Brian Johnson (special effects artist)
Brian Johnson [ 1] (born 29 June 1939[ 2] or 29 June 1940[ 3] ) is a British designer and director of film and television special effects .
Life and career
Born Brian Johncock ,[ 4] he changed his surname to Johnson during the 1960s.[ 4] Joining the team of special effects artist Les Bowie , Johnson started his career behind the scenes for Bowie Films on productions such as On The Buses , and for Hammer Films . He is known for his special effects work on TV series including Thunderbirds (1965–66) and films including Alien (1979),[ 5] for which he received the 1980 Academy Award for Best Visual Effects (shared with H. R. Giger , Carlo Rambaldi , Dennis Ayling and Nick Allder ). Previously, he had built miniature spacecraft models for Stanley Kubrick 's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey .[ 6]
Johnson's work on Space: 1999 influenced the effects of the Star Wars films of the 1970s and 1980s.[ 7] Impressed by his work, George Lucas visited Johnson during the production of the TV series to offer him the role of effects supervisor for the 1977 film . Having already been commissioned for the second series of Space: 1999 , Johnson was unable to accept at the time.[ 8] He worked on the sequel, The Empire Strikes Back (1980), whose special effects were recognised in the form of a 1981 Special Achievement Academy Award (which Johnson shared with Richard Edlund , Dennis Muren and Bruce Nicholson ).
Awards
Johnson has won Academy Awards for both Alien (1979) and The Empire Strikes Back (1980). He was further nominated for an Academy Award for his work on Dragonslayer (1981). In addition, Johnson is the recipient of a Saturn Award for The Empire Strikes Back and a BAFTA Award for James Cameron 's Aliens .
Filmography
Special effects
Quatermass 2 (1957) (special effects assistant, uncredited)
The Kiss of the Vampire (1963) (special effects assistant, uncredited)
Thunderbirds (TV series) (1965–66) (special effects director)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) (special effects assistant, uncredited)
Moon Zero Two (1969) (special effects assistant, uncredited)
Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970) (special effects) (as Brian Johncock)
When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970) (special effects) (as Brian Johncock)
A Clockwork Orange (1971) (special effects assistant, uncredited)
Space: 1999 (TV series) (special effects—24 episodes, 1975–76; special effects director—24 episodes, 1976–78; special effects designer—18 episodes, 1976–78; special effect designer—6 episodes, 1976)
The Day After Tomorrow (TV pilot, 1975) (special effects designer)
The Medusa Touch (1978) (special effects supervisor)
Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978) (special effects)
Alien (1979) (special effects supervisor)
The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (special effects supervisor)
Dragonslayer (1981) (supervisor of special mechanical effects)
The Pirates of Penzance (1983) (special effects supervisor)
The NeverEnding Story (1984) (director of special effects)
Spies Like Us (1985) (special effects supervisor)
Aliens (1986) (special effects)
Slipstream (1989) (special effects)
Dragonheart (1996) (micro-light coordinator)
Space Truckers (1996) (special effects supervisor)
Dream Street (1999) (director)
Director
References
External links
Awards for Brian Johnson
1963–1980
Emil Kosa Jr. – Cleopatra (1963)
Peter Ellenshaw , Eustace Lycett , and Hamilton Luske – Mary Poppins (1964)
John Stears – Thunderball (1965)
Art Cruickshank – Fantastic Voyage (1966)
L. B. Abbott – Doctor Dolittle (1967)
Stanley Kubrick – 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Robie Robertson – Marooned (1969)
A. D. Flowers and L. B. Abbott – Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
Alan Maley , Eustace Lycett , and Danny Lee – Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
L. B. Abbott and A. D. Flowers – The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
Frank Brendel , Glen Robinson , and Albert Whitlock – Earthquake (1974)
Albert Whitlock and Glen Robinson – The Hindenburg (1975)
Carlo Rambaldi , Glen Robinson , and Frank Van der Veer – King Kong (1976)
John Stears , John Dykstra , Richard Edlund , Grant McCune , and Robert Blalack – Star Wars (1977)
Les Bowie , Colin Chilvers , Denys Coop , Roy Field , Derek Meddings , and Zoran Perisic – Superman (1978)
H. R. Giger , Carlo Rambaldi , Brian Johnson , Nick Allder , and Dennis Ayling – Alien (1979)
Brian Johnson , Richard Edlund , Dennis Muren , and Bruce Nicholson – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
1981–2000
Richard Edlund , Kit West , Bruce Nicholson , and Joe Johnston – Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Carlo Rambaldi , Dennis Muren , and Kenneth F. Smith – E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Richard Edlund , Dennis Muren , Ken Ralston , and Phil Tippett – Return of the Jedi (1983)
Dennis Muren , Michael J. McAlister , Lorne Peterson , and George Gibbs – Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
Ken Ralston , Ralph McQuarrie , Scott Farrar , and David Berry – Cocoon (1985)
Robert Skotak , Stan Winston , John Richardson , and Suzanne M. Benson – Aliens (1986)
Dennis Muren , Bill George , Harley Jessup , and Kenneth F. Smith - Innerspace (1987)
Ken Ralston , Richard Williams , Edward Jones , and George Gibbs – Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
John Bruno , Dennis Muren , Hoyt Yeatman , and Dennis Skotak – The Abyss (1989)
Eric Brevig , Rob Bottin , Tim McGovern , and Alex Funke – Total Recall (1990)
Dennis Muren , Stan Winston , Gene Warren Jr. , and Robert Skotak – Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Ken Ralston , Doug Chiang , Douglas Smythe , and Tom Woodruff Jr. – Death Becomes Her (1992)
Dennis Muren , Stan Winston , Phil Tippett , and Michael Lantieri – Jurassic Park (1993)
Ken Ralston , George Murphy , Stephen Rosenbaum , and Allen Hall – Forrest Gump (1994)
Scott E. Anderson , Charles Gibson , Neal Scanlan , and John Cox – Babe (1995)
Volker Engel , Douglas Smith , Clay Pinney , and Joe Viskocil – Independence Day (1996)
Robert Legato , Mark Lasoff , Thomas L. Fisher , and Michael Kanfer – Titanic (1997)
Joel Hynek , Nicholas Brooks , Stuart Robertson , and Kevin Mack – What Dreams May Come (1998)
John Gaeta , Janek Sirrs , Steve Courtley , and Jon Thum – The Matrix (1999)
John Nelson , Neil Corbould , Tim Burke , and Rob Harvey – Gladiator (2000)
2001–2020
Jim Rygiel , Randall William Cook , Richard Taylor , and Mark Stetson – The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Jim Rygiel , Joe Letteri , Randall William Cook , and Alex Funke – The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
Jim Rygiel , Joe Letteri , Randall William Cook , and Alex Funke – The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
John Dykstra , Scott Stokdyk , Anthony LaMolinara , and John Frazier – Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Joe Letteri , Brian Van't Hul , Christian Rivers , and Richard Taylor – King Kong (2005)
John Knoll , Hal Hickel , Charles Gibson , and Allen Hall – Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
Michael L. Fink , Bill Westenhofer , Ben Morris , and Trevor Wood – The Golden Compass (2007)
Eric Barba , Steve Preeg , Burt Dalton , and Craig Barron – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
Joe Letteri , Stephen Rosenbaum , Richard Baneham , and Andrew R. Jones – Avatar (2009)
Paul Franklin , Chris Corbould , Andrew Lockley , and Peter Bebb – Inception (2010)
Robert Legato , Joss Williams , Ben Grossmann , and Alex Henning – Hugo (2011)
Bill Westenhofer , Guillaume Rocheron , Erik-Jan de Boer , and Donald R. Elliott – Life of Pi (2012)
Tim Webber , Chris Lawrence , Dave Shirk , and Neil Corbould – Gravity (2013)
Paul Franklin , Andrew Lockley , Ian Hunter , and Scott R. Fisher – Interstellar (2014)
Mark Williams Ardington , Sara Bennett , Paul Norris , and Andrew Whitehurst – Ex Machina (2015)
Robert Legato , Adam Valdez , Andrew R. Jones , and Dan Lemmon – The Jungle Book (2016)
John Nelson , Gerd Nefzer , Paul Lambert , and Richard R. Hoover – Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Paul Lambert , Ian Hunter , Tristan Myles , and J. D. Schwalm – First Man (2018)
Guillaume Rocheron , Greg Butler , and Dominic Tuohy – 1917 (2019)
Andrew Jackson , David Lee , Andrew Lockley , and Scott R. Fisher – Tenet (2020)
2021–present
1982–2000
Richard Edlund - Poltergeist (1982)
Richard Edlund , Dennis Muren , Ken Ralston , and Kit West - Return of the Jedi (1983)
Dennis Muren , George Gibbs , Michael J. McAlister , and Lorne Peterson - Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
George Gibbs and Richard Conway - Brazil (1985)
Robert Skotak , Brian Johnson , Suzanne M. Benson , John Richardson , and Stan Winston - Aliens (1986)
Michael Lantieri , Michael Owens , Edward Jones , and Bruce Walters - The Witches of Eastwick (1987)
George Gibbs , Richard Williams , Ken Ralston , and Edward Jones - Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
Ken Ralston , Michael Lantieri , John Bell , and Steve Gawley - Back to the Future Part II (1989)
The production team of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1990)
Stan Winston , Dennis Muren , Gene Warren Jr. , and Robert Skotak - Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Michael Lantieri , Ken Ralston , Alec Gillis, Tom Woodruff Jr., Doug Chiang , and Douglas Smythe - Death Becomes Her (1992)
Dennis Muren , Stan Winston , Phil Tippett , and Michael Lantieri - Jurassic Park (1993)
Ken Ralston , George Murphy , Stephen Rosenbaum , Doug Chiang , and Allen Hall - Forrest Gump (1994)
Robert Legato , Michael Kanfer , Matt Sweeney , and Leslie Ekker - Apollo 13 (1995)
Stefen Fangmeier , John Frazier , Henry LaBounta , and Habib Zargarpour - Twister (1996)
Mark Stetson , Karen Goulekas , Nick Allder , Neil Corbould , and Nick Dudman - The Fifth Element (1997)
Stefen Fangmeier , Roger Guyett , and Neil Corbould - Saving Private Ryan (1998)
John Gaeta , Steve Courtley , Janek Sirrs , and Jon Thum - The Matrix (1999)
Stefen Fangmeier , John Frazier , Walt Conti , Habib Zargarpour , and Tim Alexander - The Perfect Storm (2000)
2001–present
Jim Rygiel , Richard Taylor , Alex Funke , Randall William Cook , and Mark Stetson - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Jim Rygiel , Joe Letteri , Randall William Cook , and Alex Funke - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
Joe Letteri , Jim Rygiel , Randall William Cook , and Alex Funke - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Karen Goulekas , Neil Corbould , Greg Strause , and Remo Balcells - The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
Joe Letteri , Christian Rivers , Brian Van't Hul , and Richard Taylor - King Kong (2005)
John Knoll , Hal Hickel , Charles Gibson , and Allen Hall - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
Michael L. Fink , Bill Westenhofer , Ben Morris , and Trevor Wood - The Golden Compass (2007)
Eric Barba , Craig Barron , Nathan McGuinness , and Edson Williams - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
Joe Letteri , Stephen Rosenbaum , Richard Baneham , and Andrew R. Jones - Avatar (2009)
Chris Corbould , Paul Franklin , Andrew Lockley , and Peter Bebb - Inception (2010)
Tim Burke , John Richardson , Greg Butler , and David Vickery - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011)
Bill Westenhofer , Guillaume Rocheron , and Erik-Jan de Boer - Life of Pi (2012)
Tim Webber , Chris Lawrence , Dave Shirk , Neil Corbould , and Nikki Penny - Gravity (2013)
Paul Franklin , Scott R. Fisher , Andrew Lockley , and Ian Hunter - Interstellar (2014)
Chris Corbould , Roger Guyett , Paul Kavanagh , and Neal Scanlan - Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
Robert Legato , Dan Lemmon , Andrew R. Jones , and Adam Valdez - The Jungle Book (2016)
Richard R. Hoover , Paul Lambert , Gerd Nefzer , and John Nelson - Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Geoffrey Baumann , Jesse James Chisholm, Craig Hammack , and Dan Sudick - Black Panther (2018)
Greg Butler , Guillaume Rocheron , and Dominic Tuohy - 1917 (2019)
Scott R. Fisher , Andrew Jackson , and Andrew Lockley - Tenet (2020)
Brian Connor , Paul Lambert , Tristan Myles , and Gerd Nefzer - Dune (2021)
Richard Baneham , Daniel Barrett , Joe Letteri and Eric Saindon - Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
Simon Hughes - Poor Things (2023)
L. B. Abbott , A. D. Flowers (1972)
Frank Brendel , Glen Robinson , Albert Whitlock (1974)
Peter Berkos / Albert Whitlock , Glen Robinson (1975)
Carlo Rambaldi , Glen Robinson , Frank Van der Veer / L. B. Abbott , Glen Robinson , Matthew Yuricich (1976)
Ben Burtt / Frank Warner (1977)
Les Bowie , Colin Chilvers , Denys Coop , Roy Field , Derek Meddings , Zoran Perisic (1978)
Alan Splet (1979)
Brian Johnson , Richard Edlund , Dennis Muren , Bruce Nicholson (1980)
Ben Burtt , Richard L. Anderson (1981)
Richard Edlund , Dennis Muren , Ken Ralston , Phil Tippett (1983)
Kay Rose (1984)
Stephen Hunter Flick , John Pospisil (1987)
Richard Williams (1988)
Eric Brevig , Rob Bottin , Tim McGovern , Alex Funke (1990)
John Lasseter (1995)
Alejandro González Iñárritu (2017)
1970s 1980s 1990s
Stan Winston (1991)
Ken Ralston , Tom Woodruff Jr., and Alec Gillis (1992)
Dennis Muren , Stan Winston , Phil Tippett , and Michael Lantieri (1993)
John Bruno (1994)
Stan Parks (1995)
Volker Engel , Clay Pinney , Douglas Smith , and Joe Viskocil (1996)
Phil Tippett , Scott E. Anderson , Alec Gillis, Tom Woodruff Jr., John Richardson (1997)
Volker Engel , Patrick Tatopoulos , Karen E. Goulekas , and Clay Pinney (1998)
Rob Coleman , John Knoll , Dennis Muren , and Scott Squires (1999)
2000s
Scott E. Anderson , Craig Hayes , Scott Stokdyk , and Stan Parks (2000)
Dennis Muren , Scott Farrar , Stan Winston , Michael Lantieri (2001)
Rob Coleman , Pablo Helman , John Knoll , and Ben Snow (2002)
Jim Rygiel , Joe Letteri , Randall William Cook , and Alex Funke (2003)
John Dykstra , Scott Stokdyk , Anthony LaMolinara , and John Frazier (2004)
Joe Letteri , Richard Taylor , Christian Rivers , and Brian Van't Hul (2005)
John Knoll , Hal T. Hickel , Charles Gibson , and Allen Hall (2006)
Scott Farrar , Scott Benza , Russell Earl , and John Frazier (2007)
Nick Davis , Chris Corbould , Timothy Webber , and Paul J. Franklin (2008)
Joe Letteri , Stephen Rosenbaum , Richard Baneham , and Andrew R. Jones (2009)
2010s
Chris Corbould , Andrew Lockley , Paul J. Franklin , and Peter Bebb (2010)
Dan Lemmon , Joe Letteri , R. Christopher White , and Daniel Barrett (2011)
Janek Sirrs , Jeff White , Guy Williams , and Dan Sudick (2012)
Tim Webber , Chris Lawrence , Dave Shirk , and Neil Corbould (2013)
Paul J. Franklin , Andrew Lockley , Ian Hunter , and Scott R. Fisher (2014)
Roger Guyett , Patrick Tubach , Neal Scanlan , and Chris Corbould (2015)
John Knoll , Mohen Leo , Hal Hickel , and Neil Corbould (2016)
Christopher Townsend , Guy Williams , Jonathan Fawkner , and Dan Sudick (2017)
Dan DeLeeuw , Matt Aitken , Russell Earl , and Dan Sudick (2018/19)
Roger Guyett , Neal Scanlan , Patrick Tubach , and Dominic Tuohy (2019/20)
2020s Note: The years are listed as per convention, usually the year of film release; the ceremonies are usually held the next year.