PHIL TIPPETT: MAD DREAMS AND MONSTERS
France, 2019, 80 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Gilles Penso, Alexandre Poncet.
This is a treat for movie fans, especially those who are fascinated by special effects. It is a work of two French filmmakers who worked on the documentary about the central characters in the range of horror films, Creature Designers - The Frankenstein Complex, 2015, and she will pan so making a film tribute to British special effects creative genius, Ray Harry Howson.
Subject of this film is American, Phil Tippett. The main part of the film is an interview with him, in his 70s, looking back, still working in the studio that he developed along with his partner, Jules Roman, who is also interviewed.
Tippett explains his fascination with sketching, with film creatures, the film is that he saw when young, the inspiration of Ray Harry Howson, is making his own short films, learning stop-motion animation and working with experts on their films.
However, he was called to work on Star Wars with George Lucas, and the film shows his contributions to the creatures and the animation in the first three Star Wars films produced. Tippett is somewhat gruff, quite self-deprecating, not ambitious but dedicated to his visual art and creativity. A lot of detailed explanations, close-ups of the creatures, ways of filming them, the final effects in the context of the film’s narrative.
There are quite a number of talking heads throughout the film, a kind of confraternity of special effects experts, their meeting, working together, their various talents, stop-motion, creating figures and figurines, discovering how to film them effectively. One of the great aspects of the film is the warmth between all these experts, and then natural speaking well of each other. Directors Joe dainty and Paul Verhoeven also contribute.
Then came Jurassic Park, computerisation, computer graphics, the challenge to Phil Tippett, adapting, having worked with all the her benign Robocop, with Irving Kershner on the Empire strikes back and Robocop two, the transition to computer graphics was completed with Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers. Tippett won an Oscar for Jurassic Park and, as commented wryly in the film, some of his best work was for Starship Troopers but it was the year that Titanic was released!
Those not always aware of the creation of special effects, this film is a valuable eye-opener. And, it is a pleasure to listen to the range of experts no rivalries, but creative and enjoyable collaboration.
