Part 39: Boldly going where three films, a television series, and an animated series had all gone before.

I was first contacted about STAR TREK IV by James Cummins.  It was strange because, although we were still friends,  he had been disapproving of my professional decisions such as when I went to work for Stan Winston on ALIENS.  Not that he was working, in fact, it was quite the opposite.  Regardless of what IMDB says, James' contribution to ALIEN PREDATORS (as it was released) had been prior to HOUSE when the project had been called THE FALLING.  That means that over a year had passed since HOUSE and James hadn't taken or landed any work.  In his defense, he always had said that he wanted to write and direct his own films and was one of the first (to my knowledge) to face the stigma of the "Make Up Effects Artist Who Wants to Direct". While he was fighting for his opportunity, his money began to run out and he needed to find work.

I'm unclear on the details but enter Kirk Thatcher.  (It is difficult for me to write objectively about someone who is such a good friend, but I shall endeavor to do so.)  Kirk was (is) a very big personality.  A talented illustrator and designer in his own rite, Kirk had done some conceptual art pieces for HOUSE prior to James' arrival on that project.  I believe that prior business relationship was the catalyst that drove James to speak to Kirk (who was then assistant to director Leonard Nimoy) about submitting designs and bidding on STAR TREK IV.   Who could have foreseen that Jame's pursuit of the show would cost him a friendship?

James called me because he recalled an alien design I had done in New Orleans and was interested in reworking it. You might recall this (I can't remember if I posted this earlier...):

My Shrimp-Headed alien drawing.

I had already sculpted a maquette of the design...

I had finished up at Doug Beswick's, was looking for work and the thought of participating on a STAR TREK movie seemed to good to be true.  It would still be a few years before STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION so all anyone knew was the classic crew and their exploits.  I agreed and James asked me to show up at his house on Saturday morning with the drawing in hand (no Internet or e-mail).

When I showed up to drop the drawing off, James then asked if I was interested in spending the day sketching alien concepts for him...for free.  Having no pressing plans so I agreed.  As we took our seats in James' home office, he gave me some guidelines.  Having met Leonard Nimoy earlier in the week, James now felt he had a grasp on what they were looking for.

He said that Mr. Nimoy had cited the major difference between STAR WARS and STAR TREK was that the latter dealt with alien cultures and civilizations and not just alien animals and creatures.  I pointed out to James that the alien illustration he held in his hand was basically a "Shrimp Guy" (okay, I'm cheating a little.  That is how Bill Sturgeon describes aliens built for the MEN IN BLACK series: ___________-guy; I just think it's funny).  James said that he felt the design was strong enough, that with his tweaking, would end up being one of the stronger concepts.  Whatever.  I was just happy that I could have the opportunity to work on a STAR TREK movie.
The rest of the day found me sketching a lot of "alien cultural beings" - think Ming and the denizens of Mongo rather than Jawas and Sand People.  James would look at a sketch and say "No!" (and discard it) or "Yes!" (and take it and redraw it in his style).  By the end of this crazy drawing session, I would say that James ended up with 20 or so designs, all done in his distinctive style.  Great!  Now just to show them to Mr. Nimoy and we start building! Right?

Wrong.

For whatever reason, James was not awarded the show.  Instead, it went to  Richard Snell, a bay area make up effects artist that James had hired on HOUSE! (See:The Making of House)

I first met Richard Snell when he showed up with sculptor Tony McVey at James' house in Glendale, California  to show their portfolios to be hired on HOUSE.  I liked Richard from the beginning.  I recall James not being as enamored with Richard as he was with Tony, but Richard, bless him, just kept selling and selling.  He started with his sculptures, then his make ups, then his wigs, then the teeth he had made, and finally the soft painted effects lenses he manufactured himself.  At this time, most effects lenses were HARD and a bitch to deal with.  Needless to say, Richard got the job, made lenses and hair pieces for HOUSE but I recall him being very frustrated with his treatment.  By now, I'm sure that most of you know that sometimes in life, people just don't "click" and I think that is the way it was between James and Richard.

So, the spiral downward of my friendship with James started with a call from Richard offering me a position on STAR TREK IV.  He asked my rate, I told him, and without hesitation, hired me on the spot.  As a courtesy, I called James and told him I was going to work for Richard on STAR TREK.

"Betrayal" was the word he used a lot in our conversation. I suppose it was a matter of perspective. I needed to work.  I was offered a job.  James' designs were rejected. Richard was going to pay my rate.  I couldn't understand how this warranted "betrayal".  A job was a job after all.  I didn't get angry when I was asked to "donate" a day and countless drawings so that James could redraw them and represent them as his ideas. It was a job.  Nothing personal.  Or so I thought.  Changing tactics, James then told me that he might have something going soon for a television show.  I might have still been green but I knew the difference between a couple of weeks of work versus a month or so of work.  I told him that I had committed to Richard and it would be unprofessional to quit before I started.  Poof!  Our friendship vanished.

This was a major turning point in my life.  I had tried to reason with James, but he was attempting to manipulate me with guilt (being raised Catholic, that was an easy thing to do). We had been friends by that point for 6 years.  He had been VERY generous with Tracy and I, but I felt that this was crossing the line.  To my knowledge, James was not the victim of some cabal, it was business and for him to ask me to not take work as a symbol of "loyalty" was not the sign of a true friend.  He hadn't worked for OVER A YEAR!  I couldn't afford that kind of a break!  So, unfortunately we parted company.

Richard didn't have a permanent shop.  In fact, I believe that this was the first show that he was keying on his own.  He rented a small industrial unit off of Willis Street (how do I remember that? Willis O'Brien of course) in Van Nuys.  It was a crappy area of town, but good enough for the needs of the show.  To fill out the crew Richard had hired Brian Wade, Dale Brady, and Craig Caton-Largent all of whom were seasoned veterans by this time.  Our ambassador to production was Kirk Thatcher who would come in from time to time to see the progress and make suggestions based on Mr. Nimoy's reactions.  The script was top secret, so Kirk basically told us the entire story so we would have a better understanding of where and how our aliens would play in scenes.  I recall that he actually remembered large sections of dialogue and acted it out for us.  I love Kirk!  For those of you who don't know him, he is famous amongst Star Trek fans as "the Punk on the bus" in Star Trek IV that Spock shuts down with his famous Vulcan neck pinch.

"I hate you and I berate you!!!"

The work load was something like this: Vulcan Ears for Spock, Sarek (Mark Lenard), and Saavik (Robin Curtis), a couple of Klingon appliances (one for lead Klingon, John Schuck) a protsthetic make up for a new alien navigator for the U.S.S. Saratoga, an alien appliance make up for Michael Berryman, an alien look for former Go-Go's band member Jane Wiedlin, and some masks and puppets to fill out the Star Fleet Federation council.

Richard told us that Leonard Nimoy's daughter, Nancy, was going to be contributing to the alien designs and we would be receiving them soon.  I asked Richard if I could do a piece of artwork, on my own, at home, revisiting some classic Star Trek aliens.  I did a pencil illustration of the "Tellarite" (a pig-nosed alien from the episode "Journey To Babel") as well as an "Andorian" (a blue faced alien with antennae from the same episode) and finally, a "Gorn" (a lizard-like alien that Kirk fought in the episode "Arena" - one of my all time favorites).  I turned the artwork over to Richard, who gave it to Kirk, who discussed it with Mr. Nimoy and it came down that we would do Tellarites and Andorians, but no Gorns.  See, the Federation has never made peace with the Gorns...Well, two out of three ain't bad!

We started off with life casting.  Richard met Leonard Nimoy at Paramount and cast his ears at the production office, however Mark Lenard and Robin Curtis both came to the little shop and had their ears cast.  I recall that Mr. Nimoy was VERY specific about the size, shape, and curve of his famous pointy ears so Richard took it upon himself to sculpt them to Mr. Nimoy's satisfaction.

I'm not sure "Fascinating" would be the word used to describe sculpting and designing these ears...

I sculpted these ears for actress, Robin Curtis and...

...these ears for Mark Lenard.

 We did full head casts of John Schuck, Michael Berryman, and Nick Ramus who would play the helmsman of the U.S.S. Saratoga.  Of all of the actors who came in for casting, I remember Michael Berryman most.  Having seen his as the face of THE HILLS HAVE EYES, I was a bit thunderstruck when he came in.  I recall that he couldn't have been nicer and told us of his wolf sanctuary and the work he did protecting these animals.

Nick Ramus as the navigator of the U.S.S. Saratoga.  Richard designed this make up.  I think Brian Wade sculpted it?

Michael Berryman in his alien guise.  Sculpted by Richard Snell.

There really weren't specific designs sent for Mr. Berryman, Mr. Ramus, or Mr. Schuck so appliances were just sculpted based on discussions between all of us at the shop.  I recall a big shop debate to bring the Klingon appearance closer to STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE and less like STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK. That was a doozie! The end result kind of looked liked a compromise between both designs.

The Klingon Commander from STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE

Christopher Lloyd as the Klingon commander Kruge in STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK

STAR TREK IV's Klingon.  I can still hear Kirk Thatcher's voice reading the lines Mr. Schuck would eventually say on screen!

 It was about this time that we received "designs" for the Star Fleet Federation Council.  Aside from the large-headed "China Dolls" as we called them and a design that looked like a strange welding mask, there were: Cat-man, Frog-man, Turtle-man, Pig-man (The Tellarite), and Lizard Man.  You could have knocked me over with a feather.  After James had made such a big deal about staying away from "animal" designs there they were - a virtual menagerie of aliens!  I suppose Turtle-people potentially can have culture too.

Another crew member that we only saw once and a while was Allen Feuerstein, a medical prosthetics expert, who consulted with Richard specifically about the design and construction of alien eyes. He seemed like a nice guy, but I don't remember what he specifically did because I recall that all of the eyes were either made by us in the shop or they would be contact lenses that Richard made and painted.  Allen did bring a cool display case with silicone medical prosthetics.  It was the first time I had seen silicone body parts and they were very realistic and creepy.

An Andorian.  The antennae were sculpted generically. 

 The aliens were divided amongst the sculptors and it fell to me to sculpt the lizard man puppet and a weird alien welding mask (that I didn't understand, especially since it had a long wig attached to it).  Dale sculpted the Tellarite (pig guy), and Brian Wade sculpted the cat guy ("Cat man doo" as Kirk would refer to it).  Craig sculpted the weird turtle guy and Richard sculpted the frog guy.

Brian Wade paints the Cat Man mask.

A finished Black Cat man, the back of the Tellarite's head and another Andorian in the back ground.

Craig Caton's Turtle guys.

Richard's Frog guy.

Dale Brady's Tellarite.

Another shot of the Tellarite with one of the China Dolls in the back ground.

One of the "China Dolls."

The "Red" Cat Man.

My W.E.D. clay sculpture of the Lizard Man...

Another view...

Still another view....I apologize...

...these are the only behind the scenes photos I've found!

My Lizard Man puppet.

And the weird hairy welding mask.  WTF?

Perhaps the most impressive of all: Kirk Thatcher pretending to be a Tom Savini puppet head.

Since most of the Federation Council were going to be in crowds, they were simple rubber masks - well, all but the Frog guy and the Lizard guy who were constructed to be latex and soft polyfoam puppets.  When it came time to shoot them, you guessed it, it was in San Francisco and was to be handled by union make up artists, so after all of the masks were painted and finished (I recall Craig Caton-Largent punching all of the hair in the China Dolls at break neck speed!) they were packed up and shipped out.

I asked Dale, Craig, and Brian if there was anything that they cared to recall.  Dale mentioned how FREEZING it was in the shop (it was January of 1986) as well as the make-shift oven we built (another one!) to bake the foam.  He reminded me that one night the thermostat broke and the entire foam run was burned and ruined!  Craig recalled one of us throwing a HUGE firecracker into the dumpster which amplified the sound so much that it drew everyone out of the neighboring businesses thinking something dire had happened.

My favorite recollection is of Richard Snell.  Richard was a very fair boss and, in my opinion, very talented.  But what I found more impressive is  that he took personal responsibility for his show (which is huge).  No matter what it was. When we needed supplies, it was Richard that would jump in his truck and go pick them up. When there was a problem that came down from production, Richard would step up, jump into the fray and try to work things out for himself.  What I had no way of knowing was that STAR TREK IV would be the last time I would work for Richard Snell.

He pursued a successful career in Make Up while I moved on  and pursued puppets and creature effects. Richard died  in 2006 of heart failure while working in the Bahamas on PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END.  He was a sweet man; I never had the chance to thank him for STAR TREK IV.

Richard Snell (1955 - 2006)

 POST SCRIPT: Working on a Star Trek movie was a big accomplishment since I had been such a huge fan when I was younger.   I have to admit that it was very cool seeing my name in the credits rolling past a shot of the U.S.S. Enterprise.  I know - NERD!

My friend, Tim Guillory wearing a Klingon make up I made for him to wear at a Star Trek convention in 1983

Part 38: What Makes Doug Beswick SO Great!

I had understood that my work on FROM BEYOND was going to be brief and that was fine.  I was happy to have worked with Mark Shostrom and Bob again, and it was a pleasure meeting and working with Dave, John, Aaron and Greg.  However my phone had rung and I was about to embark on another adventure.  The phone call was from Tony Gardner who was then working with Doug Beswick on the miniature Queen Alien/Power Loader unit for ALIENS.  Brian Penikas (God love him!) had recommended me to Tony when they found themselves needing some additional help.  Now familiar with this routine, I was happy to jump in and go back to work on ALIENS.

I don't know how else to say this, but Doug Beswick is great.  He is.  Those of you whom have met him know what I'm talking about and those of you who haven't, know this: He is a fantastic person.  Let me get back to my correct "tense" here:

Since you have been reading this blog, you already know of my love of Stop Motion Animation and I was familiar with Doug Beswick's career before during and after his tenure with Rick Baker.  In photos, Doug always seemed a bit intense (which, I imagine, is how you look when you are shooting Stop Motion?) so I wasn't prepared to meet such a warm guy with a big smile when I arrived at his studio.  In fact, his wife, Vicky was working in the front office and she, too, was so welcoming and friendly that I instantly knew I was going to enjoy the heck out of working there.

The studio was northeast of the San Fernando Valley in Sunland in a modest, industrial space.  Doug was not just a talented Stop Motion animator, but was a very clever animatronic designer and machinist.  Because of this, a great deal of his shop was dedicated to machining, however Doug was a good sculptor as well; remember he did sculpt the Cantina Musicians for STAR WARS!  By and large the art department tables were set in the back and at one of these tables was my old college buddy, James Belohovek!  I had worked with him earlier that year on HOUSE, but since then we had fallen out of touch.  It was good to see that a talented miniature builder like Jim had been tapped to build the Power Loader and he had already begun making parts that had been delivered to Brian Penikas for molding and casting.

Jim, attaching the claw assembly. 

Assisting Doug with the mechanics was another gentleman whom I hadn't met before, Phil Notaro.  I admit that up to that point I hadn't had THAT much experience meeting animatronic specialists, and I hadn't worked on enough big budget films that enabled these mechanics to really shine their brightest.  That said, Phil Notaro was a genius (still is, I imagine).  Obtaining the molds of the scaled down Queen Alien from Stan Winston's studio, Phil had already begun making the sophisticated mechanical puppet and it was no easy task.  True, because things were scaled down, leverage was on his side, but because things were scaled down, it was more of a challenge to machine and insert the mechanisms into the figure.

Doug Beswick (left) and Phil Notaro with the miniature Power Loader.  Sorry about the crappy photos, they are scans off of a color copy from the page of a Japanese book.

Those of us at Doug's had not seen the full-sized Queen Alien that was shooting in London.  True, I had seen some of the videos sent back from Tom Woodruff, Shane Mahan, and John Rosengrant in England while they were sculpting the full-sized Queen, but beyond that point, I hadn't seen much (in fact, I think the last video I saw showed some of the British crew making molds on some of the large pieces).  But part of Phil and Doug's job was to make sure that this miniature puppet could replicate most of the movements of the full-scale puppet.  I say most of the movements because I don't think it was necessary that our miniature's head descend from the carapace like the full-sized Queen did, etc. To see this diminutive puppet move so gracefully was mind-blowing!

Doug was such a trooper and he put up with my nerdy, fan, enthusiasm with a lot of patience.  I badgered him until he showed me pieces of the Terminator stop motion puppet (unfortunately, a lot of the mechanical pieces had been machined - once - and the only complete figure was in James Cameron's office.  He also shared some old photos of the STAR WARS aliens as well as the Tyrannosaurus Rex puppet he had mechanized for MY SCIENCE PROJECT.  NOTE: This was 6 years before we would begin construction of the T-Rex for JURASSIC PARK and Doug's T-Rex was the most sophisticated real-time dinosaur puppet built up to that date.

Doug and his Endoskeleton model.

The head, chest, and pelvis were the only parts I saw in person.  I think Willie Whitten sculpted them.

Doug and Phil's mechanism for the MY SCIENCE PROJECT T-Rex

Here is the T-Rex scene from MY SCIENCE PROJECT (pardon the quality):



Meanwhile, under Tony Gardner's supervision, I worked on casting pieces for the Sigourney Weaver puppet.  Phil had build a simple head turn mechanism that mounted to the plaster core.  To illustrate how sophisticated Phil was in his approach, as the mechanism turned left to right, the "chin" would automatically pitch up and down slightly to off-set the "mechanical" look.  Simple and brilliant.  I would affix the mechanism to the core and then inject hot melt vinyl (tinted flesh tone) into it.  The stone mold was good enough for most of the seam to just be plucked, but I smoothed the rest of it down, carefully,  with a dental waxer.  I was also given small armatures to put into arm molds to repeat the process.

Tony Gardener re-sculpted the Sigourney Weaver puppet.

I wonder why Mattel never issued a Power Loader Barbi?

On HOUSE, Jim Belohovek basically was working on the edge of his comfort zone, building simple mechanics to go inside of puppets, but now, at Doug's he was doing what he was best at: building miniatures.  I had seen Jim's model making prowess in college, but this was different.  No longer limited to materials he could afford on a student's budget, Jim blossomed and was fabricating pieces out of plastic, wood, and bondo.  Since the pieces needed to be rigid, all of the molds were made of silicone.  Brian and I molded what Jim built, then we would cast them.  The larger pieces were made out of thin fiberglass, the smaller pieces were cast in "Feathercast" (from BJB Corporation).  Brian and I would then seam the pieces and return them to Jim for final detailing and finishing.

Don't ask.  I'm working on the leg assembly apparently.

Jim paints an assembled leg.

The completed Loader ready to be shipped to England for shooting.

Of all of the shops I worked at, Doug Beswick's will go on record as having the ABSOLUTE least amount of drama than any other shop I have ever worked at.  I have no clue if Jim Cameron or a producer was screaming at Doug on the phone (I doubt it) because it never showed.  The entire crew would come into work every morning, and spend the day happily completing the scheduled tasks.  No back stabbing, yelling, complaining.  Nothing but happy workers.  Aside from his incredible talent, THAT is what makes Doug Beswick so great.

Part 37: On Becoming a Make Up Effects Nomad

At the root of the word "freelance" is the word "free."  By definition to be free is to have liberty, be disentangled, have no controlling boundaries, however, for a make up effects artist in the 1980's, to be free meant that the concept of job security was nearly non-existent.  Working in a shop for longer than 4 to 6 weeks was a luxury.  Now that INVADERS FROM MARS wrapped, that group of people in that photo a few blogs ago (with the exception of Alec Gillis and the addition of Greg Nicotero) were now unemployed and had to find work.

Although the nomadic nature of Make Up Effects artists is still very much the norm today,  back then most artists traveled with some essentials: Sculpting Tools, Air Brush (some carried their own compressors), a few hand tools, and a walkman or similar personal stereo device.  If you were a mechanic, then you usually appeared with at least one, if not two big red rolling tool boxes, a Makita (later Dewalt) cordless drill, and a battery charger.

In all honesty, roughly a week or two before shooting on INVADERS concluded, Everett Burrell was already out of the door telling us he had secured employment with Rick Baker on a new Bigfoot movie entitled HARRY AND THE HENDERSONS.  In fact, it was common knowledge that Rick was beginning to crew up for the movie but being on a movie set, with no cell phones, made it difficult to call and make an appointment until the show completely wrapped.

I called Rick Baker's shop the very first free day and set up an appointment to see him that Friday at his shop in North Hollywood.  This was it. Time to put my portfolio in front of one of the artists who had been a major influence on my career choice.

For some reason, I knew going into his reception area that things weren't going to go well.  Seeing all of the masks lined on the walls were instantly inspiring and intimidating.  I don't recall with whom I spoke to when I stepped in, but Rick soon appeared from a door that led to the shop area, shook my hand and motioned for me to sit on a small sofa while he looked at my portfolio.

In contrast to Stan, Rick took his time looking at all of the photos and reading the descriptions I had put under each picture.  "Wow!" he said, "This is one of the most honest portfolios I've ever seen."  He went on to explain that too many people had come to him with portfolios with finished creatures in them, only to discover that their contribution had been running foam or tying lace eyebrows.  I had not only furnished him with my contribution on each photo, but also the names of the other major players on each piece.

Nice guys finish last, so they say.  Even with that "honesty" I didn't get hired.  It stung doubly because I knew that Howard Berger, Everett Burrell, Matt Rose, and Steve Wang had all made it and were already working in the back.  In my mind, I saw it as a confirmation of the quality of my work.

At the suggestion of another friend, I went to see Greg Cannom. Greg, a very talented make up artist that had worked for Rick, as well as, Rob Bottin. He had begun to work for himself out of his house in North Hollywood and took great delight in telling me that it had been Rick Baker's house.  Greg even indicated marks on the ceiling that were made from Rob Bottin jumping up and purposely smashing his head on it.  Kevin Yagher and Earl Elllis were working for Greg at the time, but he didn't have a significantly budgeted show, so after he looked through my portfolio, I was back on the street.

Eventually, I received a call from Mark Shostrom who was more than half-way finished with his responsibilities on a new Brian Yuzna, Stuart Gordon adaptation of another H.P. Lovecraft story, FROM BEYOND.  Yuzna and Gordon had enjoyed a great deal of success with their previous effort RE-ANIMATOR and were hoping to push their success with this effort.  In order to fulfill the effects requirements, production had hired at least three separate shops to manufacture all of the effects.

Mark had already hired his crew which was made up of Bob Kurtzman (the eventual K of KNB EFX and current owner of PRECINCT 13 and CREATURE CORE), Dave Kindlon, a mechanic who had come from New York after a stint for the Muppets, John Blake, and up and coming make up artist (who is now one of the top in the field), a new comer from Texas Gregor Punchatz, (who is now a CGI artist in Dallas, TX) and Aaron Sims (one of the most influential contemporary creature designers).  Together they had designed, and sculpted at least two incarnations of Dr. Pretorious' manifestations. 

In the film, perverted  Dr. Pretorius, played by Ted Sorel, succumbs to a machine built by Dr. Tillinghast (played by Jeffery Combs) called a "resonator." The resonator stimulates the human pineal gland, enabling the viewing of creatures from alternate dimensions.  However, prolonged exposure to the resonator mutates the pineal gland and causes physical restructuring of the body.

Mark's giant Pretorius Creature sporting one of the Radio Controlled heads.

 When I think back to that time in Make Up Effects history, either we were all very ambitious or dumb.  There was nothing we wouldn't attempt.  Mark Shostrom, who up to that time had done some impressive prosthetic and effects work, was now moving full speed into full-scale animatronics out of his new studio in South Pasadena.  I was flabbergasted by the size of the work that had been accomplished when I began working.  Bob had sculpted the iconic Dr. Pretorius fleshy-tumor make up and it had already been molded and was awaiting casting.  Mark led the sculptors on the Pretorius-Creature, which was a big bipedal mutation with a long neck that terminated in a twisted visage.  Mark's ingenious plan was to use Radio Controlled faces for wide shots and when the camera cut in closer, it would be Ted Sorel in an appliance make up that fused his face onto the front of the creature.  With some judicious framing by Director of Photography, Mac Alberg, it would appear that Dr. Pretorius' head was attached to the creature.  To get a good look at Mark's work, on FROM BEYOND (and other movies, including EVIL DEAD II, which I'll get to soon on this blog) check out Mark's web page at: www.helloboss.net

Ted Sorel's head "grafted" onto the body with prosthetics and camera framing.

At the time I joined the crew, the lion's share of the work had been completed.  Mold maker, Steve Patino, had made a big fiberglass mold and core of the Pretorious Creature body however, it was clear that Mark didn't have the facility to run and bake out a huge foam latex skin.  Mark knew I had worked at Stan's and we had cast fairly big urethane skins for the Drones and wanted to know if I could rely on my experience to run skins for the Pretorius creature.

One side of the fiberglass mold, made by Steve Patino of the Pretorius creature.

 We built another Octo-Injector, however, it was decided that inexpensive garden hose would be substituted for the more expensive clear Tygon tubing.  After all, the theory would still work.  When describing the operations of the Stan Winston Octo-Injector, I had told them about the reverse pressure explosion that occurred and as fate would have it, we experienced one for ourselves.

Flesh-tinted SC-89 was sprayed into a mold released with Carnuba Wax and Fiber Resin's FR-1000 release

The Octo-Injector is put into position.  The hole at the top is a vent hole. The tubes run to fittings around the base.

OOPS!  This is what happens when the pressure backs up...

...What a MESS!!!

Eventually, we got a good skin.  Bob and Dave open the mold.

 I was just sitting here, thinking about the large Dr. Pretorius prosthetic that Ted Sorel wore and remembered that it was by and large a huge latex and soft foam casting with smaller over-lapping foam-latex prosthetics that blended the piece onto Mr. Sorel's skin.

I can still see the castings of the webby, foam latex prosthetics all run, bagged, and ready for location.

It was understood that I was only working on the show for a few weeks before the crew took off for Italy, where the film was being shot.  As the finishing work began, I was called onto another show, so I packed up my tools and started at Doug Beswick's shop the following Monday on another exciting project.

No, Dave REALLY didn't slit his wrists!  Just hot and frustrated working in the alley outside of the studio.

 EPILOGUE:  I did get to see the Pretorious creature "finished" a week or so later.  Mark called me and I drove by the studio one evening to visit.  Since the creature had to be "assembled" on set, I didn't see the entire thing glued together, but the pieces were finished enough for Mark to give me a really good impression of what it was going to look like.  And speaking of impressions, he also ran a videotape for me of the Radio Controlled Pretorius head "lip syncing" an Andrew Dice Clay comedy routine!  If I had been drinking milk when I watched it, I would have shot it out of my nostrils, I was laughing so hard!

My opinion is that FROM BEYOND was a turning point for Mark.  It showed that his modest studio could handle more than just quality prosthetics, masks, and make ups; he could now do larger scale monsters.  This would serve him in the coming years as the shows got BIGGER!!

One final thought: This happened around Halloween and I sculpted, molded, and ran my own foam mask that year.  It was a large-mouthed demon with plenty of teeth.  Little did I know that Halloween Make Up would figure into my life again some months later...

Over-sized mouth full of rows and rows of teeth....Gotta remember this; it'll come in handy some day...