Colin chilvers biography


Written By: Michael D. McClellan | Colin Chilvers knows a thing or two about special effects. Like the classic E.F. Hutton advertising campaign from the early ‘80s, when Chilvers speaks, people listen, and for good reason: The English-born film director won a Special Achievement Academy Award in Visual Effects for his work on the 1978 blockbuster Superman, helped visualize Michael Jackson’s gravity-defying lean in the Smooth Criminal video, and has served as the special effects coordinator for films such as Marvel’s X-Men, Harrison Ford’s K-19: The Widowmaker, and Vin Diesel’s The Pacifier.  Not that Chilvers brings a boatload of hubris with him to the interview. Far from it. While the Oscar statue is usually in tow, it’s more for the audience’s enjoyment than the man who helped Christopher Reeve fly.  Chilvers, it turns out, is about as chill and as humble as they come.

“When I broke into the business, working in special effects didn’t carry the same weight that it carries today,” Chilvers says with a chuckle. “You worked your 40 hours, and you went ho

Colin Chilvers (born 1945) is an English film director and special effects coordinator. He is known for his work on The Rocky Horror Picture Show[1] (1975), Superman (1978), Condorman (1981), and X-Men[2] (2000).

Chilvers directed the "Smooth Criminal" segment from Michael Jackson'sMoonwalker.[3] When working with Michael Jackson, Chilvers told Rolling Stone, "I showed Michael a movie that I felt would fit the theme of the piece, The Third Man. He loved the look of it, that sort of film-noir look, so we used that to get the camera man to light it in a similar way."[4]

Chilvers won a Special Achievement Academy Award in 1979 for Superman.[5]

Awards

References

External links

  • 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)
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    Colin Chilvers

    Colin Chilvers (Born 1945, in London, England. Died November 19, 2024 at age 79) was an Academy Award winning film director and special effects coordinator. He is known for his work on X-Men (2000), Superman (1978) and The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) as well as directing the Michael Jackson "Smooth Criminal" segment from Moonwalker.
    Chilvers also directed hundreds of commercials and promotional films for a wide variety of clients.

    Chilvers studied his craft at Hornsey College of Art, and began his career as an uncredited assistant, and was given his first supervisory role for the film Inspector Clouseau in 1968.

    Among his many honors, Chilvers won a Special Achievement Academy Award in 1979 for Superman.

    A long time resident of Niagra in Canada, Chilvers was given an honorary doctorate from Brock College in May of 2012 for his exceptional achievements and pioneering work in special and visual effects for the motion picture industry.

    Director Credits

    2003: Home Beyond the Sun (TV Movie)
    2003: Michael Jackson: Number Ones (Video do

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