Ray Harryhausen, Grand Guru

Since my last posting, I’ve been to London and Paris, and am now home again. As with most of my trips to London, I’ve flown back with a nasty cold. It’s hard to escape since most everywhere you go in London, people seem to be coughing and hacking. I face each trip to London now with a mix of dread and worry for the inevitable cold I’m about to catch. (Yes, I’ve tried vitamins, Zicam, Airborne and Emergen-C).

Every few trips to London, my partner and I try to pay a visit to his childhood hero and inspiration, Ray Harryhausen. For thousands of visual effects artists, Ray Harryhausen’s work was the creative inspiration that got them into filmmaking. Ray influenced a generation of directors (among them Tim Burton, John Landis, Peter Jackson) and VFX Supervisors (Dennis Muren, Phil Tippett, Ken Ralston, just to name a few) with the fantastical worlds he created. At age 88, he still travels, writes books, goes on speaking tours to meet the legions of his fans around the world, and performs the role of emeritus effects guru.

I hate to admit that until I worked in visual effects, I had never heard of him. My film school education did not cover his brilliant work as most of his movies were not usually part of film school canon. Also, I was not a little girl who watched sci-fi or monster films. Without the benefit of having brothers or boy cousins, my exposure to Ray’s films were nil. So it wasn’t until a few years ago that I came to appreciate and admire the talents of this animation genius.

What is especially astounding is that Ray worked alone. All those frames of beautiful stop-motion were animated by his two hands. These days, it takes a team of 300 people to do what Ray did alone. So much for computers taking jobs away from humans! Ray built the armatures, sculpted, animated, lit and shot the models, while supervising the live action to work with his effects. Equal parts artist and technician, he also managed his own budget, thus adding VFX producer responsibilities to all of his other duties. So to call him a “guru” seems to be an understatement.

Ray seems amused by what the VFX field has become since the advent of computer technology. He’s also seen the landscape of filmmaking change drastically over the past five decades. A couple of hours with Ray, and I am graced with stories about what it was like to work with Bernie (that’s Bernard Herrmann to you and me), his experience shooting on location in The Alhambra in Granada, Spain (perhaps the last film production allowed within the citadel) and funny quips that illuminate what has (but also hasn’t) changed about the business. He is a living film history. As with all great professors, Ray is generous in sharing his passion and knowledge. I gain in two hours with Ray, what can be a whole semester’s worth of film history class. University Harryhausen is my favorite place in London.

As I’ve stated in an earlier blog, I never felt that my true calling was to work in visual effects. However, I am ever grateful for the detour. I’ve had a chance to work with some fantastically talented people who are passionate about their work. More importantly, I met the man who inspired them, the Grand Guru himself.

P.S. You can view highlights of Ray Harryhausen's work on YouTube.com.