These Animatronics May Convice You That All Your Friends Are Robots
This article is more than 2 years old
There are a lot of legitimate criticisms of Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, but for all of the complaints and flaws, the film looked amazing. A huge reason for that is the animatronics work of one Gustav Hoegen. Check out his impressive, and occasionally creepy as hell, show reel. If I had any need of robotic creatures in my day-to-day life, I’d certainly hire him. Hell, I want to make a movie myself just so I can see this guy in action in real life.
In addition to his recent jaunt in the Alien universe, Hoegen’s prosthetic makeup and effects handiwork can be seen in other big-budget blockbusters like Clash of the Titans and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and in such nerdy places as Doctor Who and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. He also got to work with Terry Gilliam on The Brothers Grimm, lucky bastard. Okay, very talented, good at his job bastard.
Watching this video there are times when it is definitely difficult to believe that these are robots you’re seeing, not computer-generated effects, or motion-capture images. He gets such expression in his faces, so much emotion in the synthetic eyes, that sometimes you can’t help but think these creations are alive. After wall, that’s why people pay him to work on their movies, to convince you that these fanciful beasts and crazy-ass monsters are real. If part of your brain doesn’t believe that giant scorpion is real, then what the hell is the point?
