STOP-MOTION ANIMATION
Stop-motion animation is an art that is still practiced by filmmakers like Henry Selick in The Nightmare Before Christmas[1993], James and the Giant Peach[1996], and Coraline[2009] and Nick Park. Park is the creator of Wallace and Gromit and has won four Academy Awards, for Creature Comforts[1989], The Wrong Trousers[1993], A Close Shave[1995], and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit[2005]. Pictured are three of the greatest stop-motion animators in movie history.
Randall Cookis shown animating a demon from Ghostbusters[Ivan Reitman, 1984].
Ray Harryhausenanimating Mighty Joe Young[Ernest B. Schoedsack, 1949]. Ray’s big break came when Willis O’Brien hired him as an assistant on this movie. Ray Harryhausen’s tremendous body of work has had enormous influence on generations of filmmakers.
Willis O’Brien, the pioneering stop-motion animator and innovator, whose crowning achievement is King Kong[Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack, 1933]. O’Brien is pictured here with the triceratops the ship’s crew discover on Skull Island. In his hand he holds a crew member puppet. O’Brien’s film work goes back to 1915 with The Dinosaur and the Missing Link: A Prehistoric Tragedyfor the Edison Co. His last film was Stanley Kramer’s It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World[1963].
MATTE PAINTING
Matte painting is now done digitally on computer, but it used to be done by hand-painting on glass. An example of traditional matte painting is shown, in a scene from The Age of Innocence[Martin Scorsese, 1993].
Albert Whitlockwon Academy Awards for his work on Earthquake[Mark Robson, 1974] and The Hindenburg[1975]. In The Hindenburg, his painting on glass of the huge zeppelin was so detailed that the illusion of flight was done by merely moving his glass painting past the camera! Albert’s work can be seen in films as varied as The Andromeda Strain[Robert Wise, 1971], Slaughterhouse Five[George Roy Hill, 1972], The Man Who Would Be King[John Huston, 1975], and The Blues Brothers[John Landis, 1980].
An exceptional special-effects cameraman and a superb matte artist respectively, Bill Taylor (on left) and Syd Dutton worked with Albert Whitlock for many years. They formed Illusion Arts when Whitlock retired. They are pictured with in-house producer Catherine Sudolcan.
A painting on glassby Syd Dutton and Robert Stromberg, showing the interior of a grand train station.
A live-action sceneshot on a set with actor Daniel Day-Lewis.
The finished shotwith the live-action seamlessly inserted into the painting on an optical printer.
MINIATURES
The War of the Worlds [Byron Haskin, 1953]
Special-effects technicians on the miniature set on stage at Paramount Studios prepare the Martian war machines for another attack.
The Monster Makers[ Book Contents]
The Land Unknown [Virgil W. Vogel, 1957]
Technicians prepare a shot of a dinosaur in the water tank on stage. Notice the painted backdrop and prop trees made to scale to give the illusion of depth. In the finished film, this dinosaur is gigantic and dwarfs the superimposed actors.
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This book contains material previously published in print edition in October 2011
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Table of Contents
How to Use this eBook
Foreword
Introduction
Vampires
Vampires
In Conversation: Christopher Lee
Werewolves
Werewolves
An American Werewolf in London
In Conversation: Joe Dante
Mad Scientists
Mad Scientists
In Conversation: David Cronenberg
Zombies
Zombies
In Conversation: Sam Raimi
Ghosts
Ghosts
Mummies
Mummies
In Conversation: Guillermo Del Toro
Myths, Legends, & Fairy Tales
Myths, Legends, & Fairy Tales
In Conversation: Ray Harryhausen
Dragons & Dinosaurs
Dragons & Dinosaurs
Monstrous Apes
Monstrous Apes
In Conversation: Rick Baker
Nature’s Revenge
Nature’s Revenge
Atomic Mutations
Atomic Mutations
The Devil’s Work
The Devil’s Work
In Conversation: John Carpenter
Space Monsters
Space Monsters
Monstrous Machines
Monstrous Machines
Human Monsters
Human Monsters
The Monster Makers
Monster Makers
Monster Directors
Make-up Artists
Monster Designers
Stop-motion Animation
Matte Painting
Miniatures
Copyright