JohnDoe
Bryn
Brenton
Monsters of Ray Harryhausen Clip
John Doe presents: The work of Ray Harryhausen
This chick was so ugly...
Cibbuano over at 20/20 Filmsight did a Star Wars with hands post that inspired me to put up this Movie Monster Montage encapsulating the work of Special FX pioneer Ray Harryhausen.
Ray Harryhausen was on a quest to make the audience believe in monsters, UFO’s and any other fantastical creatures that come to mind and inspired countless filmmakers since, including Pixar god John Lasseter and the Aardam Animations. (Think Corpse Bride, Wallace and Gromit, Nightmare Before XMas)
Creating movie magic, this extraordinarily patient and dexterous artist continued the stop motion animation techniques that were employed by Willis H. O’ Brien to bring King Kong to life in 1933.
Getting to work with his idol (O’Brien) on Mighty Joe Young in 1949 Harryhausen began a career that redefined cinematic special FX.
Spawning from within The beast From 20 Fathoms, Earth Vs The Flying Saucers and the 7th Voyage of Sinbad, through to Jason and The Argonauts, One million years BC, The Valley of Gwangi and Clash of the Titans, this man left the audience in awe with his ability to make the unbelievable, wonderfully real.
As a child John Doe’s imagination was opened up to all sorts of possibilities, mythic tales that had been read on the page were brought marvellously to life. When compared to the CGI driven vehicles of today some may wonder what was so special about this style of visual storytelling.
At the time of release, these FX were cutting edge and it took many painful hours of tedious, minute manipulations to achieve even a semblance of fluid movement.
Viewed with modern eyes what may seem out of place in a live action film transported me to fantastical worlds as a child and still today astonishes with it’s effective use of cinematic techniques considering the restrictions of the time.
There is a real sense of fun and adventure that I hope 2007 voyeurs can surrender too and appreciate.
Click below and take a trip back in film history...
Lost Fanatic
Day Break TV
Horrorphile
Film & TV on DVD
Bryn, So true there is an added dimension of "creep" care of the stop motion techniques...agree that the FX are superior on remastered DVD instead of "Youtube", but the editing is fun and those bongos in the background are hypnotic.
Horrorphile
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
Damn, like you said, tedious hours. It looks like real art, though...
I wonder if people complained about those effects the same way we complain about CGI?
Horrorphile
Film & TV on DVD
Cib, Im sure some people complained about the FX of the time, in fact it was probably why these films were classified as B grade fun for kids...there will always be voices of descent
Celebrity Obsession
The Florida Keys and Everglades
The Black Sheep Chronicles
What constitutes bad manners?
The male mystique
Debate Fan
L.A.M.P.
Did a cartoon of Medusa inspired from his
vision of her:
Really Long Link
D.
The Florida Keys and Everglades
The Black Sheep Chronicles
What constitutes bad manners?
The male mystique
Debate Fan
L.A.M.P.
Film & TV on DVD
Horrorphile
The Florida Keys and Everglades
The Black Sheep Chronicles
What constitutes bad manners?
The male mystique
Debate Fan
L.A.M.P.
Bryn--yes, Clash of the Titans. I didn't make my medusa quite as heinous looking as the movie one, tho...
Horrorphile
The Florida Keys and Everglades
The Black Sheep Chronicles
What constitutes bad manners?
The male mystique
Debate Fan
L.A.M.P.
Horrorphile
The Florida Keys and Everglades
The Black Sheep Chronicles
What constitutes bad manners?
The male mystique
Debate Fan
L.A.M.P.
Horrorphile