JOHN KNOLL - Animation Supervisor - INDUSTRIAL LIGHT + MAGIC 

Owner:  JOHN KNOLL - Industrial Light + Magic / Medium: Colored Pencil and Marker Pen on heavy, acid free / Year: 2004 / © Copyright: Mark Raats

John Knoll joined Industrial Light & Magic  as a technical assistant in 1986 and was soon promoted to motional control camera operator for "Captain EO". After three years

of operating, Knoll was called upon to work on the ground breaking digital effects for "The Abyss". Since that time, he has been promoted to visual effects supervisor helming

the visual effects on more that twenty feature films and commercials. His film background, coupled with an advanced understanding of digital technologies has made Knoll a

much sought-after visual effects supervisor with two Academy Award nominations for "Star Wars: Episode II, Attach of the Clones" and Star Wars: Episode I, The Phantom

Menace" (the latter earning him a BAFTA nomination as well). His resume also includes "Mission to Mars", "Deep Blue Sea", "Star Trek: First Contact" and "Mission

Impossible" among others. Knoll's interest in filmmaking began at an early age. Having a keen interest in visual effects, Knoll was mesmerized by the original "Star Wars".

During a visit to ILM in 1978 he was able to observe first-hand the world of visual effects. Inspired to learn more, Knoll attended the USC Film School and earned a Bachelor

of Arts in Cinema Production, while freelancing as a modelmaker at a variety of LA based production facilities. During his last year at USC, Knoll took an advanced animation

class where he built a motion control system from an Oxberry animation stand, an Apple II computer, a CNC milling machine controller, and a bunch of industrial surplus

stepper motors. Impressed by a student film that was generated from this class project, ILM hired Knoll as a technical assistant for motion control photography. Greatly

impressed by visits to ILM's newly founded computer graphics department, Knoll took up computer graphics as a hobby. Teaming up with his brother who was working

on his Doctoral Thesis in computer vision at the University of Michigan, the Knoll brothers created Photoshop in 1987.

No reproduction, copying or any unauthorized use of the artwork on this site is permitted. Any unauthorized use is in breach of Copyright Law