Stan Winston and Jim Henson are my heroes.

October 28, 2011 6:07 PM

What are some good resources for learning about special effects? I am looking mainly for practical effects as opposed to CGI.

When I was a kid, Movie Magic was my favorite show. It gives you a behind the scenes look at the special effects that make movies awesome. I just watched Fantastic Flesh: The Art of Make-up EFX on Netflix, and it renewed my interest in old school practical effects.

I'm looking for any resources (books, articles, videos, blog posts, etc.) that give you a behind the scenes look at SFX. Tutorials are welcome, but not necessary (I'm not currently looking to get into SFX, I just think they're really cool). I'm mostly interested in visual effects, but sound editing is cool too.

Massive bonus points for puppetry and animatronics!

posted by Logic Sheep to Media & Arts (3 answers total)

Watch the original Twilight Zone episodes on dvd, and read behind-the-scenes production anecdotes in The Twilight Zone Companion. The show's effects seem quaint today, but they did wonderfully imaginative tricks with what relatively little they had.
posted by applemeat at 6:25 PM on October 28, 2011

Cinefex magazine. The issues go back thirty years and some of that early stuff is incredible.
posted by roger ackroyd at 6:38 PM on October 28, 2011

The "making of" featurette on the Dark Crystal DVD is pretty amazing. It's just Jim Henson and Brian Froud and a bunch of other beardy dudes making monsters and fairies in 1980s England. I'm not sure which edition of the DVD has the good (original 80s) one, though.
posted by Nibbly Fang at 7:56 PM on October 28, 2011