UMR graduate Steve Sullivan already has one Academy Award to his credit (for Technical Achievement in 2001). Now the 1989 UMR EE grad could garner a second award for developing the special-effects wizardry used to create Davy Jones and his barnacled crew in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.
Sullivan is director of research and development for George Lucas' special effects firm Industrial Light & Magic. Featured in a recent Kansas City Star article, Sullivan, a Raytown, Mo., native, has led the ILM effort on developing a "new motion capture technique that allows us to build models, sets and characters from pictures." The process improves upon the "cumbersome and costly" laser scan techniques currently used to create many special effects, Sullivan says.
The technique is eligible for a technical Oscar this year. In 2001, he won his first Academy Award for the out-of-this-world ILM Motion and Structure Recovery System, or MARS. MARS uses mathematical formulas and computer software to allow moviemakers to create ultra-realistic special effects while reducing costs.
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