film called Star Wars. John Dykstra, leader of Lucas’s special
effects unit, Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), developed a revolutionary
stop-motion technique called Go-Motion.
Even the most painstakingly conceived stop-motion sequences seem choppy
and stilted compared to live action footage. That’s because when an object
passes in front of a motion picture camera, its movement is slightly blurred
in each frame. When projected, this motion looks fluid and natural. Animators
were long aware of this problem, but lacked the tools to solve it.
For Star Wars, Dykstra and his ILM team programmed a computer to control
the movement of their models. Every time they exposed a single frame, the computer
moved the model slightly, causing it to blur on film. When audiences saw an
X-Wing Fighter soar across the screen, its movement was sweeping and smooth.
The difference was revolutionary and the public instinctively embraced it. Star
Wars became the largest grossing film of its time. By contrast, Eye of
the Tiger disappeared after a short run.
Clash of the Titans
Although Harryhausen praised Star Wars for its swashbuckling action
and broad mythological themes, he resisted Go-Motion technology. In a
1981 interview with Cinefex he criticized the impulse among filmmakers
to make animation more lifelike. "Our pictures are more of a surrealistic
experience, rather than an excursion into technical perfection,"
he said.
Harryhausen’s last feature film, Clash of the Titans (1981), reflects
the limitations of this sensibility. The tale of Perseus’s slaying of
the Medusa was lavished with a $15 million-dollar budget. Most of this
money was expended on stiff performances from Sir Laurence Olivier, Dame
Maggie Smith, and other luminaries. Harryhausen’s Dynamation sequences
sometimes dipped beneath his own high standards. The animator complained
he simply no longer had the energy to achieve the standards of his earlier
years. A notable exception is the terrifying Medusa and her crown of slithering
snakes. Although he was proud of his work on the film, he felt it was
time to let younger hands take over.
A Legacy of Make-believe
"It’s all an accumulation," Harryhausen said of the creative
process. "Everyone builds their lives on what others have built before
them. That’s what keeps the snowball rolling."
In 1992 the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized Harryhausen’s
accomplishments with the Gordon E. Sawyer Award for Technical Achievement.
Filmmakers George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, whose fantasy epics have
enthralled millions, acknowledge a great debt to Harryhausen. As children,
he enthralled them with cinematic magic and slight of hand. As adults,
his legacy of low-budget special effects, taught them that with a little
imagination, miracles are always possible.
Bibliography
Books
Harryhausen, Ray, Film Fantasy Scrapbook, New York:
A.S. Barnes & Co., 1972.
Dunn, Linwood G., and Turner, George, eds., The ASC
Treasury of Visual Effects, Hollywood: American Society of Cinematographers,
1983
Articles
Cox, Vic, "Ray Harryhausen: Acting Without the Lumps,"
Cinefex 5, July 1981.
Mandell, Paul, "Harryhausen Animates Annual Sci-Tech
Awards," American Cinematographer, May 1992.
Mandell, Paul, "Of Genies and Dragons: The Career
of Ray Harryhausen," American Cinematographer, December 1992.
Shay, Don, "Clash of the Foot-Tall Titans," Cinefex 5, July
1981.