Prehistoric Horrors Aka Dinosaur Models For Film 1967
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prehistoric-horrors-aka-dinosaur-models-for-film
Short Summary
Model maker Arthur Hayward is seen at work on detailed mini dinosaurs.
Description
London.
A brief sequence shows a model Tyrannosaurus Rex dinosaur in stop motion footage (Ray Harryhausen?) eating the flesh of a dead dinosaur.
Several shots show model maker Arthur Hayward at home, working on a drawing and paper skeleton of a dinosaur, then winding a plaster of Paris bandage around a wire dino shape under the watchful eye of a model Diplodocus. Finished heads of other models are seen. We then see Arthur covering a Diplodocus shape with grey plasticine and marking creases into the 'skin'; great shot of his enlarged eye looking through a magnifying glass. Commentator says Arthur works at the Natural History Museum and his models are used in films such as 'One Million Years BC'.
Arthur takes another Diplodocus (or could be the same one) from a plaster mould, then places a rubber dino skeleton into the same mould and pours pink latex rubber (whisked in a kitchen mixer) in through a hole. Arthur shows how the arms and mouths of the finished models can move, due to their jointed skeletons. A little tableau shows a Tyrannosaurus Rex growling with moving mouth and a Stegosaurus eating grass.
Another stop motion sequence shows a Diplodocus pushing a double decker bus along with it's head and pulling up a tree outside Westminster Abbey - yikes!
Great clip! However, the animation sequences are not by Ray Harryhausen. Arthur Hayward did sculpt the creatures for several Harryhausen movies in the 1960s (uncredited) and he is on record saying that he also had a go at animating some of his own dinosaur models. The clips here are almost certainly of Hayward's own animation experiments. This information can be found in the book 'Ray Harryhausen: Master of the Majicks Vol. 3'.
Unknown user says
Great clip! However, the animation sequences are not by Ray Harryhausen. Arthur Hayward did sculpt the creatures for several Harryhausen movies in the 1960s (uncredited) and he is on record saying that he also had a go at animating some of his own dinosaur models. The clips here are almost certainly of Hayward's own animation experiments. This information can be found in the book 'Ray Harryhausen: Master of the Majicks Vol. 3'.