

Jeroen Lapré is racing to complete his first independent film, Maelstrom II, in time for Sir Arthur C. Clarke's 90th birthday. He hopes to visit the great author at his home in Sri Lanka, unveil the completed film, and interview him about the future of humanity in space.

ILM employees can pitch their ideas to the management. If the proposal is exciting enough, the artists are allowed to use company resources after hours, but they are not given any funding or time off from work. Knowing that a key to his success would be simplicity, Lapré read through every story by Clarke in reverse chronological order until he found one with a minimum of characters, locations, and props – Maelstrom II. When his proposal to make the short film was approved, he assembled a team of ILM veterans and procured the second-generation digital cameras that were used to film Star Wars Episode III.

Lapré has been a science fiction lover since early childhood. His first love was the Star Wars

trilogy – years later he went to work for Industrial Light and Magic and contributed to all three prequels. In 2001, NASA scientist Jay

Trimble introduced Clarke and Lapré by email. The young artist was thrilled. He had been toying with the idea of making scientifically accurate and dramatically compelling short films. After his correspondence with the legendary science fiction writer, Lapré was sure that his first solo project would be a story by Clarke.

Chuck Marra portrays the lead character, Cliff Leyland, a down-on-his-luck worker who hitches a ride on a freight capsule from the moon to earth in order to save money. As the protagonist is catapulted homeward, power to the electromagnetic launcher fails – sending him into an unstable orbit around the moon. Thus begins a race against time to save him before he crashes into the lunar surface.

In a rather poetic parallel to the story, Lapré is frantically trying to finish the digital effects and editing while searching for sponsors, working full time at ILM, and raising two kids.

We will have a gallery of high definition digital images from the film soon. For the moment, here are some production stills from the Old C main stage at ILM's Kerner facility.

Chuck Marra and Makeup Artist Gordon Yost

Cameraman Lanny Cermak

The Sparse Bluescreen Stage

Chuck Mara pretends to climb a ladder to exit the freight capsule.

Boom Mic Operator Jeff King

Sound Recordist Larry Hoki

Chuck Mara Resting in the "Drivers Seat" of the Freight Capsule

Chuck Marra Rehearses with Screenwriter Zach Sherman.

Jeroen Lapré looks on.

Photo Credit: Will McCoy

Digital Art: Todd Daniele, Jon Varner, Jeroen Lapré

Artwork does not represent final production quality.