The community of Santa Rosa, north of San Francisco, has long been the hub for a celebration of STEM. Since 2011, North Bay Science Discovery Day has attracted an average of 10,000 attendees each year. Featuring more than 100 booths and demonstrations run by universities, research institutes, tech companies, schools, and community groups, the festival invites visitors to explore science and technology through interactive exhibits and hands-on discovery.
Star Wars costuming groups have long been part of the festivities as well. The Bay Area chapters of the 501st Legion and Rebel Legion have become familiar sights at the event, adding a touch of sci-fi to the science celebration. (I know, I know, Star Wars is space fantasy.)
For many fans, however, Star Wars has always been about more than the characters on screen.
As a young lad growing up in faraway Manila, with limited access to everything Star Wars and information arriving mostly through newspaper and magazine clippings (and a tucked-in behind-the-scenes feature in a movie trailer program), I became fascinated not only with Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, but also with the artists and engineers at Industrial Light & Magic. The names of pioneers such as John Dykstra, Dennis Muren, and Phil Tippett became just as legendary to me as Hamill, Ford, and Fisher.
As every Star Wars fan knows, the artists and engineers at ILM have always worked at the intersection of art, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, with a generous helping of creativity.
At this year’s North Bay Science Discovery Day, visitors had the opportunity to see a small piece of that filmmaking craft up close.
I caught up with John Levin, Head of the Camera Layout Department at Industrial Light & Magic in San Francisco, to talk about ILM’s participation in this year’s event and what it meant to bring the magic of movie making to a community science festival.
THE FORCE IS STRONG IN THE FAMILY
For Levin, North Bay Science Discovery Day is more than a community event. It is also a family tradition.
His father, a scientist, was among the longtime organizers who helped shape the event and has volunteered there for more than a decade.
“I’ve been a volunteer here for about ten years,” Levin explained. “My father was one of the organizers. He’s a scientist and has been volunteering here as well.”
For Levin, the event blends two things that have shaped his life: a family commitment to science education and a career built on curiosity, experimentation, and technological innovation.
After years of volunteering and watching thousands of young visitors explore the booths and demonstrations each year, he began to think Lucasfilm itself should take part.
And the idea, fittingly, came from a familiar sight at the festival.
“Since coming here and seeing you guys in the 501st, it made me think we really should have a booth here for Lucasfilm.”
Levin said he had been raising the idea internally for some time. This year, the timing finally worked out. Lucasfilm officially joined the event, giving visitors a rare opportunity to glimpse the technology and craft behind the visual effects that have shaped Star Wars and countless other films.
THE POWER OF THIS FULLY ARMED AND OPERATIONAL DEMONSTRATION
For their first appearance at North Bay Science Discovery Day, the ILM team did not come empty-handed.
One of the highlights of the booth was a motion control camera rig originally built for the first season of The Mandalorian. The system was designed by longtime Star Wars visual effects pioneer John Knoll, ILM’s Executive Creative Director.
Knoll had hoped to attend the event.
“He was going to be here today,” Levin said, “but he had to go color time The Mandalorian and Grogu movie that’s coming out this May.” (Hard to argue with that!)
The booth also featured reels demonstrating how the rig is used in production, including footage from the Disney+ series Skeleton Crew. Nearby, visitors learned about ILM’s Imocap suit, an on-set performance capture system first developed for Pirates of the Carribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006). Both the film and ILM’s Imocap technology would go on to be honored with Academy Awards for visual effects and Technical Achievement respectively.
The response from visitors quickly became clear.
“It was a huge hit,” Levin said. “Once people realize who we are and what we’re doing there, they’re very excited to see us.”
Many of the most captivated visitors were kids.
“They get captivated by the reels,” Levin observed. “I think they’re starting to put together, ‘oh… this is how they make that?’”
For Levin, that moment feels especially meaningful. As a kid, he once watched a television program explaining how ILM created the visual effects for Star Wars.
“That’s what made me want to do this for a living,” he recalled.
Now, decades later, he finds himself standing at a science festival, giving the next generation a look behind the curtain of movie making.
BROOM BOY TODAY… MOVIE MAGIC TOMORROW
Watching the kids gather around the booth, eyes widening as they discovered how these worlds come to life, I could not help but think of the ten-year-old me. Had I been in their place back then, I would have been glued to those screens and demonstrations, talking the ears off the ILM artists.
Somewhere in that crowd may be a future filmmaker, engineer, or visual effects artist ready to carry forward the technological legacy that Industrial Light & Magic has been building for more than fifty years. After all, Star Wars has always reminded us that the next hero might be standing quietly in the background, broom in hand.
I teased John that among the curious young visitors might be the next John Knoll, Doug Chiang, or perhaps even the next John Levin.
He smiled.
“Yeah, I hope we’re inspiring somebody.”
Thanks to ILM PR for their assistance with this article.