The Filmumentaries Podcast

In this episode, I chat with creature effects artist, puppeteer and digital pioneer Craig Caton-Largent about a career that arguably traces the entire arc of modern visual effects — from foam latex and animatronics to motion control, performance capture and full CG animation.

Craig talks about growing up on a sheep and cattle ranch in Washington State, being captivated by the 1960s Batman TV show and then Planet of the Apes, and teaching himself prosthetics from Dick Smith's Monster Makeup Handbook. After tracking down Dick Smith's address in Who's Who in America, he wrote a letter that led to a year of mentorship over cassette tapes and ultimately introductions to Rick Baker, Stan Winston and Tom Burman.

We get into his first job on Charles Band's Metal Storm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn, working on the Olympic alien for the 1984 closing ceremonies, sculpting barnacles on Cocoon, building Spock's seamless silicone ears on Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, undulating menacingly under shaving cream on Larry Cohen's The Stuff, and puppeteering Slimer's mouth on the original Ghostbusters. A big part of the conversation focuses on Jurassic Park, including the design evolution of the T-Rex, the helicopter convention moment that led to the McFadden motion base, the logistics of moving the full-size animatronic across the San Fernando Valley at night, and Craig's work as the Raptor puppeteer, including the now-legendary "head tilt" at the kitchen window that earned an on-set "It's like Alien, I love it" from Spielberg.

We also talk about Craig's twenty-year stint as the caretaker, or "doctor", to the original ET puppet, including the time the LAPD turned up at his garage door thinking he was running a crack lab while he was actually repainting ET.

Plus the story of how Stan Winston handing him a couple of SGI machines led, almost overnight, to him becoming one of the eight co-founders of Digital Domain alongside James Cameron and Scott Ross. Later in the conversation we move into Craig's animation career as a final layout artist and character TD at DreamWorks and Disney, with credits on Tangled, Rise of the Guardians, How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Turbo, and stories from working with Guillermo del Toro at DreamWorks. We finish on Craig's current role as Creative Director of the 3D Animation and Visual Effects department at the New York Film Academy in Burbank.

Topics covered
Growing up on a Washington State ranch and falling in love with Planet of the Apes
Famous Monsters of Filmland and Dick Smith's Monster Makeup Handbook
Cold-writing to Dick Smith and a year of cassette-tape mentorship
Arriving in Hollywood at the start of the "golden age" of effects
First feature work on Metal Storm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn
The closing ceremonies of the 1984 LA Olympics and Ron Cobb's alien
Sculpting barnacles and cocoons for Cocoon (1985)
Seamless silicone Spock ears on Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
The Stuff with Larry Cohen and "undulating menacingly"
Puppeteering Slimer's mouth on Ghostbusters
Designing the T-Rex around helicopter flight simulator technology
Working with McFadden Simulation on the T-Rex motion base
Moving the full-size T-Rex across the San Fernando Valley
Building a 70lb Steadicam-rigged Raptor insert head for Jurassic Park
Using parrots as reference for bird-like Raptor movement
The kitchen porthole head tilt, and Spielberg's "It's like Alien" reaction
Using Kermit the Frog's voice on set as the Raptor performer
Twenty years as ET's "doctor", and the LAPD crack-lab incident
ET's arm in a rifle case at JFK a week after 9/11
Motion capture experiments and blood-spread effects on Interview with the Vampire
A flying logo on an Amiga, and becoming a co-founder of Digital Domain
Working with Stan Winston, James Cameron and Scott Ross
Moving into animation: character rigging at Disney on Tangled
Final layout and virtual camera work at DreamWorks on Rise of the Guardians, How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Turbo
Lunches with Guillermo del Toro in the DreamWorks canteen
Pre-vis on the Total Recall remake with Len Wiseman
Teaching the next generation at the New York Film Academy, Burbank
The unique "intergalactic award" Spielberg gave Craig for puppeteering ET

This podcast is completely independent and made possible by listener support. If you’d like to help me keep making these episodes, you can join my Patreon community here: https://patreon.com/jamiebenning

Watch more on YouTube:
Check out the Filmumentaries YouTube channel for behind-the-scenes clips and extra content: https://youtube.com/filmumentaries

All my links

In this episode, I chat with model maker Jim Davidson about his journey from a dinosaur-obsessed kid in the 1970s to working on some of the most memorable practical effects sequences in modern cinema. Jim talks about discovering the work of Ray Harryhausen, and how seeing Star Wars at the age of 12 made him realise that visual effects could be a real career.

We get into how a chance meeting with future Oscar-winning art director Robert Stromberg led to his first break in the industry, and how that snowballed into working with the Skotak brothers on major productions. Jim shares detailed insights into the making of the nuclear nightmare sequence in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, including how the miniature buildings were constructed, destroyed, and reset using a combination of breakaway materials, air cannons and practical ingenuity.

We also talk about his work on Batman Returns, the realities of working in small, tight-knit effects crews, and the creative problem-solving that defined that era of filmmaking. A big part of the conversation focuses on the industry shift following Jurassic Park, when CGI began to replace large-scale practical effects. Jim reflects on witnessing that transition first-hand, and why he chose not to move into digital work.

There’s also discussion of his later work, including returning to stop motion for Creepshow, bringing things full circle back to the techniques that first inspired him. It’s a fascinating look at a very specific window in film history, from someone who was right in the middle of it. Topics Covered
Growing up in the 1970s and early creative influences
Discovering Ray Harryhausen and stop motion
The impact of Star Wars on a generation
Breaking into the film industry through Robert Stromberg
Early work and first film projects
Working with the Skotak brothers
Practical effects techniques on Terminator 2
Building and destroying miniature cities
In-camera effects vs optical compositing
Working on Batman Returns miniatures
Life on practical effects crews in the 80s and 90s
The rise of CGI after Jurassic Park
Transition from analog to digital workflows
Matte painting: traditional vs Photoshop
Returning to stop motion on Creepshow
Reflections on a career in practical effects

This podcast is completely independent and made possible by listener support. If you’d like to help me keep making these episodes, you can join my Patreon community here: https://patreon.com/jamiebenning

Watch more on YouTube:
Check out the Filmumentaries YouTube channel for behind-the-scenes clips and extra content: https://youtube.com/filmumentaries

All my links

Episode 147: John Duncan

In this episode, I’m joined by model maker John Duncan, whose career spans nearly fifteen years at Industrial Light & Magic and includes work across Star Wars, Star Trek, Galaxy Quest, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Matrix and more.

John talks about his early fascination with building miniatures as a kid, making models out of paper and cardboard, and how that instinct to just try things eventually led him into the film industry. What started as architectural model work and a stint in television quickly turned into a career at ILM, beginning in 1993, where he arrived for what was meant to be a two-week job and stayed for over a decade .We get into the realities of model making for film, learning to build for the camera rather than for close inspection, working under tight deadlines, and letting go of work when it needs to be modified or destroyed for the shot.

John also discusses his time as a concept model maker on the Star Wars prequels, working with Doug Chiang to create what he describes as “3D blueprints” for the wider production. These models helped bridge the gap between design, practical builds and digital assets, ensuring consistency across departments.There’s plenty here on specific projects too, including building the Enterprise-E for Star Trek: First Contact, working on the ships for Galaxy Quest, and contributing to the large-scale pirate ships in Pirates of the Caribbean. He also shares stories about unusual materials, problem-solving on the fly, and the collaborative nature of the ILM model shop.

We also talk about the shift from practical models to digital effects, where miniatures still have a place today, and why physical builds continue to resonate with filmmakers and audiences alike.John is thoughtful, practical, and clearly still passionate about the craft. This is a great insight into a side of filmmaking that often goes unnoticed, but is absolutely fundamental to how these films were made.

Topics covered
Growing up building models and early creative influences
First steps into the film industry via architectural models
Joining ILM in 1993 and working alongside industry legends
Building models for camera vs building for display
Working on Star Trek: First Contact and Galaxy Quest
Concept model making on the Star Wars prequels
Collaborating with Doug Chiang and George Lucas
The idea of “3D blueprints” in film production
Practical effects vs digital effects
Working on Pirates of the Caribbean
Materials, techniques and problem-solving in the model shop
Replica prop community and fan research
Why physical models still matter

This podcast is completely independent and made possible by listener support. If you’d like to help me keep making these episodes, you can join my Patreon community here: https://patreon.com/jamiebenning

Watch more on YouTube:
Check out the Filmumentaries YouTube channel for behind-the-scenes clips and extra content: https://youtube.com/filmumentaries

All my links

In this episode, I sit down with Don Bies – former Lucasfilm archivist and special effects artist at ILM – for a deep dive into his career and his time inside the Star Wars archive. Don takes me right back to his childhood in Chicago, where a viewing of the 1931 Frankenstein sparked a lifelong fascination with makeup effects and filmmaking . From experimenting with homemade prosthetics to building a full-size R2-D2, his early passion eventually led him to California. We talk about his first major break working on The Fly, where he contributed to several effects – many of which ended up on the cutting room floor, but gave him invaluable experience. From there, Don’s path into Lucasfilm begins, starting with operating R2-D2 on commercials alongside Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew and even George Lucas. That connection ultimately led to him working on the Lucasfilm archives. This is where things get really interesting. Don describes what it was like stepping into a warehouse full of original Star Wars props, models and documents – much of it undocumented and at risk of being lost or discarded . He shares stories of discovering key items like Darth Vader’s helmet hidden in a crate, uncovering original manuscripts and audio recordings, and building one of the first digital catalogues of the collection. We also get into:
His role in early Lucasfilm exhibitions and the growth of the archive
Working at Skywalker Ranch and the unique creative environment there
The transition period between Return of the Jedi and the Special Editions
Wearing multiple costumes (including Boba Fett) during the Special Edition shoots
The reality of preserving film history inside a working production company
It’s a brilliant conversation that really captures a moment in time when Star Wars history could easily have been lost – and the people who helped save it.

This podcast is completely independent and made possible by listener support. If you’d like to help me keep making these episodes, you can join my Patreon community here: https://patreon.com/jamiebenning

Watch more on YouTube:
Check out the Filmumentaries YouTube channel for behind-the-scenes clips and extra content: https://youtube.com/filmumentaries

All my links

In this episode of The Filmumentaries Podcast, I’m joined by creature effects designer Alec Gillis, founder of Studio Gillis and co-founder of Amalgamated Dynamics Inc. (ADI) alongside Tom Woodruff Jr.Alec has spent more than four decades helping bring some of cinema’s most memorable creatures to life.

After beginning his career working under the legendary Stan Winston, he went on to contribute to films including Aliens, Predator, Alien³, Tremors, Death Becomes Her, Starship Troopers and many more.In this conversation we talk about how a childhood encounter with Ray Harryhausen’s Jason and the Argonauts set him on this path, the early days building stop-motion creatures in his parents’ garage, working for Roger Corman alongside a young James Cameron, and what it was like joining Stan Winston Studio during one of the most exciting periods in creature effects history.

We also talk about the eight-week scramble to build the Predator, working with David Fincher on Alien³, forming ADI with Tom Woodruff Jr., and how practical creature effects continue to evolve in an industry now dominated by digital tools.

This interview was recorded remotely, but I recently had the chance to visit Alec in Los Angeles while filming interviews for our upcoming Joe Alves documentary, where we spoke in person about his work on Jaws 3-D.

Topics discussed

• Discovering movie magic through Ray Harryhausen
• Building stop-motion creatures as a kid
• Learning the craft during the Roger Corman years
• Meeting and working alongside James Cameron
• Life inside Stan Winston Studio
• Creating the Predator in just eight weeks
• The production of Alien³ and working with David Fincher
• Founding Amalgamated Dynamics Inc. with Tom Woodruff Jr.
• Practical effects in the digital era
• Mentoring the next generation of creature artistsSupport the PodcastIf you enjoy The Filmumentaries 

I hope you enjoy it.

This podcast is completely independent and made possible by listener support. If you’d like to help me keep making these episodes, you can join my Patreon community here: https://patreon.com/jamiebenning

Watch more on YouTube:
Check out the Filmumentaries YouTube channel for behind-the-scenes clips and extra content: https://youtube.com/filmumentaries

All my links