Was it all Real?
Some of us grew up with the fantastical world of Ray Harryhausen. He’s the special effects guru who helped bring out the child in all of us with his otherworldly creations. He gave us something to remember.
You might not know his name. But his creations? They live on in the endless movies he’s been associated wit: The skeletons swordmen coming to life in “Jason and the Argonauts.” The Kali from “The Golden Voyage of Sinbad.” The ill-tempered Cyclops from “Seventh Voyage of Sinbad.” He’s also responsible for the more monsters coming to life in the full-screen epic “Mysterious Island.” There was a mythologial beauty in his films.
His contributions to the film industry, during his time, remains unmatched. No other person brought a spectacular realism to his work. The audiences remained captivated by his art. His career began with "Might Young Joe" way back in 1949. His work spanned decades of inspiration.
For the longest time, the film industry looked for ways to make their fantasy films cheaper. Nobody wanted to push the budget over the edge afterwards and model effects at the time continued to be all-consuming. Eating up the budget. They looked for other ways to get around those problems without making films looking like a dud.
Harryhausen was the answer. His studies in slow-motion animation turned out to be a cheaper way of creating creatures that would otherwise not exist in our world. His work was meticulous. In stop-motion photography, every clay figure had to be manipulated a frame at a time. His work also went by another name of dynamation.
Yet he was great. Even compared to today’s standards, with the computer-savvy graphics, the films still hold up pretty good. So influential was his work that you can find imitations everywhere.
He belonged to a whole different generation of effects. His mastery gave us so much to appreciate. His work remains exceptional. Timeless. We owe a lot to him.
Other people paid their respects to the guy. You can see the skeletons coming back to life again in the “Army of Darkness.” Hand-held manipulation. Everything done one frame at a time. You could also see the same process in the current animated works by Tim Burton. There’s no getting away from Harryhausen. His work speaks for itself. Even if you don’t know his name.
So secretive was Harryhausen was about his work. He was like the stage magician who didn’t give away his tricks. He was a wizard who didn't talk about his recipes. He wanted people to be caught up with the magic. Harryhausen did talk about the giant crossbow used in the first Sinbad movie. It was actually a two-inch miniature. Somehow I still watch the film in disbelief. Remarkable.
His name remains synomous to FX. In a tell-tale time when there were no computers to help us, Harryhausen was a pioneer in the film industry of special effects. And he made us believe in those other worlds of sword and sorcery.
You might not know his name. But his creations? They live on in the endless movies he’s been associated wit: The skeletons swordmen coming to life in “Jason and the Argonauts.” The Kali from “The Golden Voyage of Sinbad.” The ill-tempered Cyclops from “Seventh Voyage of Sinbad.” He’s also responsible for the more monsters coming to life in the full-screen epic “Mysterious Island.” There was a mythologial beauty in his films.
His contributions to the film industry, during his time, remains unmatched. No other person brought a spectacular realism to his work. The audiences remained captivated by his art. His career began with "Might Young Joe" way back in 1949. His work spanned decades of inspiration.
For the longest time, the film industry looked for ways to make their fantasy films cheaper. Nobody wanted to push the budget over the edge afterwards and model effects at the time continued to be all-consuming. Eating up the budget. They looked for other ways to get around those problems without making films looking like a dud.
Harryhausen was the answer. His studies in slow-motion animation turned out to be a cheaper way of creating creatures that would otherwise not exist in our world. His work was meticulous. In stop-motion photography, every clay figure had to be manipulated a frame at a time. His work also went by another name of dynamation.
Yet he was great. Even compared to today’s standards, with the computer-savvy graphics, the films still hold up pretty good. So influential was his work that you can find imitations everywhere.
He belonged to a whole different generation of effects. His mastery gave us so much to appreciate. His work remains exceptional. Timeless. We owe a lot to him.
Other people paid their respects to the guy. You can see the skeletons coming back to life again in the “Army of Darkness.” Hand-held manipulation. Everything done one frame at a time. You could also see the same process in the current animated works by Tim Burton. There’s no getting away from Harryhausen. His work speaks for itself. Even if you don’t know his name.
So secretive was Harryhausen was about his work. He was like the stage magician who didn’t give away his tricks. He was a wizard who didn't talk about his recipes. He wanted people to be caught up with the magic. Harryhausen did talk about the giant crossbow used in the first Sinbad movie. It was actually a two-inch miniature. Somehow I still watch the film in disbelief. Remarkable.
His name remains synomous to FX. In a tell-tale time when there were no computers to help us, Harryhausen was a pioneer in the film industry of special effects. And he made us believe in those other worlds of sword and sorcery.
posted by K.M. Paters at 4:28 PM
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