The Zeus of Stop Motion Effects

The history of special effects isn't complete without a chapter devoted to the art of stop-motion animation, and that art owes a tremendous debt to one man: Ray Harryhausen.

Inspired by stop-motion pioneer Willis O'Brien and films like 1933's "King Kong," Harryhausen began experimenting with visuals effects, creating his own miniature models and using a 16 mm camera to shoot demo reels. The stop-motion technology that Harryhausen is famed for may seem like special effects 101 compared to what can be done today with computers, but during the so-called Golden Age of Hollywood, it was pure movie magic. The painstaking process involves moving models ever-so slightly for each individual camera shot, thus creating the illusion of movement. Without the benefit of advanced technology, Harryhausen had to find ways, using camera techniques and photo mattes, to blend the illusions with live action.

Ray Harryhausen with a few of his creations from "Clash of the Titans."

His career in movies as a visual effects artist began with work on Paramount's series of short puppet films. In the early 1940s during World War II, Harryhausen was assigned to the U.S. Army's Motion Picture Unit, which created short educational films about the military. After WWII, Harryhausen got a chance to work with his idol O'Brien on "Mighty Joe Young," the 1949 classic about a 10-foot tall gorilla, which earned an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for its ground-breaking stop-motion animation.

From there, Harryhausen ventured out on his own and made some of the most memorable black & white monster movies and science fiction flicks of the 1950s and 60s, including "The Beat from 20,000 Fathoms," "It Came from Beneath the Sea," "Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers," and "20 Million Miles to Earth." On "20,000 Fathoms," Harryhausen began using a new technique referred to as "Dynamation," which was designed to blends live action with model stop-motion animation through the use of a split screen with rear-projection. The revolutionary technique helped make Harryhausen a sought-after commodity in Hollywood and also transformed visual effects in the film industry.

Harryhausen later adapted Dynamation for color and turned his attention to the fantasy genre during the 1960s making such classics as "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" (which spawned two sequels) and "Jason and the Argonauts," which is considered to be Harryhausen's most accomplished work; Jason's battle with animated skeletons and his final showdown with the seven-headed hydra are considered hallmarks in the history of special effects. In addition, Harryhausen achieved another hit with the 1966 blockbuster "One Million Years B.C." starring Raquel Whelch (and lots of dinosaurs). Most of today's moviegoers remember Harryhausen's final curtain call the best: 1981's "Clash of the Titans." His Medusa and Kraken animations turned the film into a box office hit and a cult classic.

Medusa from "Clash of the Titans."

For generations of young kids who grew up to be amazing filmmakers themselves, like Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson, Harryhausen is an important influence that inspired generations of fans turned movie wunderkinds. His classics, such as Jason and the Argonauts, the Sinbad films, and Clash of the Titans, are now available on DVD for future generations to enjoy, and his work is a refreshing throwback to the pre-CGI days of effects. As film critic Dave Kehr wrote in The New York Times, "Harryhausen's work retained a disarmingly personal, handmade touch, a grain of humanity so often missing from the seamless, sophisticated computer generated images of today."

Harryhausen recently turned 88, and he's not keeping idle. Comic book author/writer Darren Davis of Bluewater Productions has now taken Harryhausen's movies, and translated them into graphic novels, a great way to reinvent Ray's work for a new generation. Tom's Games spoke to Harryhausen and Davis about effects now and then, the art of mythological storytelling, and why stop motion animation is still a joy to watch after all these years.

TOM'S GAMES: You've said in previous interviews that the 1933 King Kong was the movie that made you want to do special effects for a living. For the readers, if you could please describe what it felt like to see King Kong in the theater when you did, and why it was considered state of the art for effects in its time.

RAY HARRYHAUSEN: I was thrilled by "King Kong" because, other than seeing "The Lost World" as a five-year old eight years earlier, I had never seen anything like it on the screen. And this film, "King Kong," had sound effects and dialogue. I was only 12 or 13 at the time, so I had no idea how the special effects were done and very few reliable articles had been written about special effects because it was considered a studio secret.

TG: When you saw Kong, did you feel you could do it as well, or did you feel as complicated as effects can be, it was something you could learn?

HARRYHAUSEN: I certainly didn't think I could do it as well. I didn't really know how it was done except that I knew the dinosaurs and gorilla couldn't be real. I found the film extremely interesting and exciting and wanted to know more about it and how it was done.

Harryhausen hand-crafted many of the models he used for his stop-motion effects.

TG: Why do you feel the original Kong still holds up, even with technology coming as far as it has?

HARRYHAUSEN: The original Kong has a great story, which begins with the first line of dialogue, "Is this the motion picture ship?" and continues for the next 100 minutes, pulling the audience through a wonderful, exciting romantic adventure. Nothing like it since has ever been done in quite the same way. Audiences today still love the characters and cheer at the same scenes I loved in 1933. How many films can say that?

TG: Do you feel that even with special effects technology as advanced as it is today that stop motion can have a quality to it that has kept it alive, like your work, and the original Kong as I previously mentioned?

HARRYHAUSEN: Nothing has changed in the last 70 years except the sophistication of the technology. The real question one must always ask is: Does the film work as entertainment or not? If it doesn't work, all the expensive technology in the world won't make any difference.

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