ILM OG team are phenomenal and this is a great interview, there is never enough interviews we these guys, thanks
I love how much Lorne seems to love his work
Marvelous! One of Adam's best interviews ever. Lorne is THE MAN.
Amazing interview! I’ve replayed it about 5 times and I’ve caught new bits of amazing info 5 times. Thank you Adam for allowing Lorne to just talk away and create vivid images of what happened at these studios!
As a modern kit basher and model maker, these interviews are pure gold. There’s just no way I would be doing what I am now without these amazing forerunners. Thanks for sharing!
Fantastic! I could listen to these kinds of interviews for hours. So many great stories about how they solved problems to get a shot.
man, i love these interviews with all these ILM legends. Just awesome stories and interesting views on stuff. Thanks!
Lorne and all those early ILM guys are my heroes, lol. Highly recommend seeing "Light and Magic"...
Thank you for an amazing conversation.