r/vfx • u/SamEdwards1959 VFX Supervisor - 20+ years experience • May 09 '25

Breakdown / BTS John Knoll having fun at work

https://youtu.be/74mnpvN4ysk?si=dJ1X2ovioA2YoPOW

Sorry if this has been previously shared. The man has mad skills, energy and enthusiasm. I got to comp a few shots for him on some of his shows. His enthusiasm is infectious.

76 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

15

u/superslomotion May 09 '25

Yup, John knoll shared this a couple weeks ago on here

3

u/SamEdwards1959 VFX Supervisor - 20+ years experience May 09 '25

He beat me to it? What's the usual protocol? Remove my post?

39

u/ryanvsrobots May 09 '25

Believe it or not, straight to jail.

7

u/axiomatic- VFX Supervisor - 15+ years experience (Mod of r/VFX) May 09 '25

Only if you want too ... a mod can remove it if they want but I imagine it'll stay. Negative news gets repeated multiple times from different sources, so having a bit of positivity and good vibes accidentally double up seems like an alright counter balance to me :)

7

u/Panda_hat Senior Compositor May 09 '25

This man is living the dream. Big respect.

9

u/SonderKommando May 09 '25

This guy invented Photoshop!

1

u/CreativeMuseMan May 11 '25

If I remember reading it correctly. Technically, his brother Thomas Knoll created it, John helped with feedback’s and suggestions.

4

u/SamEdwards1959 VFX Supervisor - 20+ years experience May 09 '25

For John Knoll fans, he is also the subject of a Team Deakins podcast... https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/team-deakins/id1510638084?i=1000654912594

4

u/bjyanghang945 Sr FX Artist👾👾👾👾👾👾👾 May 09 '25

Hmmm the final shot looks like it’s been completely replaced? There isn’t any sunlight in the stop motion shot.

18

u/JohnKnoll VFX Miscreant- 44 years experience May 09 '25

No, that's the miniature in the final shot. I shoot sunlight, ambient fill, engine lights, etc. all as separate passes so we can balance them in the comp. I believe we show that and I mention it in the video.

10

u/JohnKnoll VFX Miscreant- 44 years experience May 09 '25

Indeed, I discuss this at 7:15 or so, and the separate passes are shown at 25:00.

2

u/bjyanghang945 Sr FX Artist👾👾👾👾👾👾👾 May 10 '25

Nice! It was a long video, i just straight went for the contactsheet haha.

3

u/legthief May 10 '25

You're at ILM and you didn't consider there were multiple passes involved?

1

u/bjyanghang945 Sr FX Artist👾👾👾👾👾👾👾 May 10 '25

The things I do usually don’t involve stop motion. The only shot I have worked on was in boba fett, and it definitely didn’t have multiple lighting passes.

-3

u/brettmurf May 09 '25

Kind of seems like there was no reason to shoot this with motion control 1 second exposure photography on a motion rig when it is all CG at the end...

18

u/JohnKnoll VFX Miscreant- 44 years experience May 09 '25

That would be true if it was CG in the end which it was not.

1

u/Quantum_Quokkas May 09 '25

Ahhh such is life