Jim Henson's workshop to life sized dinosaur displays

Alan Groves amazing journey

Special Effects Artist Alan Groves

By J. Jekyll
June 2009
Goremaster.com

Mr. Groves is an amazing sculptor and dinosaur/creature creator. His began his career in film during the 1980s with the Jim Henson Co. His journey has taken him on a different path now creating impressive life size dinosaur sculptures for displays and National Geograpic pictorials.

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GM: When did you make your decision to enter the field?

AG: I have always been fascinated with making things ever since I can remember. I seem to recall my first art class at school, when I was really young (about eight or nine). The other children were making pots, while I made a graveyard, which, when you turned it upside down, showed all the occupants below ground. It was certainly different. I never really wanted to do anything but use my hands to create things.

Alan Groves and dino sculpture

GM: What or who inspired you to start? Who was your influence?

AG: I started in this business in the early Eighties. It was a time when movies and science fiction television were at their most creative. Not only were the special effects and make up peaking in their physical complexity, but the story lines and scenarios were original and fresh. In those days I met people like Jim Henson and Ray Harryhausen. I read about Rick Baker, Rob Bottin and all those other geniuses who have inspired millions ever since. I wanted to do what they did for a living. Making things which would make people smile, scream or jump (and possibly vomit!) and getting paid for it was the ultimate career!

Alan Groves and Psammead

GM: Favorite early special effects memory – movie scene – book – TV show?

AG: There are so many to chose from! I suppose the ultimate special effects memory I can recall would be standing outside the ABC Cinema in Essex, England as a teenager, waiting to see Star Wars. Standing in a queue of hundreds, slowly shuffling to the cinema door. Back in those days, the movie theaters were huge, each auditorium housing hundreds and hundreds of screaming kids. They were real blockbuster days, with lines of people literally wrapped around block after block. I remember, after spending hours lining up, looking through the round window into the auditorium and sneaking a look at the Tie Fighters and the Millennium Falcon strafing the Death Star. Awesome sight!
Of course Hammer and Amicus horror films have always been fantastic to watch, and as a child I could never get enough of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing (I bet you couldn’t name all their movies!). AND I mustn’t forget all those Video Nasties my brothers and I rented from the dodgy video shop around the corner. Driller Killer (1979), I Spit On Your Grave (1978), Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979) (arrghh, do you remember the splinter in the eye?!) to name but a few of those naughty but fantastically gory B grade gems!
For books and TV show, well back then Cinefex and Fangoria were the bibles for me, and television shows such as V and Dr Who (which I later worked on) were just a few of the classic shows on the box.

Zombie

GM: What are your top five special effects movies?

     AG: In no particular order;
      An American Werewolf in London (1981)
      The Thing (1982)
      Starship Troopers (1997)
      Scanners (1981)
      Dawn of the Dead (1978) (original, although the new one is very slick).

My favourite film of all time is Night of the Demon (1958) staring Dana Andrews and directed by Jacques Tourneur. Its Black and White, has hardly any effects in it, but is a lesson in how to make a film really scary, using a great story and very atmospheric scenes.

GM: What is your favorite makeup special effects scene from a movie? (it doesn’t have to be from one of your movies)

Well, that’s a hard one. I think the transformation of David Naughton in Jenny Agutter’s flat in An American Werewolf in London (1981) is sublime, and Kurt Russell, swearing in disbelief, as the Thing (1982) slides off the table and sprouts legs in The Thing is fantastic. They are both classics. I also love David Warner’s decapitation scene from The Omen.

Alan Groves makeup work

GM: Who is your favorite special effects person?

AG: Rick (Baker), Rob (Bottin) and Dick (Smith), if they are one person.

GM: How did you get started working in the Special Effects industry?

AG: I got a job on Labyrinth (1986) with Jim Henson. I was in the right place at the right time. Then an ex of Dick Smiths, a make up artist from England got me a job on Spitting Image, the satyrical rubber puppet show that beat up Reagan and Thatcher on a weekly basis (she also gave me some of Dick Smiths maquettes of William Hurt transforming from Altered States (1980)).

Psammead

GM: Whose current work do you admire?

AG: To name but a few, Nick Dudman, Rick Baker, Greg Cannom, Kazuhiro Tsuji, Ron Mueck

GM: How have you gotten work in the industry?

AG: To get work in the film or television industry you have to keep at it. It’s a full time job, which takes constant long hours and hard work. Never give up. It’s a tough career, but nevertheless a very rewarding one. It’s not for nine to fivers. My advice is simple; just make your portfolio of work grow. Take lots of photographs of your projects and present them well. The more you do, the more your experience grows and the more people will get to know you. I find word of mouth is a very big part of this business.
Try not to stick to one area of expertise. Most people just want to sculpt and apply make up. Find out about animatronics, robotics, pyrotechnics and physical effects. Learn how to make plaster and silicone moulds. The more you know, the more you have to offer.
Don’t just go to special effects companies for work. I have gotten a lot of work in the past from Costume Designers, Set Builders and other movie related departments.

Tenontosaurus under attack!

GM: What was your toughest job?

AG: Every job is so different. The most difficult projects are usually the ones with the most elements in them, with the shortest turnaround. Working at BBC TV Visual Effects in the Nineties was just like that. Especially when one day you were working on Narnia (1988) making prosthetics, the next you were making animatronic Psammead puppets, the next, planetscapes on Red Dwarf (1988) and the next dry ice on Top of the Pops! Life Casting movie stars and other famous people can also be a bit stressful.

GM: What was your favorite job?

AG: Anything involving sculpting aliens, especially when you can design them yourself. Last job I had like that was 2001 a Space Travesty (2000) (shouldn’t have admitted to that!). I also love photographing my dinosaurs in the rainforest in our garden. We back onto National Park, the perfect setting for capturing Cretaceous scenes. They are published in National Geographic and other books.

2001 a Space Travesty

GM: How do you pick out materials to use for a project? Do you make your own? Are there any brands that you recommend?

AG: In this business we use everything. Most of it taken from other industries. I use mainly white earthenware clays, sulphur free plasteline (Chavant NSP medium), silicone rubbers (Wacker and Dow Corning) and isophthalic resins with fibreglass. I don’t have the time to make my own.

Alan Groves and Raptor

GM: Are there any new breakthroughs or ideas in the industry that excite you?

AG: I am very interested in rapid prototyping and computer aided design.

Alan Groves and Guelifish

GM: How do you envision the future of makeup special effects – do you think that CGI is hurting the industry?

AG: Totally. Too many films are relying on over the top, unrealistic CGI these days. I do think however, films will always need that real physical element to keep the viewer believing that what they are watching is real. You can always tell the difference.

Working on Robotic Wolf dentistry

GM: What is a current project you are working on? Or what project are you excited about?

AG: I’m making life size dinosaurs and have been for over ten years now. I am excited about a full size humpbacked whale and calf I have to sculpt-it will be fun and hard work all at the same time! I also have another Deinonychus, Velociraptor and Pteranodon Ingens to make.

Alan Groves and friend

GM: Do you have advice for a beginner or someone just getting started in the business?

AG: As I said above, Work hard, network and learn all you can. Present your portfolio well and look at every avenue of the industry as potential work. Of course there is nothing stopping you making your own movies, sculpting your own pieces and doing it on your own!

Raptor attack

GM: What was the best advice/training you ever received?

AG: A long time ago, I heard a phrase "its only television". Back then gaffer tape and black spray paint were all you needed, or so I was told. Even though the shot only warranted one side of your piece to be seen, I sculpted the back anyway. Do your best every time and it will get noticed. It’s always the last ten percent which makes something magnificent rather than mediocre.

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