Episode 008 August 2014
We chat with creator and publisher of Cinefex, Don Shay, about the life and work of stop motion pioneer Willis O’Brien, including The Lost World, King Kong, Mighty Joe Young, and more. We also interview animation director Rob Shaw about his films and experience as a stop-motion animator.
[Originally known as episode 007.]
About The Optical
Host Mark Boszko takes you on a journey back through the annals of Cinefex magazine, talking about the movies and topics they covered 30+ years ago. We talk to people involved in the films, people who make movies, and people who love movies, and have a fun time doing it.
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Revisiting:
Cinefex 7
Special thanks to Cinefex for access to these out-of-print back issues.
Even though these are out of print, you can now download and read along with Issue 7 — and every other back issue of Cinefex — in the Cinefex iPad App. Download the free iPad app now!
Special Guest:
Don Shay
Creator and Publisher of Cinefex magazine, and biographer of Willis O’Brien
Special Guest:
Rob Shaw
Animation director and stop-motion animator
Sponsor:
Cinefex
Cinefex — The journal of cinematic illusions.
Guests:
Animation director and stop-motion animator
Follow Along
Show Notes
Research Materials
- Cinefex number 7 — October 1981, available in the Cinefex iPad app
- Cinefex number 138 — July 2014, with “O'Brien vs Dawley” update by Stephen Czerkas
- Revisiting Cinefex (7): Willis O’Brien by Graham Edwards
- The Making of King Kong, by Orville Goldner and George E. Turner
- King Kong: The History of a Movie Icon from Fay Wray to Peter Jackson, by Ray Morton
More Bits
Willis O'Brien
- The Dinosaur and the Missing Link (1915), on YouTube
- Edison Conquest Pictures
- R.F.D. 10,000 BC (1917), on YouTube
- The Edison film monopoly — The Motion Picture Patents Company
- The Ghost of Slumber Mountain (1918), on YouTube
- Herbert M. Dawley’s “Articulated Effigy” patent for stop-motion animation
- Ralph Hammeras’ glass painting patent for in-camera composites
- The Lost World (1925), on YouTube, or the Lumivision DVD which also features several of O'Brien's Edison shorts.
- Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack
- Kong pitch painting, “Giant Terror Gorilla” by Willis O'Brien and (via Giant Monsters Among Us)
- King Kong title sequence at Art of the Title
- 1938 re-release trailer for King Kong
- DeLaurentis’ full-size Kong is discussed in this delightful AV Club review of King Kong (1976)
- Hays Motion Picture Production Code
- Peter Jackson and WETA's Lost Spider Pit Sequence
- Linwood Dunn and the optical printer
- The Most Dangerous Game (1932)
- How King Kong was Filmed (or Not), on the Cinefex Blog, about the 1933 King Kong magazine article with effects misinformation
- Son of Kong (1933)
- The Last Days of Pompeii (1935)
- WAR EAGLES: The Unmaking of an Epic - An Alternate History for Classic Film Monsters by David Conover & Philip J. Riley
- The Valley of Gwangi (1969)
- George Lofgren, taxidermist
- Willis O'Brien accepts his Oscar — “Thank you very, very much.” Delightful.
- The Black Scorpion (1957)
- Pete Peterson, stop-motion animator
- The Giant Behemoth (1959)
- The Lost World (1960)
- It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963)
- Jim Danforth, stop-motion animator
- Nitrate film stock
- Celebrating Cinefex — The Video
Rob Shaw
- Dragonframe motion control
- Downshooter for animation
- Happy Tree Friends. “Cubtron Z”
- They Might Be Giants, “I’m Impressed”
- Article on George Pal’s Puppetoons, with a picture showing Willis O'Brien and Ray Harryhausen working on the shorts
- Puppetoons replacement animation
- Portlandia Rats
- Coraline 2009
- Flushed Away (2006)
- How to use a Surface Gauge for Stop Motion Animation](http://www.animateclay.com/index.php/articles/8-video-tutorials/18-how-to-use-a-surface-gage-for-stop-motion-animation)
- Dragonframe Frame Grabber software
- Rob’s Two Bottles Blog
- The Five Deadly Venoms (1978)
Musical Guest:
Digital Droo
As Ever
- The Optical Aperture Logo by Mike Gower
- The Optical Theme Music by Digital Droo
