Project: #Harryhausen100

This year, The Ray & Diana Harryhausen Foundation made some announcements on their social media pages about their upcoming plans for Ray's centenary in 2020. I first heard of this at a screening at the Glasgow Film Theatre, celebrating the 55th anniversary of "Jason & the Argonauts", as well as what would have been Ray's 98th birthday. Special guest, John Cairney, who played Hylas in the film was there to share his memories of filming (it was also his first time watching the film!). A great evening on a very warm Glasgow summer night. The big surprise was the announcement of the upcoming exhibition showcasing the entirety of the Foundation's archive, to be held in Edinburgh in 2020. 

Meeting two stars from 'Jason', along with Foundation collections manager, Connor Heaney.

All this exciting news got me thinking. As a big admirer of Ray and his career, as well as a passionate creative artist, I thought of ways I could maybe contribute to the celebrations. In the past, I have had numerous ideas for short films, using stop motion animation as the medium, however most of these projects have rarely advanced past short tests and drawings. This is entirely my fault, due to lack of motivation and procrastination (an honest blogger!), as it was a solo endeavour.

I had recently re-read Ray's first book, 'An Animated Life' and it made me realise that Ray started off in a similar fashion - using his dad's hobby house as a studio to work on his projects. 'Evolution of the World' was to be his first epic, chronicling the progression of life on Earth. Having seen the photos and test footage the 18-20 year old Ray animated for his ambitious and sadly unfinished 'magnum opus' of the time, I realised that I could make something independently and without assistance.

A young Harryhausen working on the unfinished "Evolution of the World" project.
Source: 'Popular Mechanics' Magazine - April, 1942

Now shortly prior to this, I had actually made my first fully finished stop motion model, a classic style T-Rex/Allosaurus (can't decide what it is). What I mean by 'classic style', is the posture of the creature, which many scientists believed stood upright, with the tail dragging behind. Basically the opposite of what "Jurassic Park" did with their T-Rex. I used a traditional 'build-up' method, similar to what Marcel Delgado used on "King Kong"; an aluminium wire armature, with built up foam anatomy clad with latex rubber skin (cast from a mould).

Back garden photoshoot.

I must admit, I am very proud of the results, although I may have to tinker with the armature a bit to avoid loose joints. Of course a fully machined ball and socket skeleton would be a dream and hopefully later down the line I can maybe get one custom made to my requirements. So I used this model to practice my animation technique (though a human figure would be far better suited for walk cycles and character animation), and the results were satisfactory. I even went one step further and did a slightly modernised 'Dynamation' test with me fighting off the creature in my back garden (the neighbours must have thought I'd lost it!). I also built a little stop motion version of myself to enable the dinosaur to pick me up in it's jaws.

Watch me fight a T-Rex in my back garden.

The short 10 second clip received lots of positive comments, which was a big confidence booster. The only downside was that animating in my bedroom was not going to be suitable for serious stop motion. I had accommodated a small space in my parents garage to do my work, even a small green screen setup, however the space was absolutely tiny. So this summer, my dad and I decided to clear the whole garage and I soon bought a 7ft long workbench that would occupy my various workshop tools. The workbench is a godsend and I find myself going up there near enough everyday to work or tidy up (spamming my Instagram and Facebook followers with constant updates!)

So after the Summer was over, apart from my job, I was working on a limited series of George Formby resin busts, which I would sell to the Society in Blackpool. I'll cover this in more detail in a later post. After a lull in sales, I decided to turn one of my old homemade practice animation tables into a miniature set. I knew I wanted some sort of environment where dinosaurs/creatures could wander through, so I went with a fantasy forest/jungle. I must admit, I started making it with no plans or concept drawings. Inspiration wise, I found myself looking at the jungles featured in "King Kong" and "The Son of Kong", both using miniature/matte painting setups. I understand that the animation setups in those films were made up using a layer effect which when viewed from the front (foreground to background), created an illusion of depth. I learned this from the fantastic documentary "RKO Production 601: The Making of 'Kong the Eighth Wonder of the World'". These setups could reach about 20 feet in length, consisting of a background painting, miniature mid-ground with animation space and a miniature or glass painted foreground. The following photo illustrates the process, with added info on miniature rear projection for incorporating live action footage.

Source: https://deneroff.com/blog/willis-obrien-iwerks-multiplane-camera-and-fleischers-stereoptical-process/

An example of the wonderful 'Skull Island' jungles as seen in "King Kong" (1933).

I always admire how animator/effects technician managed to pull this off back in 1933 along with the talents of Marcel Delgado, Byron Crabbe, Mario Larrinaga, Buzz Gibson, Max Steiner and Murray Spivak. These guys were the unsung heroes I aspired to follow, and still do. Ok the film technically, is inferior to what we see nowadays (although I still prefer practical methods over computer assisted effects), but when you think about it, nothing like it had ever been seen before and there wasn't a computer in sight! These artists were literally paving the way for what we have today, and thats what I admire most. So if it could be done with no digital assistance back then, and produce fantastic results, then surely I would be able to do the same...