- Title: UK-CREATUREGEDDON Fans get up close with sci-fi creatures at London exhibition
- Date: 16th August 2015
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (AUGUST 16, 2015) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF ORIGINAL ANIMATRONIC CREATURE THE CHAMBERLAIN FROM 'HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY' WORN BY ACTOR DOUG JONES VARIOUS OF REPLICA MADE OF PAPER MACHE OF THE SUIT FROM 'THE PREDATOR' SILICONE BUST REPLICA OF THANOS FROM 'GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY' BY SCULPTOR GARY HUNT P
- Embargoed: 31st August 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: United Kingdom
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA2Q7HFOIGN5FZ43DHFQ34T7VD8
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Monsters and creatures of all shapes and sizes were on display this weekend (August 15/16, 2015) in London for the first ever 'Creaturegeddon' event.
Fans and students were able to get up close to some real suits that have been used on the big screen while the artists who make such creatures were able to showcase their work.
On the way into the Expo at the Renaissance Hotel in London The Chamberlain from 'Hellboy II: The Golden Army' watched over proceedings. On display was also original masks from 2005 fantasy film 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe' and an original mutated creature from horror film 'Feast'.
In amongst the creatures and monsters were several demonstrations. Prosthetic make-up designer Kristyan Mallett was hard at work turning fellow make-up artist Jack Coakley into an alien, similar to the ones he and his team created for TV show Sexy Beasts.
''Basically we are turning him into an alien - just so people can see the process - which is normally for TV or film. Jack is wearing foam latex pieces, he is only wearing two pieces - he is wearing a large head piece that sits on top and he is just wearing a small facial piece,'' Mallett said.
Mallett has worked in the make-up department on numerous movies including as prosthetics make-up supervisor on 'The Theory of Everything', prosthetics make-up designer on 'Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation' and as a special make-up effects artist on 'Guardians of the Galaxy'.
While a lot of the work he has done has involved old age make-up and likeness make-up he explained how he creates creatures and monsters.
"Obviously when you do concepts you try take things from, things that are currently in our animal kingdom or in the deepest of our oceans because there are some really strange stuff there anyway and if you sort of pick out some of those elements and put them in to some of the creatures we design then there's a sense of realism to it them, there's a sense of - you can believe that would work," said Mallett.
Barney Trattels from Hove on the south coast of England was one of hundreds at the event in London, he hopes to study alongside Mallett - and was impressed with the demonstration:
"I love what he has done, I love, I am a long term fan of horror and sci-fi so to see a real sci-fi monster prosthetic piece of work is great, I love the fact that it's almost like a tie in, homage to the old 50's b-movie monsters, with the kind of elongated dome head with a modern spin on it - so a really interesting piece."
12-year old Valentin Rezard was at the event with his father, freelance sculptor Martin Rezard. Inspired by seeing the work his father has created Valentin opted to be made into a zombie. The transformation took around an hour and a half and the youngster was impressed with the outcome:
"Wow I didn't think I looked like that - that's really really cool," he said as he was allowed to see his new face for the first time.
Across the weekend there were several presentations, actor and creature suit performer Paul Warren was one of the professionals who was invited to talk about his work. Warren has been several blockbuster films including 'Clash of the Titans', 'Thor: The Dark World' and 'Guardians of the Galaxy'. Speaking about the film industry he said there is room in film for CGI effects and practical effects (sometimes refereed to as creature) to co-exist.
"Well I think it's going back to practical because when CGI sort of has come around and it kind of took over the creature, now it's being used with the creature and you're seeing increasing movies that are starting to use it. And I think within the next year - you're gonna see - especially with the Star Wars movies - you are going to see a return back to animatronic practical creature suits, you know puppets - all the stuff that people love in movies is coming back in a big way - hopefully they will use the both together like they have been doing but a lot more,'' said Warren.
He was joined at the event by double Oscar winner - prosthetic make-up designer Mark Coulier. Coulier who won an Oscar for Best Achievement in Makeup in 2012 for 'The Iron Lady' and a second in 2015 for Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling for 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' - worked with Warren on 'World War Z'. For Creaturegeddon the pair were reunited, and in front of a packed crowed Coulier transformed Warren into a zombie - similar to the one Warren played in 'World War Z'.
Speaking about Creaturegeddon Coulier said such events are important event as they keep prosthetics alive.
''It keeps our art alive, you know it keeps prosthetics alive and it keeps the interest alive especially for young people coming up - you know we are losing quite a lot of talented designers to the visual effects world you know so it's good to have practical demonstrations like this to get people interested again.''
Organisers were pleased with the popularity of the event and promise this won't be the last Creaturegeddon. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None