The title of this spot.com.mentary column is also the title of an imaginative adidas spot from 2005 in which the centerpieces are beautifully crafted, life-like models of NBA players Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady and Tim Duncan.
Directed by Rupert Sanders (now with MJZ) for agency TBWAChiatDay, San Francisco, the memorable spot featured visual effects by Method, Santa Monica, and the Stan Winston Studio in Van Nuys, Calif. Stan Winston passed away last month at the age of 62 due to complications from multiple myeloma.
“Made To Perfection” is aptly titled when it comes to describing the makeup, creature creation and visual effects work of Winston who is best known for his feature film accomplishments, perhaps most notably on Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Jurassic Park which collectively earned him four Academy Awards.
Winston’s talent was reflected in such other films as Batman Returns, Lost World and Edward Scissorhands. For the latter, Winston and his studio colleagues designed and created the makeup, the scissors and blade appendages for the lead character.
Among team Winston’s latest endeavors were creating the crystal skeletons for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and the character suits for Iron Man and the Iron Monger in the movie Iron Man.
Winston’s makeup also garnered a pair of Emmys, including one for The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman for which actress Cicely Tyson was aged into a 110-year-old woman.
Yet somewhat overshadowed–and not all that well known in the general public–were Winston’s artistic contributions to assorted commercials over the years. In fact last month the two Film Grand Prix winners at the Cannes International Advertising Festival–Cadbury’s “Gorilla” and the Xbox Halo 3 fare–had the indelible imprint of Winston Studio artistry.
Also graced by the Winston touch were such SHOOT Top Spots over the years as Altoids’ “Half-Deer Edward,” Orkin’s “Pizza Delivery,” the FedEx Super Bowl commercial “Stick” and Hummer H3’s “Monsters.” Add to that ad menu such creations as the Aflac duck, Burger King’s king and the Budweiser frogs and lizards.
At next month’s SIGGRAPH conference, as part of the Computer Animation Festival proceedings, three studios are slated to make evening presentations. One of them, Sony Pictures Imageworks, decided to change the focus and theme of its session upon learning of Winston’s death. The effects studio will present a tribute to Winston and his work.
During a SIGGRAPH press preview event, Don Levy of Sony related, “We took a right turn from what we originally planned to this tribute recognizing Stan, who was an industry changing influence on how we approach filmmaking and visual effects.”
Winston is survived by son, Matt; wife, Karen; daughter, Debbie; brother, Ronnie; and four grandchildren.
In Stan Winston’s memory, his family requests that instead of flowers, donations be made to the Institute for Myeloma & Bone Cancer Research in West Hollywood, Free Arts For Abused Children in Los Angeles or the United States Fund for UNICEF in New York.
Netflix Series “The Leopard” Spots Classic Italian Novel, Remakes It As A Sumptuous Period Drama
"The Leopard," a new Netflix series, takes the classic Italian novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and transforms it into a sumptuous period piece showing the struggles of the aristocracy in 19th-century Sicily, during tumultuous social upheavals as their way of life is crumbling around them.
Tom Shankland, who directs four of the eight episodes, had the courage to attempt his own version of what is one of the most popular films in Italian history. The 1963 movie "The Leopard," directed by Luchino Visconti, starring Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale, won the Palme d'Or in Cannes.
One Italian critic said that it would be the equivalent of a director in the United States taking "Gone with the Wind" and turning it into a series, but Shankland wasn't the least bit intimidated.
He said that he didn't think of anything other than his own passion for the project, which grew out of his love of the book. His father was a university professor of Italian literature in England, and as a child, he loved the book and traveling to Sicily with his family.
The book tells the story of Don Fabrizio Corbera, the Prince of Salina, a tall, handsome, wealthy aristocrat who owns palaces and land across Sicily.
His comfortable world is shaken with the invasion of Sicily in 1860 by Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was to overthrow the Bourbon king in Naples and bring about the Unification of Italy.
The prince's family leads an opulent life in their magnificent palaces with servants and peasants kowtowing to their every need. They spend their time at opulent banquets and lavish balls with their fellow aristocrats.
Shankland has made the series into a visual feast with tables heaped with food, elaborate gardens and sensuous costumes.... Read More