Feat. The voices of Stan Winston, Shane Mahan, John Rosengrant, Richard Landon.
The DVD menu on loading the disc is very swish and you know from the steely sound and the crisp imagery that you're in the realm of the creative master himself Stan "The Man" Winston.
The entire DVD is a vault of information which will not only be of interest to people wishing to have a career in the movie industry but also to any movie fan; witnessing the magic and work of Stan and his vast team of incredible artists will leave you with your jaw firmly placed at your feet on more than one occasion.
On starting your journey into this remarkable DVD you will be greeted by a voice any true Terminator fan will recognise, Stan Winston himself. As a fan; the DVD instantly has a warm and homely feel and you will for the first chapter witness Stan talking about creating wonderful technology for use in the early phases of a troubled Planet of The Apes (2001) dressed as an ape, experimenting and fooling around which is great to see.
Stan originally set out to start a career in acting but also to create characters... little did he know that he would end up being a pioneer and the most famous character artist/creator ever.
This section will show you the different art mediums in the design phase, witness some awesome pencil on paper art, from concepts, to bluprints; hear about how scripts influence the development of characters and also how technology has become a big part of the whole process. Computers, photoshop and software all allow for Stan's artists to work quickly and efficiently in an industry where doing things fast is a must to limit breaking the bank on a movie's budget.
It is great to watch the masters at work and see the impressive artwork and designs before becoming a reality, in the bowels of the Stan Winston Studio itself.
Lots of cool stuff in this section; sculpting of dinosaurs from the Jurassic Park movies etc and other creatures to follow but our focus as always is TERMINATOR!
So if the cool guys at Stan Winston need to turn a famous actor from a Terminator movie into a living puppet which can be shot at, burned alive, or crushed... how can they do this without harming Arnold Schwarzenegger for example?
This section will give Terminator fans some nice things to see indeed:
Arnold having battle damage applied
T-1000 splash damage
Sarah Connor (nuclear blast)
Obviously the actors have been sculpted/cast/scanned but the manipulation of heated clay is needed to apply all the little details, scratches, bullet wounds etc.
All very impressive to see but you'll be in awe of the mighty 3 tonne lifesize T-REX from Jurassic Park,- now that's a sight for sore eyes!
Once the sculptures are compelete it's off to the mold department. This will allow multiple casts to be created and and different versions to head to the set, stunt versions will be blown to pieces etc.
The sheer depth and attention to detail that Stan's team go to is remarkable, this section of the dvd shows the skill, techniques and perfection of teamwork which takes place amongst all the anxiety of carefully choreographed pandemonium and looming deadlines.
Prepare to be blown away as you watch Stan and his men mimic muscle contractions and breathing. Again research is the essence of the thing with Stan who even went so far as to visit the mountain Gorilla's when his work required him to make a realistic gorilla suit. This just shows you how Stan didn't accept limitations; he had to break them down and find new ways of making this movie magic possible.
If Stan Winston's studio was a wig factory Stan would have been a very bored man, indeed a tedious job but someone has to do it for our favorite cyborg (T800/T-850) to have a head of hair!
In this section you get to see a T-850 damaged Schwarzenegger receiving a head of hair with the technique of punching (a little like very intense felting) BRAVO! looks great to see a Terminator at this stage of production.
In the model making section you will get to see T-1 Units being constructed (Terminator 3 Rise of the machines) and also the T-X Construction.
It is amazing just to see how far things have come over the years as stated on the DVD on the first Terminator movie; they just used clay and did their best but on T3 things were being designed on computers and being finished off in hard materials like fiberglass.
From what we can see on this DVD the T-X had far more scope as a character creation and when you see the T-1 Units and the T-X in the studio it just feels like they could have been used to better effect in the movie itself. It really is fun to watch these creations coming to life.
Things must be getting easier for the guys by now...right? WRONG! Wait till you see the staggering amount of hydraulic cables and wires inside some of these creations, it'll make you weep! These are the ultimate puppets on the planet, from human-hunting raptors to cyborg infiltrators.
As Stan said... it's all about performance and Stan Winston and his team have always brought us a high standard of performance from their creations.
This section is very interesting and you will even see an Alien Queen test run mock-up made of refuse sacks... it still looks great and it isn't even half finished! These same type of Hydraulic wires also power the clenching of the Endoskeleton hand, it never gets old and looks extremely real. This same technology allowed the lifesize T-REX to have 1G of force and this is when things get dangerous!
The gorillas which Stan spent time with in the mountains researching also look great and the hydraulic/electronic paths bring life and animation to a face... your eyes will be deceived!
Also worth mentioning is Stan saying that by the time T3 came around they were building actual robots; the T-1 unit is a Hydraulically powered robot which can be remote controlled, moved around and perform the movements required in the script of the movie. The same techniques to bring alive the T-1 also build prototype cars, aeroplanes and are all drawn with CAD (computer aided design) lathes. Hopefully these machines are not connected to SkyNet's nueral net processor!
Are you a good model painter? Ask yourself that question again once you see the painting skills of these artists... This section has some great Terminator footage, the painting of Arnold Schwarzenegger's flesh, the T-X endoskeleton being painted and battle damage Terminator effects. The paint jobs are amazing. Simple as that!
The test and rehearsals section looks like the team are having the most fun with smiles cracking as they puppeteer small toys in a battle of life and death (Small Soldiers) or explode some bodies for a nuclear holocaust (T2). Also great to hear Stan narrating which he does at regular intervals on this DVD. Notible Terminator moments include a T-1000 head split, T-1000 test for Todd drinking milk and having a blade arm pinning him to his kitchen wall.
You will see things on this DVD that you will never have seen before on a Terminator DVD/Blu-Ray Special Features section.
Digital art has come into play and with Stan always having a love for animation and animated movies this was a direction he wanted to move in. Also with 3D and photoshop coming in to play for the development of effects for movies.
This section will show you T-1 units constructed in 3D also the T-X in Endoskeleton form and all the T-Xs various armed weaponary from flame throwers to buzz-saws.
Digital is vast becoming a great tool for the Stan Winston team and they utilize it well.
This is a wonder to watch; just how they took a miniture sculpture and turned it into a 3 tonne lifesize monster. The entire DVD has plenty of footage for Jurassic Park fans and watching the dinosaur research all the way through to see a T-REX throwing a stuntman around in its mouth will be remembered not only for sheer size and scale but also danger.
The mechanisms, hydraulics and movement that makes these gigantic dinosaurs move, could literally kill you if you stood in their path; this continues to show us that the Stan Winston team didn't have any limits, if they can do it physically they will and boy it beats CGI hands down any day, any year, any time!
The dvd ends with the thanking of all the artists involved with the movie projects and we thank them too for making Terminator a cut above the rest and hopefully Legacy Effects (formally Stan Winston Studios) will return to provide us more cybernetic carnage in the future.
Stan: "Well I've had myself a good ole time". We had a great time too Stan. This DVD was great escapism, immersive, informative, impressive and interesting at the same time. Stan Winston has really set the bar high for practical effects in the movie industry. Stan loved the Terminator movies and you can tell he did every movie with passion. Stan always had time for Terminator and we as a website see it as such a shame that we never got to talk to him about the armies of SkyNet.
We are sure to see more Terminator movies courtesy of Stan's friends and colleagues. For those of you who remember the T2 teaser trailer in which Arnold Schwarzenegger was constructed; we hope the great job Stan did with directing the teaser gets to see the light of day in a future Terminator movie scene... Wouldn't it be cool to see that bio flesh generator in Terminator 5?
This DVD is a must buy for any fan of Terminator and many of your other favorite movies are featured on this disc.
We focused on Terminator but this disc is a veritable aladdin's cave of information and sheer awesomeness! Dinaosaurs from Jurassic Park, Aliens and Predator's, Instinct, A.I. and so many other great titles.
Without the imagination and wit of Mr. Stan Winston the movies that we all know and love would not carry with them the weight and detail which encapsulated some of the greatest cinematic moments ever seen or experienced on the big screen.
R.I.P. Stan. Your genius remains with us.
TheTerminatorFans.com
Visit the official Stan Winston School of Character Arts website here:
Do you want to buy this DVD?
Simply go to the Stan Winston School Website link provided above and sign up for early access to the site. Here you will be able to purchase the DVD. The DVD is worth every cent!
