The Forever Beacon

 Blockbuster producer/director Roland Emmerich, who has helmed such VFX disaster spectacles as Independence Day, Godzilla and The Day After Tomorrow, returns with the uber-calamitous Moonfall (see cover story). The film is about a mysterious force causing the moon to be on a collision course with the earth. 

Emmerich was always inspired by Jules Verne while Verne was also an inspiration to pioneering filmmaker Georges Méliès, who is famously known for his most acclaimed work – the 13-minute gem Le Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon), arguably cinema’s first science fiction film. It was made in 1902 and was energized partly by stories by writers like Verne. It’s been 120 years between films, but the thread that ties them together is man’s and filmmakers’ quest to always push the envelope, especially with visual effects. 

That thread extends to the Visual Effects Society, celebrating its Silver Anniversary, which picked Méliès’ iconic moonface with a rocket as its logo. The VES, since its inception, has always tried to foster an ambitious community of VFX explorers. In 2020 the VES bestowed its Visionary Award to Roland Emmerich. This honor is awarded for uniquely and consistently employing the art and science of visual effects to foster imagination and ignite future discoveries by way of artistry, invention and groundbreaking work.