ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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While scanning through this wonderful post today I realized that I'd love to see a movie about an ambitious Antarctic project in which a dozen fully equipped sites had been established at locations above frozen dinosaurs buried deep in the ice below.

Each site is carefully removing the dinosaurs from the ice below, and they're all equipped with a remarkable new process which can actually revive the frozen carcasses!

This multi-site project is ready to move their revived dinosaurs to an underground habitat they've created, a man-made prehistoric environment which is located in gigantic ice-covered area below the Antarctic!





In other words, modern science is literally creating "The Land Unknown"!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

Special Effects: The History and Technique by Richard Rickittt.

After the release of Mighty Joe Young, Ray Harryhausen was offered a job as chief animator on the low-budget The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953). 'Beast had a ridiculous budget considering its subject matter. Doing things the O'Bie way was out of the question. He used big, painted sheets of glass in several planes that created a wonderful atmosphere but took a team of expensive artists to paint and restricted the camera to a single view. Also, the glass could crack in the heat of the lights

For Beast, Harryhausen devised a way of continuing live-action actors with animated creatures and miniature backgrounds. It was the basis of the system that he would use for the rest of his working life.

The system that Harryhausen devised, which became known as 'Dynamation' for publicity purposes, was in many ways the opposite favored by O'Brien.

Rather than placing rear-projected actors into a miniature environment, Harryhausen used rear-projection to place his animated characters into real environments containing real people.

During live-action photography, performers reacted to the invisible creatures, sometimes looking at a cardboard head on a long stick as a guide. Harryhausen then studied the developed footage to figure out the movements that the animated creature should make in relation to the actors and their environment.

Sidebar: I can certainly applaud Ray for coming up with this new method of shooting his stop-motion animation scenes. Without it, he (and producer & collaborator Charles Schneer) may have never been able to produce their marvelous animation movies, or at least, fewer of them.

Sidebar: Those glass matte paintings though were stunning to see. I realize that it wasn't economical to continue having such paintings on Ray's films. Also, the technical issues of the glass breaking under the intense heat of the studio lights, along with the limitation of camera movement, certainly are strikes against the use of such matte paintings.

Sidebar: But man-o-man, those mattes were gorgeous masterpieces of artwork to behold.

[Bud Brewster]

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I found this wonderful video that features clips from The Beast from 20,000 and several other giant monsters from the 1950s.

Enjoy! __

_________________Giant Monster Movies 50's


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

I just came across some trivia about Ray that you might find as interesting as I did, especially if you're a fan of history as I am.

Ray married Diana Livingstone Bruce in 1963, his only marriage. Their only child, is daughter Vanessa Harryhausen, who is deeply involved in the Diana & Ray Harryhausen Foundation.

Vanessa, through her mom, is the great, great, great granddaughter of the famous explorer Dr. David Livingstone (1813~1873).

Dr. Livingstone was a Scottish missionary and medical doctor who was posted to Africa. He zealously fought against the slave trade while there. He crossed the Kalahari Desert in his explorations; named Victoria Falls after the queen; explored eastern and central Africa. He was obsessed with discovering the source for the Nile River, something he was unable to achieve. Mary, his wife of 17-years died of malaria.

No word was heard from Livingstone for quite some time during one of his later expeditions. In England, he was a renowned explorer and the country was alarmed at his vanishing into deepest Africa without a trace. An expedition was sent to find him, but they were not successful.

The publisher of America's newspaper, the New York Herald, decided to send reporter Henry Stanley to find Livingstone, alive or dead.

Stanley searched for three months under brutal conditions, becoming severely ill due to tropical illnesses.

On November 10, 1871 the famous meeting took place when Stanley finally did locate Dr. Livingstone. "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" was the famous quote reported as the men came face to face. This may, or may not, have happened.

The film, "Stanley and Livingstone" starring Spencer Tracy as Stanley and Cedric Hardwicke as Livingstone recounting this historical moment was released in 1939. Like most movie historical films, this one is entertaining but can be taken with more than a grain of salt. The performances are all first rate with Tracy delivering a marvelous speech to England's Geographical Society who seriously doubt his veracity.

Ironic that Ray, through his marriage to Diana, would be related to a real life adventurer & explorer. Some of Ray's movies would focus upon just such a protagonist. "Mighty Joe Young" even takes place partly in Africa.

[Bud Brewster]

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What a cool post, Pow!

I did even know that Ray was married — nor that he had a daughter — much less that she was the great X 3 granddaughter of sir Cedric Hardwicke!

(I mean, Dr. Livingston . . . I presume.)
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)