A Visit To Stan Winston Studios

Judge Patrick Naugle

November 22nd, 2001

Kids love candy stores. Ask any six-year-old child what their one dream would be and I'll bet that at the top of that list would be raiding a candy store filled with luscious sweets. As kids grow up they start to have different dreams -- playing at Dodger Stadium, jamming with the Rolling Stones, and making love to a Playboy centerfold. Personally, I've done all of those, so my dreams are relatively complete. For movie buffs, I'll bet a dream would be to hang out with a certain filmmaker or actor on the set of their favorite film. Seeing as I'm a movie buff, that would be one of my lifelong dreams. Luckily, I was able to sort of fulfill that dream last week when I had the chance to visit Stan Winston Studios, and Stan himself, in celebration of the DVD release Jurassic Park III.

For those of you who are in the dark, Stan Winston is one of the most sought-after effects men in Hollywood. He and his talented staff have worked on a mind-boggling number of Hollywood hits. Winston has worked with directors Steven Spielberg and James Cameron, and his company's credits include: Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Tank Girl, Galaxy Quest, Aliens, Interview With The Vampire, The Relic, The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, End Of Days, Congo, Lake Placid, Inspector Gadget, Predator, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, A.I., Edward Scissorhands, and Small Soldiers, just to name a few. Winston himself has directed movies, including the critically acclaimed horror film Pumpkinhead and the new 40-minute Michael Jackson music video "Ghosts" (sort of a "Thriller" for the 2001 crowd). As you can see, Winston and his team are in high demand and kept very busy.

My day started off in a large conference room in the middle of the office. Winston commented that he "feels just like a kid" every time he walks into this room for meetings or work, and how could he not? The room is filled to the brim with monsters, dinosaurs, and robots from many of his films. Like the coolest of wax museums, Stan Winston Studios is packed with all kinds of awesome things to look at. Surrounding me was the Terminator, a giant H.R. Giger "alien," the beast from The Relic, a giant T-Rex head coming out of the wall, monsters from the '80s kids flick The Monster Squad, a winged version of Satan from End Of Days, Tom Cruise as a decaying vampire, and Pumpkinhead himself -- and this was just a small sample of what filled the room. After a nice snack feast and some drinks, a few journalists sat down to do a question and answer session with Mr. Winston at the table (I had a prime seat, sitting in the chair next to him). A jovial and genuinely nice guy, Stan (and his associate John Rosengrant) answered many of the questions we had, often going into lengthy stories and anecdotes about the making of the Jurassic Park films. While I didn't have a recorder with me, I did take some notes on his interesting answers (keep in mind I am paraphrasing):

The first thing we talked about was Jurassic Park III and the first two films. Winston shared with us some of the difficulties of making the films. The original Jurassic Park was over two years of preparation work for the studio. The biggest challenge was building the enormous Tyrannosaurs Rex (which weighed in at around 16,000 pounds). One of the biggest concerns about making the T-Rex (and many of the other dinosaurs) was making sure that they moved smoothly and not like most animatronics figures you see at theme parks and wax museums. The toughest aspect, Winston noted, was that they had to shoot the T-Rex during a rain sequence. "As much as I call Steven [Spielberg] a friend," he chuckled, "he's not a friend." This was referring to the fact that Winston asked him to make sure that the rain fell either behind or in front of the T-Rex. Of course, things are never that easy, and the studio had to come up with a way to keep the dinosaurs working properly even in the rain. In the first film, they were in a downpour. In the second film, they were thrust under a waterfall. In Jurassic Park III, director Joe Johnston (who Winston "thought would be our friend") had a dinosaur climax in a lake...and underwater. Luckily, Winston and his crew were able to figure out a way to make it work without a glitch.

When asked what the single most important aspect was for Winston on a movie, he stated that it was the performance of the effect. He doesn't care how it gets there, be it computers, puppets, or robots; as long as the effects look real on-screen, that's what counts. The film he is most proud of (though he's proud of all his films) was the Anthony Hopkins gorilla movie Instinct (which he was disappointed didn't find a wider audience). I was surprised to hear that not one real gorilla was used in that movie. Winston's opinion is that CGI will never replace puppetry and real life effects. He thinks that the combination of the two effects is a perfect marriage on-screen.

One of the hardest things for the studio is having certain animals or puppets have "eye contact" with the human actors, and replicating life (i.e., the gorillas in Instinct, the mice in Mousehunt, the lions in The Ghost and the Darkness). This is understandable since people know how a lion should move and act, whereas most people don't know how an imaginary alien acts, so there is more leeway in that area. Winston personally pulls his inspirations from such artists as the painter Michelangelo, movies like The Wizard of Oz, King Kong, and the classic Universal monster movies of the 1930s and '40s, as well as his biggest inspiration: Walt Disney. Winston even worked at Disney for a while with his mentor Robert Schiffer (now 85 years old and still working at the Disney studios! What a trooper!).

After this hour and a half chat we were escorted into the main studio to take a look at where the magic happens (I've always wanted to say that). Among the giant dinosaur feet and statues, the workers were fiddling with a raptor in the middle of the studio. This is easily one of the most visceral moments in my life. Like many others, I assumed that the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park III were not half as realistic in real life as they were on screen. Boy, was I wrong. This colorful and fully functional raptor was unbelievably real looking, all the way down to its smooth, lizard movements. I was literally blown away with how real this thing looked...even when I was petting it and letting it sniff my shirt. A few of the journalists around me were actually somewhat terrified to touch it because it looked so real. A once in a lifetime opportunity that I shall remember always.

In the next room we got a sneak peak at a few models from the new toy line "Stan Winston's Creatures," a series of original monster creations turned into very detailed action figures (and they can be found exclusively at "Toys 'R' Us"). These are very nice looking action figures and definitely worth checking out if you're into weird toys.

As we were escorted out of the studio (filled with other nameless props and creatures) we were greeted by a huge Geoffrey model from the new "Toys 'R' Us" commercials now being shown on television. The giraffe is able to talk, move, and act just like a real giraffe without any glitches or mechanical undertones. While not quite as exciting as the raptor, this was still a very funny and interesting thing to watch. The final event of the day was sitting in the "monster meeting room," as I like to call it, and watching a promotional reel Winston put together of all his films that he's worked on. Featuring film clips from all his movies, this was a great way to end the day...a retrospective of his amazing career.

While leaving we were each given a "goodie bag" consisting of a Jurassic Park III backpack filled with the DVD, a "Beyond Jurassic Park" bonus disc, plus some cool "survival" gear to go along with the theme of the films. Finally I can say that I am prepared to go dino hunting, as I am now well stocked with rations, water tablets, a foldable shovel, a poncho, a compass, a radio, a whistle and more gear to keep out of the jaws of a T-Rex.

As of this writing, Stan Winston Studios is furiously at work on the upcoming Terminator 3, of which no details were divulged. It's all hush-hush. Winston is also a sponsor for MIT where he is collaborating with colleagues on making artificial intelligence a reality. Needless to say, Winston and his staff are very busy people...and with the groundbreaking work they've done, it won't be a surprise to see that continue into this next century!

Special thanks to Mr. Stan Winston and the studio for a very fun and very exciting day! Be sure to look for the Jurassic Park III DVD coming out this December!

Click on each picture for the full-size version.