232: Remembering Ray

Movie Meltdown - Episode 232 This week we remember Ray Harryhausen and discuss using the old-style of visual and special effects. And those topics become even more interesting when we work in our special guests Eric Chu and Lee Stringer. Both of which have spend a lot of time working with the newer technology and effects including CGI. So we reminisce about what initially got them interested in visual effects and what it has been like working in the modern CG-dominated world. Plus we continue hanging out with Ben and Dave from "Tower of Technobabble", and hear their thoughts on stop-motion animation as well. And while we all confess that what we really want to do is direct, we also discuss... getting married, a teddy bear that comes to life, Greg Nicotero, LEGO, Tim Burton, Battlestar Galactica, blood and gore effects, Ricardo Montalban, Rebel Without a Crew, Medusa totally had extensions, ParaNorman, Firefly, Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet, visual effects shot, being dressed as a sexy space vixen, Dark Shadows, Clash of the Titans, everybody wants to direct, Trojan dewback, limits really focus you into being creative and being clever and keep you from just going overboard, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Team America: World Police, micro micro low budget, James Cameron, suck it up Gandalf, ping pong balls cosplay, he hated the puppets... originally he called them, 'Those damned bastards', Frankenweenie, Iron Sky, Jason and the Argonauts, vinyl vs. digital, The Thing prequel, being the puppet guy, working on a limited budget, The Walking Dead, the corniest thing in L.A., cg-ing IN the strings, one of the first movies I ever recorded on VHS, stop-motion and Transformers, Golden Voyage of Sinbad, distractions, A.I., Poison Ivy and Sam Worthington. "It's like watching toys move. And that's the magical part about it."