The Talents of Eduardo Oropeza: King Kong Reborn

Among the few craftsmen who specialize in classic stop-motion creature and character puppet fabrication, Eduardo Oropeza stands out. Hailing from Mexico, Eduardo brings a unique twist to the tradition. Unlike many of his peers who gravitate towards CGI or digital effects animation, Eduardo has chosen to immerse himself in this hands-on creative niche. By doing so, he continues the legacy of the iconic stop-motion animation master, Ray Harryhausen.

Eduardo has collaborated with the exceptionally talented animator >>> Justin Rasch. I hope they continue to work together, as they would make a formidable team. As an independent production studio, they could offer their services in mixed media and stop-motion animation. Traditional animation will always captivate audiences, despite the prevalence of CGI and the current surge of A.I. generated animations. 

Justin collaborates with various puppet fabricator artists, tailoring each puppet character design to be more stylized or cartoon-esque as needed. Eduardo contributed to the Del Toro / Gustafson, Oscar winning 'Pinocchio', working with the 2nd unit production team in Guadalajara, Mexico. If Eduardo were to come to Portland, Oregon which is currently a hotbed for stop-motion animation, his creative talents would undoubtedly be in high demand!

Eduardo has much social media content and I cannot post the many photos or videos here, but instead, these are the links ... his handle is TRexProduction3190

Click >>> Youtube  -  Instagram  -  Facebook

Take a look at this unique collaboration ...Eduardo Oropeza's detailed realistic stop motion puppets and Justin Rasch's awesome animation ... fabrication & stop motion, all hands-on tactile REAL! 

  

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Documentaries: Zeman, Harryhausen, & Tippett

Perhaps you have not watched these documentaries, or if you have, you can revisit and experience the golden era of the maybe less stressful past, where the mind assault of today's excess of the internet juggernaut did not exist. Relax & enjoy.

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Karel Zeman was a pioneering Czech filmmaker known for his innovative use of animation and special effects. Often referred to as the "Czech Méliès," he masterfully blended live-action footage with various animation techniques to create fantastical worlds. His notable works include "Journey to the Beginning of Time," "The Fabulous World of Jules Verne," and "The Fabulous Baron Munchausen". Zeman's unique style and creativity have left a lasting impact on the world of cinema. >>> Karel Zeman - IMDb

The Special Effects of Karel Zeman (1980) - 17 minutes

 

Film Adventurer Karel Zeman (2015) -  It appears that the only way to watch the newer Zeman Documentary is by rent streaming it. Some streaming platforms require you to subscribe to a monthly fee, but you have option to cancel anytime and not pay.. I found VIMEO offers to stream this for only $3.00. No subscription, no cancellation red tape. You pay once and you can watch as many times within 48 hours. Click >>> VIMEO Stream           

It is a completely new documentary produced in 2015, with the older Zeman works having digitally improved resolution, and it is a substantial 1 hour 36 minutes long - Here is a preview. 

 

 More >>> Preview 

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Ray Harryhausen was an iconic American animator and special effects pioneer, best known for his innovative use of stop-motion animation, or "Dynamation." His groundbreaking work on films like "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms," "Jason and the Argonauts," and "Clash of the Titans" has inspired generations of filmmakers and special effects artists. Harryhausen's unique ability to bring mythical creatures to life left an indelible mark on the world of cinema. >>> Ray Harryhausen - IMDb

Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan (2011) - 1 hour 37 minutes

 

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Phil Tippett is a renowned American visual effects supervisor and producer, celebrated for his expertise in creature design, Stop-Motion, and computer character animation. He has made significant contributions to iconic films such as the original "Star Wars" trilogy, "Jurassic Park," and "RoboCop." Tippett founded Tippett Studio in 1984, where he continues to innovate in the field of visual effects and also, continues to produce various classic style stop motion effects. His work has earned him multiple awards, including two Academy Awards. >>> Phil Tippett - IMDb

Phil Tippett: Mad Dreams and Monsters (2019) - 1 hour 23 minutes - Youtube will not allow placing this video in websites, but you can click >>> HERE or the screen arrow below and you will be transferred to Youtube, and watch there. It is free to view and has some Ads.

You can also watch Mad Dreams and Monsters at TUBI streaming for free and no ads. It is available in USA including, the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Mexico, Panama, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador >>> WATCH HERE

 

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It's About the MOTION - Step up your Harryhausen Game

There is a lot of information available on human/people character animation (colleges, online, books & courses, etc), but not as much on 'Creature Animation'. In the realm of the very niche art & craft of stop motion animation, Ray Harryhausen popularized realistic-surreal creature animation ... he commercialized it as a marketable entertainment product. However, since Jurassic Park (1993), Creature Characters has been taken over by CGI, but just my observation ... the digital creations are perhaps becoming homogenized or having similar aesthetics? Audiences are becoming more finicky and looking for variety, something different ... Stop Motion can and does provide that visual flavor difference & uniqueness. Is Retro in general, now becoming a marketable thing?

For the Harryhausen Stop Motion Warrior who wants to keep ALIVE, 'Old School Retro' Creature Character animation within the Stop Motion medium ... you ... have to Teach yourself ! When exploring fantasy, monstrous, alien, other-worldly creature characters, you should study from actual 'nature' which can inspire your creative imagination. How would a 2 headed, 4 legged with 4 arms & 2 tails creature-monster, move and behave?😮 There are plenty of Nature & Wildlife documentaries out there and many are free to watch. One resource that I have known about for many years and I particularly like ... is the BBC Motion Gallery.

 

The BBC Motion Gallery can be used as a resource for studying motion from real existing animals, birds, fishes, insects, or whatever real natural life forms that exist on this planet.You can use their search engine to find specific items and study the motion of different creatures.

It is a comprehensive collection going back to the early beginning days of BBC broadcasts in 1922, to the present day.With more than 125,000 license-ready clips to choose from plus over a million hours of footage from the BBC’s Broadcast Archive.

As I said before, you can still do a general online search of Nature & Wildlife videos ... Youtube, Vimeo, Daily Motion or free movie channels that offer documentaries. Although, you have to watch the entire video until you find what you need.  If you cannot download video, there is option to screen capture record with specialty software. The BBC Motion Gallery is just a good additional motion studying & analysis resource for animators.

 

They have available for free ... sample clips & snippets that can be downloaded. The video clips have the BBC watermark and are very short, but for animation purposes, that does not really matter. We can use those sample clips and loop it (repeat cycle) to study the motion, movements & behaviors. Check out the BBC Motion Gallery!

Visit - BBC Motion Gallery

NOTE: I did not download these sample videos. They are embedded here in the blog and play/run from the BBC's servers. If you are on a computer or laptop. place the Mouse pointer inside the video player, then right click the mouse (PC Windows) and sometimes a menu will appear giving you options to play back video at different speeds, or Loop the video.

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Ray's 'The 7th Voyage of Sinbad' Making Of Memories

 

Even though Ray Harryhausen has done many interviews, I was not previously aware of this one and perhaps others, may also have not seen it. Comparing to other interviews of past, I am estimating that this might have been recorded about 2007 when Ray was only 87 years young!

 

Foreground miniature, puppets, and rear screen projection

'The Cyclops Roasting a Man'

It was produced by Rosas Production, and Ray's long time friend & associate, Arnold Kunert (RIP 2018) was the co-producer. It is my understanding that this interview was possibly included in some of the Dvd / Bluray released versions of 'The 7th Voyage of Sinbad'. This presentation is about 24 minutes long. If you do not have time, you can always watch later.

I won't give away any spoilers ... Ray is just reminiscing about the making of 7th Voyage. You do not see or hear the interviewer ... it is well edited to make it appear that Ray is storytelling without any interruptions. I am surprised that he was able to ramble that much😉. As I was watching, I said to myself, "RAY ... please pause and take a drink of water to soothe your dry throat!"

He does reveal some interesting details about 'the making of' 7th Voyage that I did not know about. See ... if you can recognize them (the reveals).

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For the hardcore technically minded Stop Motion Fans, here is a bonus surprise for you ....

BONUS 1  Before you click ... please be seated, relax, & breathe deeply                                  

 

BONUS 2  This one, I think 'they' somewhat made a mistake. Can you find it? 

 

 

Visit >>> UNCLE RAY

 

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RARE - Behind the Scenes : Ray Harryhausen

Ray very briefly demonstrating rear projection and he is actually handling the puppet & posing it to the projected image. It's only about 2-1/2 minutes, watch ....

Of course, there have been publicity still photos of Ray with puppets and sometimes with a rear projection tabletop set-up ... but for me, I have never seen a video of him actually showing his method, posing the puppet, including the rear projection.
 

 

At the Youtube channel, you can read further details, below the player ... the description & notes.

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