science

Joe Viskocil

Joe Viskocil is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Joe Viskocil rather than just read about it. In short: Joseph Viskocil (December 21, 1952 – August 11, 2014) was an American special effects artist who had over 80 film credits from 1974 to 2014. He created special effects for some of the most famous movie franchises and was awarded an Academy Award for his work on Independence Day (1996).

Key takeaways

Joe Viskocil belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Joe Viskocil to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Joe Viskocil from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Joseph Viskocil (December 21, 1952 – August 11, 2014) was an American special effects artist who had over 80 film credits from 1974 to 2014. He created special effects for some of the most famous movie franchises and was awarded an Academy Award for his work on Independence Day (1996).

Career In 1977, Viskocil assisted John Dykstra and George Lucas in creating the pyrotechnics for Star Wars, including the explosion of the Death Star at the film's climax. In 1980, he returned to create pyrotechnics for The Empire Strikes Back. For the next three decades, he worked on films from the most famous franchises, including Ghostbusters, Batman and Star Trek. After serving as pyrotechnics supervisor for the 1996 film Independence Day, Viskocil was awarded the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects alongside Volker Engel, Douglas Smith and Clay Pinney at the 69th Academy Awards. Viskocil and miniature supervisor Mike Joyce were responsible for the creation of a 15-foot-wide, 5-foot-high (4.57 metres by 1.52 metres) miniature of the White House, built for destruction during the film.

Style In the 1990s, Viskocil opposed using computer-generated imagery in the creation of some special effects:

When it comes to pyro techniques, what was done 50 years ago is still good today. There are a billion chemicals out there now that one can add, subtract or manipulate to create a desired effect. Following the September 11 attacks, Viskocil expressed guilt over making the explosions in Independence Day appear lifelike, saying "I started thinking maybe I did my job too well, and it might have been the nucleus of an idea for someone to say: ‘Hey, let’s crash a plane into the White House.’"

Personal life Viskocil died on August 11, 2014, in Los Angeles from complications of liver and heart failure.

Filmography

Awards

References

External links Joe Viskocil at IMDb

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Joe Viskocil

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Joe Viskocil claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Joe Viskocil before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Joe Viskocil ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Joe Viskocil

In research: Joe Viskocil appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Joe Viskocil in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Joe Viskocil is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1952 births, 2014 deaths, Academy Award for Technical Achievement winners, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Joe Viskocil outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Joe Viskocil in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Joe Viskocil means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Joe Viskocil out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Joe Viskocil in simple terms?

Why does Joe Viskocil matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Joe Viskocil?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Joe Viskocil.