KALISPELL (AP) -- A month ago, former Kalispell resident Bruce Jones witnessed something incredible: Michael Jackson, live on stage, rehearsing for his upcoming concerts in London.

"He was on fire," Jones said. "He was back -- if he was ever gone."

Jones, a 25-year veteran visual effects supervisor, had been hired to put together graphics presentations for the Jackson's 50-concert series, which was scheduled to begin Monday. He worked with Jackson for about two and a half months.

Ric Ellingson, who has known Jones since they attended Flathead High School in the mid-1970s, also worked with Jackson. Jones recruited Ellingson as a set photographer and videographer for the so-called "Dome Project" -- the high-tech, 3D production planned for Jackson's "This Is It" concert series.

"He shot probably the last and best pictures that have ever been shot of Michael on set working with us," Jones said.

Both said they were stunned when they learned about Jackson's death on June 25.

"We were just so heartbroken," Jones said.

Jones has worked in visual effects since before he graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His resume includes producing visual effects for three incarnations of the "Star Trek" television series and movies such as "Chicago," "The Italian Job" and "Drag Me to Hell."

Ellingson has a degree in photography from a Bay-area college and a business degree from Flathead Valley Community College. He also is a videographer and songwriter.

The two men's work with Jackson included creating nine "heavy special effects-driven" segments for Jackson's concerts, Jones said.

"We were asked to put together, in record time, some high-end concepts that would play in concert with Michael Jackson's performances," he said.

Three of the pieces actually were short films to introduce the next songs in the set list, Jones said. The films would give Jackson and the dancers time to change costumes and were intended to be "fully entertaining" with a complete story line.

Jackson and Kenny Ortega, a choreographer, producer, director and Jackson's longtime friend, were the concerts' co-creative directors. Jones said he worked closely with both.

"They would pass on their ideas to me, and it was my job to put them into a cohesive story, a sort of stand-alone piece leading up to and in some cases in conjunction with" the songs Jackson was performing, Jones said.

"One of those pieces specifically highlighted Michael in a film noir-type setting," he added. "That was the last stuff ever shot, the last video to ever be shot for Michael."

Everything was shot in stereo to create a "full 3D effect," he added.

Jackson was intimately involved in the production and interested in every detail, Jones said.

"He would pull me aside and say -- because he was concerned about how good the 3D was -- 'Now, it's going to come right out of the screen, right? Right out at us? Right over the audience?'

"I'd show him tests, and he'd love it."

At one point in the concert, Jackson planned to strike a pose as characters "came raining out of the sky" above him, Jones said. Jackson told him he wanted "angelic music" playing at that moment, and he sang a few notes to illustrate his vision.

It wasn't Jones' first meeting with Jackson, but it was the first time he'd heard him sing live.

"He sang like three notes," Jones said. "It brought chills to my spine.

"Here's a man at 50 years old -- not that 50 is old -- and he hit those three notes. What a brilliant performer and singer. For me to be sitting two feet away from him ... The guy was so good."

Jackson was innately talented, but he also worked hard to be great, Jones said.

"I was touched by his positive energy, his childlike delight at stuff we would show him, and his intensity for making it the best that it could ever possibly be," he said. "He always pushed the envelope. Look at any of the work he has done: It was always setting a bar."

Despite the star's incessant pursuit of excellence, Jones said Jackson was a gentle, sweet man and a good father. His three children often were present while Jackson was working with Jones and the crew at Culver Studios in Culver City, Calif.

"I saw him deal with the same kind of things every dad deals with," Jones said. "If they were asking questions, he would say, 'Now, listen, I'm trying to have a conversation with Bruce now. Wait a second. Can I get you juice? Let me get you a juice.' And he would insist on getting the juice himself."

As a photographer, Ellingson tried to be a "fly on the wall" to get candid shots of Jackson and the crew, so he

didn't interact as closely with the star as Jones said. Even so, Ellingson said, he couldn't escape the "good feeling" radiating from Jackson.

"You don't expect somebody in that position to be so nice. That's what permeated the whole air: What a gentle spirit we were in the presence of," he said.

"Just the feeling you got was what a kindhearted fellow he was."

Once Ellingson caught Jackson and a group of dancers, all in heavy makeup and costumes, laughing at something someone had said.

"Then he really got going and bent over in laughter several times. He was in the moment interacting with everyone and having real fun," Ellingson recalled. "It was a natural, fleeting moment of hilarity just hanging with the guys."

Ellingson's photos and the product Jones helped create now belong to AEG Live, the company that was promoting Jackson's concert series. Jones said he doesn't know what will happen to the Dome Project, and that whatever form it takes, he likely won't be involved with it.

"We're hoping it can be in some form put out there for people to see. It's all the concert promoters' decisions," he said. "I imagine they have a lot of issues they have to work through to make sure everything is still done in a very honorable way.

"We want to be very respectful to what Michael's wishes would have been."