I have made a collection of resources (links) for the study of ILM visual effects (digital).
Sorry if the subject matter is a little specific:
http://forums.adobe.com/message/5293822#5293822
You may notice that some of the images show non-lit blades - and some of these bades are blurry and some aren't (non-feathered masks).
It is my belief that these are they flattened these (as motion files) and then post-lit them. Notice how no light allowing blend modes are used in the intitial stages of the creation of the blade.
What I want to know is how much more detail/quality would one need to be able to determine the method behind the effects?
Are techniques uesd such as Channel Blur - did they have to invent really clever techniques?