STARSHIP TROOPERS

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Article by Todd Vaziri

Planning and orchestrating one of the biggest visual effects films in history took a great deal of cooperation and organization among hundreds of visual effects professionals. The two largest vendors, Tippett Studio and Sony Pictures Imageworks, were in deep into production on STARSHIP TROOPERS for over a year. Large companies had to cooperate in ways rarely seen in today's industry. For dozens of shots, visual effects elements passed from one house to another--from Boss to POP Film, from Banned from the Ranch to ILM (and VCE, and Compound Eye) from Tippett to Sony, then back to Tippett.

All of the individuals involved agonized in front of cameras, computer screens, input devices and in model shops to bring Paul Verhoeven's vision of the future to life. From the most elegant of space battles, to the violent and dangerous alien species, to the invisible effects shots that don't make the audiences' collective jaw drop, the VFX HQ talked to a few of the professionals that had a part in creating these effects.

Included in this article are a few peeks behind the curtain: the artists, producers and supervisors give insight into some of the techniques and stories behind the making of one of the most ambitious visual effects films in history.

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The Filmmakers

The following individuals associated with STARSHIP TROOPERS contributed to this article:

Phil Tippett
Tippett Studio

Scott E. Anderson
Sony Pictures Imageworks

Scott Squires
Industrial Light & Magic

Mark Sullivan
Compound Eye

Larry Weiss
Tippett Studio

Dave Chamberlain
Thunderstone

Tom Dadras
Boss Film Studios

Pete Kuran
VCE

Van Ling
Sage Greco

Banned From the Ranch

Jay Cooper
Sony Pictures Imageworks

Andrea D'Amico
POP Film

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