Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan

Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan is a 2011 documentary film on the life and work of Ray Harryhausen.

Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan
Film poster
Directed byGilles Penso[2]
Produced byAlexandre Poncet
Edited byGilles Penso[3]
Music byAlexandre Poncet[3]
Production
companies
  • Frenetic Arts
  • The Ray & Diana Harryhausen Foundation[3]
Release date
  • November 27, 2011 (2011-11-27) (Paris)
Running time
95 minutes[1]
Countries
  • France
  • United Kingdom[1]

Production

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The film was made over a 10-year period and features interviews and tributes from filmmakers who were inspired by his work.[2]

The film included footage from the 1990 documentary Ray Harryhausen: Movement Into Life made at the time by film student John Walsh.[citation needed]

Interviewees

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The animators, directors, actors and special effects artists interviewed for the film were:[3]

Release

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The film was shown at the Paris International Fantastic Film Festival on November 27, 2011.[1]

Reception

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The Observer described the documentary as a "a riveting film by a French movie historian" and that it was "A continual delight."[4] The Financial Times noted that specific scenes in the film, such as the tours of Harryhausen's workshop, and noted that "Perhaps the most fascinating point made in the film is that it was Harryhausen who invented the way we all think dinosaurs moved. Those gestures - agreed on now even by palaeontologists - actually first came from him."[5] Michael Brooke writing for Sight and Sound described the film as "clearly a labour of love by all concerned" and an "*immensely engaging portrait of [Harryhausen]."[3] He concluded that the film was "undoubtedly a hagiography, but noted the terms linguistic origin meaning "a saint's biography"."[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Ray Harryhausen – Le Titan des Effets Spéciaux" (in French). Paris International Fantastic Film Festival. Archived from the original on November 12, 2011. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan, Chronicling The Life Of Stop-Motion Animation Inventor And Special Effects Innovator, Makes Its U.S. Debut April 3, Exclusively On Sony Movie Channel". Entertainment Newsweekly. Vol. 22, no. 12. NewsRX LLC. April 2013. ISSN 1944-1673.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Brooke, Michael (December 2012). "Ray Harryhausen Special Effects Titan". Sight and Sound. Vol. 22, no. 12. British Film Institute. pp. 101–102. ISSN 0037-4806.
  4. ^ French, Philip (11 November 2012). "Review: Film: Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan". The Observer. p. 22.
  5. ^ "Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan". Financial Times. November 10, 2012. p. 18. ISSN 0307-1766.
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