Here's a cool shot of a modeler (perhaps Armando Valcauda?) detailing the special effects miniature of Stella Star's spaceship for Luigi Cozzi's
Starcrash. Personally, while there are plenty of valid criticisms one can lob at the movie's model work and effects, I must admit that I truly love the funky spacecraft from this flick!
I've been fascinated by the effects work in this film. Running the models on rails, then matting out the rails and replacing them with a star field (in camera, no less), was a brilliant stroke of genius. This technique borrowed Harryhausen's Dynamation process but used it in an incredibly novel way.
ReplyDeleteThe recent DVD release shows how effective this low-cost technique could be. Granted, some of the stop motion sequences were pretty abysmal but I really need to tip my hat at Valcauda's resourcefulness!
That picture sums up what was so memorable about the models - they were covered in sprues! The slow camera action let you pick out the tank tracks, wheels and other sprue attachments in all their embarassing detail.
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