Jürgen Heimann: special effects artist, puppeteer and creature creator

Special Effects Artist Jürgen Heimann

By J. Jekyll
August 2009
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GM:  When did you make your decision to enter the field?

JH:  Entering the special effects field wasn’t a decision I made, it was simply a product of necessity.  I finished film school back in ’87, and, after moving the L.A., I needed to find a job.  Since before high school I’d been shooting small films, most of which had some form of special effect or animation, and I developed a knowledge of the various techniques from reading CineMagic, Fangoria, and other behind-the-scenes books.  So, there I was in L.A., without any connections and no chance whatsoever of getting a directing job (not with my small student reel… and no agent), and I needed to pay my rent.  I thought perhaps I could get on an FX crew, because I had some self-taught knowledge of effects and would always put some sort of effect in my student films.  I searched around and finally found a job with David Allen Productions on a film called “Robojox” (later changed to “Robot Jox”).

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

JH:  When I first started playing around with FX in my early film projects, I’d have to say my greatest influence came from Ray Harryhausen.  I was simply amazed by his work in the Sinbad pictures and Jason and the Argonauts.  When I first picked up an 8mm movie camera (film, in those days, not video), my first little epics were done by animating G.I. Joes and some cheesy dinosaurs I constructed from Styrofoam and fabric.  Later live-action projects would contain a slew of make-up and gore effects inspired by Rick Baker’s work in American Werewolf in London and by Tom Savini’s Dawn of the Dead effects.

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

JH:  I’m not really sure anymore which special effects memory came first, but one of the first was probably around the age of ten or eleven when I spent a camp-over night at my friend Greg’s house.  His family had cable t.v. and there was a station that came in from the San Francisco bay area that had a late night creature features program.  I remember staying up late for a double feature of Frankenstein and Dracula (the old Universal monster versions).  In between, they showed a trailer for Night of the Living Dead, which freaked me out.  I don’t think I slept very well the rest of the night.  I miss those old creature feature shows with the cheesy local station host.  Why don’t they have those programs anymore?  All the good stuff is disappearing.

GM:  What are your top five special effects movies?

JH:  This is tough.  There are so many, it’s hard to pick a top five.  I know there have been all sorts of great FX films in recent years, but the ones I’d pick are the oldies that had the greatest impact on me and the, to me, still capture a bit of that “how did they do it” movie magic.  Sorry, but CG effects just don’t have that.

1.) Star Wars
2.) Jason and the Argonauts
3.) American Werewolf in London
4.) King Kong (original)
5.) 2001: A Space Odyssey
extra.) The Exorcist

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

JH:  There are just so many great effects scenes out there, it’s hard to pick one.  We have the AMERICAN WEREWOLF transformation, the SCANNERS battle, the spider head from THE THING, Darkness and Meg Mucklebones from LEGEND, pretty much any shot of THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, the skeleton fight at the end of JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, the Nautilus attacks in 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, the walker sequence from THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, etc., etc.  But I think the most awe inspiring effects for me are the space scenes from 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY – the docking sequence and the zero-G effects.

GM:  Who is your favorite special effects person?

JH:  Most of the people I know are special effects people – Eddie Yang, John Calpin, Tom Killeen, Norman Tempia, Mike Elizalde – and picking one as a favorite is impossible.  I suppose the only way to answer this one is to select an effects artist based upon his work and how great an impact it had upon me.  Using those criteria, I’d have to put Rick Baker at the top of the heap.  Ray Harryhausen is a close second, and my old boss David Allen would be up there too.  Karel Zeman would be up there too, as well as Jim Henson.

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

JH:  As I was finishing my film studies, I realized I’d be needing work in L.A.  So, before my classes finished, I sent out letters and school work résumés to about 200 FX and production companies.  Before I’d graduated I landed a model-making and puppet rigging and puppeteering job with David Allen on “Robot Jox.”

Jürgen Heimann

GM:  Whose current work do you admire?

JH:  When it comes to make-up work, I’d say Kazu Tsuji is probably the best artist around.  Mitch DeVane is the best character sculptor I know; and my old friend and mentor, Mark Setrakian, is still the most innovative mechanical designer around.  I’ve been very fortunate to work with all these people and more.

GM:  How have you gotten work in the industry?

JH:  Apart for my first stab breaking in with a student reel and résumé, I generally get work in the industry because I’ve worked at most of the shops and I know the people.  It’s typically a networking thing.

GM:  What was your toughest job?

JH:  The toughest jobs are generally the ones where I’ve had to build the largest things.  I worked at Rick Baker’s shop on the Mighty Joe Young remake, and I was one the team making the two full scale gorillas.  I also just recently co-starred on the Discovery Channel build show “Doing DaVinci,” in which we built a variety of large scale Leonardo DaVinci inventions - lots of heavy materials, steel machining and welding, etc.  The big stuff is just hard to work with.  You have to drag that stuff around the shop; you have to tweak things with crowbars and clamps; and it’s generally all oily and dirty, so by the end of the day you’re a filthy mess.  Also, when the build portion is done, you have to move your giant creation around the set somehow.  It’s a lot easier going when you just have to walk in an 18” TEAM AMERICA puppet to set.

GM:  What was your favorite job?

JH:  My favorite job was “PUPHEDZ: The Tattle-Tale Heart.”  It’s my favorite because I produced it, wrote it, directed it, performed it… created it.  It’s a small project that came out on DVD a few years back and was conceived as a possible pitch for a t.v. show.  I started the project with my team of helpers really just to see if we could do it.  It turned out we could, and it also turned out good enough that it got distribution.  It didn’t get much advertising, so I can’t say it was a huge financial success.  I am planning to do another episode, however.

As to feature film projects, I’d have to say my favorites were MATINEE, in which our crew built a 1950’s style monster… the Mant, and TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE, which will probably be the last marionette feature to be made.

PUPHEDZ kitchen set

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

JH:  Working, for the most part, in the mechanical departments of creature shops, the materials I mostly deal with are raw aluminum, steel, and brass stocks; bearings and bushings; servo motors and radios; a variety of plastics; cables, crimps, and liners; and batteries of every size.

The type of material or mechanical item (servo, bearing, etc.) I select usually has to do with how strong the mechanism has to be and the space allowed within the core of the creature sculpture.  It’s always seems to be “How much stuff can we cram into that small space?”  Even when you work on something large, like a Mighty Joe head, suddenly, all the servos have to be larger or the design now calls for hydraulic cylinders in order to handle the extra weight or stiffer foam.  So, everything else gets bigger as well, and again we have the how-do-we-fit-it-all-in-there problem.  There’s no particular brand loyalty.  If a Futaba servo is the only one that fits in a mechanism, I’ll use that.  If a HiTech or JR servo is stronger, I’ll use one of those.  I do, however, like the programmability of the Futaba radios.  And when it comes to design software, I’ll have to say I’m an Autodesk Inventor man (but I hate the fact that it’s so expensive).  There are certain suppliers that I routinely use – McMaster-Carr, Allied Electronics, Industrial Metal Supply, and Robin’s Hobby in Burbank.  The metal and plastic parts (brackets, links, and other structures) that end up inside the creatures are all custom made.

PUPHEDZ fork and hand (for scale)

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

JH:  There are constantly improvements made to servos and control systems, which are always welcome.  Anything that allows a puppeteered performance to be more natural and fluid is something I’m always onboard with.  The unfortunate thing is that the new technologies always come with a high price tag, and producers are always looking for the least expensive way to do what they want.  So, even though very sophisticated control systems do exist, we usually always end up just pulling out the old Futaba RC radios because they are the most cost effective.  It’s a frustrating situation because it seems they, the producers, are always willing to throw money at the CGI end of things in order to “fix it in post.”  The challenge with practical effects and creature work lies in the planning.  The filmmakers have to figure out, in pre-production, what their creature shots are going to be.  They need to confer with the creature makers about what can be done.  And they need to stick to the plan.  In the end, a great deal of money could be saved.  The key word… Planning.

Udo Kier gives PUPHEDZ Larchbottom an autograph at the 2000 Fangoria convention.

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

JH:  I am currently working on a movie titled PAUL.  It is written by and stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, creators of SHAWN OF THE DEAD.  Being in mid-production, it’s all very top secret.  I think there’s an official Universal Studios website about it.  So far it’s been very fun.  I’m a big Simon and Nick fan, so it’s been a pleasure to be part of the production.  Unfortunately, our creature involvement has been minimal.  For the most part, the CGI guys are going to be in charge of this one.  We just have some insert stuff.

Coming up, for our crew at Spectral Motion Studios, is THE HOBBIT… I think.  We’re all pretty excited about that one.

And of course, for me personally, I’m hoping to start writing a PUPHEDZ follow-up.

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

JH:  I guess my advice for someone entering the creature effects business would be to specialize.  The shops tend to  hire people specifically as sculptors, mold-makers, mechanical designers, painters, foam runners, fabricators, and make-up artists.  You can know a little about all those things, but you’ll have a better chance at getting a job if you are really good at one of them.

Then there is the other piece of advice that a lot of people put out there, which is to forget about practical effects and get into CGI.

For beginner film-makers my advice would be to forget about film school and just put your money into making a movie.  Shoot it on HD video, get a computer with appropriate editing software, and just do it.  You’ll learn everything you need to know along the way.  And if you can, try to set aside enough cash to hire a recognizable actor for a day or two.  Put that guy or gal in your movie, and you might actually be able to sell it.

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

JH:  The only advice I tend to ever hear is “Get out of the movie business!  It’s a crazy business!”  That may be good advice, but I’ve tended to ignore it.

Actually the best training I ever had was working with Mark Setrakian over at Rick Baker’s studio.  Mark is a genius designer and comes up with clever and simple solutions to mechanical engineering problems.  I do my best to use the same approach.  Basically, know what it is your creature needs to do for the shot or what the effect has to be, and just do that.  When producers come in and ask for a creature puppet that does everything, it’s doomed to failure.

GM:  How do you envision the future of makeup SFX? (do you think CGI is hurting the industry?)

JH:  It seems like there will be a future for makeup SFX for some time to come, because filmmakers and actors like to see the effect on set.  CGI has been taking its toll on the practical effects industry, but I’m actually starting to see a backlash with audiences.  People aren’t buying into what they are seeing on screen.  They know it just animation.  Just because anything can be done with CGI doesn’t always mean it should be done.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been on set with a creature puppet that the producers said would only be used for three shots, and we are trying to make it work for at least a dozen more shots.  “What happen to your plan of doing it CG?”  “Well, if we can get it with a puppet, we will.  It’s cheaper.”  Then why wasn’t it planned that way?

Check out these links:

www.puphedz.com
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0374226/ (my IMDB page)
http://www.whatispaul.com/ (a site for the Pegg/Frost movie PAUL)
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/doing-davinci/doing-davinci.html (“Doing DaVinci” show)