Stan Winston

[rrw]

The news programs today kinda fluffed over the death of Stan Winston. Probably few people know who he is. But if you're a horror fan like me, you know he was one of the greatest special effects artists ever. He's won four Oscars for his work, created one of my favorite horror movie monsters, Pumpkinhead. He's greatest accomplishment may well be the life size, animatronic dinosaurs for Jurassic Park.
Here's the address to the newspaper article on his passing:
www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-winston17-2008jun17,0,285361.story
Stan WAS the MAN!

This was the original poster design for Pumpkinhead. Always a favorite of mine!

[b4sunset]

I'm a film buff and feel the loss... now, now--spielberg and lucas will have to double as special effects guru.. RRW, who do you think will replace him as the next icon??

[rrw]

Jun 18, 2008 11:24:37 GMT -5 b4sunset said:

I'm a film buff and feel the loss... now, now--spielberg and lucas will have to double as special effects guru.. RRW, who do you think will replace him as the next icon??

You know, B4, I don't know. There's such a trend now to go to straight CGI that animatronics is almost a thing of the past! The days of the special effects artists outside the computer are numbered, I think. I just finished watching Diary of the Dead and the CGI effects are so well blended that you can't tell the difference between them and the live action effects. The Stan Winston Studio is still open and doing business. Maybe the next King of Special Effects will come out of there.

[b4sunset]

That;s sad, RRW... i do delight in digital special FX but nothng can replace the " human" factor.. think "carrie", "the omen", "rosemary's baby", and a slew of hithcock's films.. these are the classics! will keep my nose on the ground for diary of the dead..