Episode 51: Well, Isn't that Special - Effects

our guest Webster Colcord with "friends" at Tippett Studios

All of the amazing fantasy and science fiction films that we love, with their spaceships and ray guns, monsters and aliens, couldn't exist without the talents and hard work of special effects artists. For this episode, the Planet 8 crew is joined by special effects artist and animator Webster Colcord! Webster is an industry veteran, getting his start at the Vinton Studios, doing claymation on the California Raisins. He has gone on to work on a wide range of projects, including James and the Giant Peach, Deadpool, Ted, Superman Returns, The Host, and many other genre films. Webster currently works with legendary effects artist Phil Tippett at Tippett Studios. 

via Gfycat

We'll talk with Webster about his career, and learn about what it was like to do claymation, hear about the early days of CG effects, the beginnings of Pixar, and more! We had a lot of fun just talking with Webster and getting a lot of behind the scenes stories about different films and how some amazing effects were done -and what went wrong with a few movies! (We're looking at you Scorpion King...)

If you've ever wondered about how some of the special effects you've seen in films were made, or what it's like working in the special effects field, this is the episode for you!

For this episode, Recon Officer Karen has the Sensor Sweep and looks at a new book from author Marc Cushman. It's a continuation of his excellent These are The Voyages series, the first three volumes of which covered the first three seasons of the original Star Trek. This volume, entitled These are the Voyages: Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek in the 1970s  Volume 1 (1970 -1975). Cushman covers the years between the end of the original series up through the animated series (but prior to the first film). It includes info on the sci-fi TV films Roddenberry made, like Questor Tapes and Genesis II as well. One big surprise -Roddenberry was working on the script for a Tarzan film which never materialized! If you're a Star Trek buff, you'll want this book.

That's all for this go-round. We hope you enjoyed our look at special effects with our friend Webster. As always, we want to hear your thoughts. Leave them below in the comments, or hit us up in our social media spots:

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Thanks for listening!