R.I.P. Stan Winston
Appreciation: Stan Winston created terrific monsters
Peter Hartlaub, Chronicle Pop Culture Critic
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Arnold Schwarzenegger got the eight-figure paychecks, Maria Shriver and the keys to the governor's mansion. Stan Winston received the adoration of a handful of science-fiction and horror geeks who may or may not have been able to recognize him on the street.
But almost as much as Schwarzenegger, Winston was the Terminator, creating the prosthetic makeup and metal skeleton parts that turned the actor into a convincing and memorable killing machine. He worked under impossibly tight financial circumstances in that first picture, as he often did early in his career. Winston was always an innovator, treating even his lowest-budget horror films or experiments in science fiction as another chance to prove that scary monster makeup and animatronic characters are, in fact, art.
Winston died Sunday of cancer at 62. The four-time Academy Award winner leaves behind a toy store worth of movie monsters and heroes - including the robots and creatures from the "Terminator" and "Predator" movies, the queen space bug from "Aliens" and many of the dinosaurs from "Jurassic Park." Most recently, Winston helped design the armor for this summer's "Iron Man."
The early part of his career, which reportedly began in his garage in the Northridge area of Los Angeles, included a series of obscurities and indignities - with the costumes for the Wookiee family in the notoriously atrocious "The Star Wars Holiday Special" at the top of the list. His first Academy Award nomination was for the makeup in the Andy Kaufman-as-a-robot movie "Heartbeeps," another picture that made critics want to jab themselves in the eye with a fork.
But even when Winston found more mainstream jobs - including makeup for the movie version of "The Wiz" - he couldn't stay away from emerging directors in the then-poorly regarded horror and sci-fi genres, where he could showcase his talent for performing miracles on a shoestring budget.
Winston's breakthrough came when he met a young James Cameron, who had been working with B-movie king Roger Corman. Cameron and Winston teamed to make "Terminator" in 1984 and "Aliens" in 1986 - which to this day look like big bombastic spectacles, even though they were created with budgets at a fraction of the cost of a modern blockbuster.
If Winston had one gift, it was to create creatures and machines that seemed futuristic and logical at the same time. He made things that moviegoers had never seen or even dreamed before, but they were functional and believable. The scene where the Terminator carves up his arm and detaches his cornea with a scalpel - revealing a dilating red eye beneath the synthetic skin - is classic Winston. (And for those of us who enjoyed that two-minute sequence multiple times in the theater, putting in contact lenses in the morning was never the same.)
Beginning with that scene, Winston and his talented crew were responsible for millions of young filmgoers quietly muttering the word "cool" in a darkened movie house. His roster of monster and machine creations was arguably the most impressive of anyone who didn't work on a "Star Wars" film. Winston also designed robots for Steven Spielberg's "AI: Artificial Intelligence" and Johnny Depp's utensil-laden extremities for "Edward Scissorhands."
Perhaps most impressive was his ability to adapt to the times. Winston believed in effects you could touch, but he didn't fight the flood of computer effects in the 1990s, instead working to seamlessly weave the old practices with the new in groundbreaking films such as "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." At the time of his death, Stan Winston Studio had a digital division.
Winston seemed to like going back to his roots, always making time for some lower-budget work to go with his record-setting blockbusters. During his career ascent in the late 1980s, Winston took the time to direct a gloriously schlocky horror film called "Pumpkinhead," a cult favorite barely marketed by the studio - that was still successful enough to spawn three sequels.
Stan Winston built a world-class studio, designed some of the most memorable characters in the sci-fi, fantasy and horror genres and got his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But there was something tangible about his creations that still felt made them seem as if they were created with love in that Northridge garage. Winston remained a blue-collar effects man - in all the right ways.
Winston's work
Stan Winston's greatest hits, working with makeup and special effects
-- "The Wiz" (1978)
-- "The Terminator" (1984)
-- "Predator" (1987)
-- "Edward Scissorhands" (1990)
-- "Jurassic Park" (1993)
-- "Artificial Intelligence: AI" (2001)
-- "Iron Man" (2008)
E-mail Peter Hartlaub at phartlaub@sfchronicle.com.
This article appeared on page E - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
If want to see photos go here:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/19/DD8S11AKR3.DTL
Peter Hartlaub, Chronicle Pop Culture Critic
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Arnold Schwarzenegger got the eight-figure paychecks, Maria Shriver and the keys to the governor's mansion. Stan Winston received the adoration of a handful of science-fiction and horror geeks who may or may not have been able to recognize him on the street.
But almost as much as Schwarzenegger, Winston was the Terminator, creating the prosthetic makeup and metal skeleton parts that turned the actor into a convincing and memorable killing machine. He worked under impossibly tight financial circumstances in that first picture, as he often did early in his career. Winston was always an innovator, treating even his lowest-budget horror films or experiments in science fiction as another chance to prove that scary monster makeup and animatronic characters are, in fact, art.
Winston died Sunday of cancer at 62. The four-time Academy Award winner leaves behind a toy store worth of movie monsters and heroes - including the robots and creatures from the "Terminator" and "Predator" movies, the queen space bug from "Aliens" and many of the dinosaurs from "Jurassic Park." Most recently, Winston helped design the armor for this summer's "Iron Man."
The early part of his career, which reportedly began in his garage in the Northridge area of Los Angeles, included a series of obscurities and indignities - with the costumes for the Wookiee family in the notoriously atrocious "The Star Wars Holiday Special" at the top of the list. His first Academy Award nomination was for the makeup in the Andy Kaufman-as-a-robot movie "Heartbeeps," another picture that made critics want to jab themselves in the eye with a fork.
But even when Winston found more mainstream jobs - including makeup for the movie version of "The Wiz" - he couldn't stay away from emerging directors in the then-poorly regarded horror and sci-fi genres, where he could showcase his talent for performing miracles on a shoestring budget.
Winston's breakthrough came when he met a young James Cameron, who had been working with B-movie king Roger Corman. Cameron and Winston teamed to make "Terminator" in 1984 and "Aliens" in 1986 - which to this day look like big bombastic spectacles, even though they were created with budgets at a fraction of the cost of a modern blockbuster.
If Winston had one gift, it was to create creatures and machines that seemed futuristic and logical at the same time. He made things that moviegoers had never seen or even dreamed before, but they were functional and believable. The scene where the Terminator carves up his arm and detaches his cornea with a scalpel - revealing a dilating red eye beneath the synthetic skin - is classic Winston. (And for those of us who enjoyed that two-minute sequence multiple times in the theater, putting in contact lenses in the morning was never the same.)
Beginning with that scene, Winston and his talented crew were responsible for millions of young filmgoers quietly muttering the word "cool" in a darkened movie house. His roster of monster and machine creations was arguably the most impressive of anyone who didn't work on a "Star Wars" film. Winston also designed robots for Steven Spielberg's "AI: Artificial Intelligence" and Johnny Depp's utensil-laden extremities for "Edward Scissorhands."
Perhaps most impressive was his ability to adapt to the times. Winston believed in effects you could touch, but he didn't fight the flood of computer effects in the 1990s, instead working to seamlessly weave the old practices with the new in groundbreaking films such as "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." At the time of his death, Stan Winston Studio had a digital division.
Winston seemed to like going back to his roots, always making time for some lower-budget work to go with his record-setting blockbusters. During his career ascent in the late 1980s, Winston took the time to direct a gloriously schlocky horror film called "Pumpkinhead," a cult favorite barely marketed by the studio - that was still successful enough to spawn three sequels.
Stan Winston built a world-class studio, designed some of the most memorable characters in the sci-fi, fantasy and horror genres and got his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But there was something tangible about his creations that still felt made them seem as if they were created with love in that Northridge garage. Winston remained a blue-collar effects man - in all the right ways.
Winston's work
Stan Winston's greatest hits, working with makeup and special effects
-- "The Wiz" (1978)
-- "The Terminator" (1984)
-- "Predator" (1987)
-- "Edward Scissorhands" (1990)
-- "Jurassic Park" (1993)
-- "Artificial Intelligence: AI" (2001)
-- "Iron Man" (2008)
E-mail Peter Hartlaub at phartlaub@sfchronicle.com.
This article appeared on page E - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
If want to see photos go here:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/19/DD8S11AKR3.DTL