“Object from Planet Contains spoilers.

Industry people fascinated by Bottin's Monster nature

Bottin has both special makeup techniques and conceptual artist skills. Many people in the industry are fascinated by the technique, which can be called an art form.

Tom Creepshow , who was in charge of the special make-up and modeling for George A. and advice on design. This is because Savini, who is famous as the king of brutal make-up films such as `` Dawn of the Dead '' (1978) and ` `Maniac '' (1980), had never designed a monster suit before. However, the result is a wonderfully created ferocious human monkey-type Monster that radiates an evil charm that is hard to believe for the first time.

Director Ridley Scott was also an admirer of Bottin's art. He asked Bottin to do special makeup for `` Legend/Legend of Light and Darkness '' (1985). In this work, Bottin does not use a mechanical gimmick to portray Darkness, the Dark Lord played by Tim Curry, but rather uses small appliances (pieces for fleshing out) that are pasted onto the skin to create facial expressions that are linked to Curry's muscle movements. I made it so that it would come out. This satisfies Ridley's desire for reality, aiming for the ultimate fantasy, and Darkness has become a character that plays the key visual of the film, and has become so iconic that it is cited as an icon of fantasy design.

Above all, it was a sequel, `` Object from Planet X: First Contact ''. Like the previous work, this work was shot on film and strives to unify the worldview, but the creature modeling is also based on the image created by Bottin, with special effects such as special makeup and animatronics being used as the main special effects, and CG used as a supplement. I am producing it in a way that I can use it. This work can be said to be a tribute to Bottin's work and a proper inheritance of his art. J. Miles Dale, who was the executive producer of this film, says,

“Object from Planet X First Contact” preview

"The creature created by Bottin is like the main gate of Object

Special make-up and special modeling are among the items that have seen a decline in demand from movie production sites. Hollywood has come to rely on CGI for most of its work, and Bottin's role has shrunk since the 2000s, and he is now on the verge of retirement.

However, the sense of realism created by placing actors and real creatures in the same space and sharing the atmosphere is vastly different from that of actors performing in front of a green screen. Above all, unlike CG, which has a strong anonymity, the individuality of those in charge of special effects comes out strongly, which was a good point, and also a beauty, of 1980s movies.

Rob Bottin's work during his heyday, as seen in ``Planet X,'' makes me feel this feeling more strongly than anything else.

References

Japanese version Cinefex No. 5 (Bandai Publishing)

TOM SAVINI“Grande Illusions: Books I & II”AuthorMike Ink

Anne Billson“The Thing (BFI Film Classics)”British Film Institute

“Object from Planet X First Contact” Special Edition Blu-ray (Pony Canyon)

Text: Kazuo Ozaki 

Film critic and writer. His main writing sites include print media such as ``Figure King'', ``Champion RED'', ``Eiga Hiho'', and ``Hokkaido'', and web media such as ``Eiga.com'' and ``The Cinema''. In addition, he has contributed many explanations and essays to theater pamphlets, movie mook books, and DVD & Blu-ray software booklets. She also formed a cinema comedian unit [Movie Gachinko Brothers] under the name "Dolly Ozaki" and appears on TV and at talk events.

Twitter: @dolly_ozaki

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*Information at the time of article publication in November 2018.