I was just watching this on More 4, and there's a scene where these dinosaur creatures attack - one of them is killed with an arrow in the mouth and the others stop attacking and feast on the dead dinosaur.
Anyway, I was struck by the effects.
So I am wondering...how did they pull this off in 1959?
Unless of course, they ARE real (i.e. some kind of lizard with a fin stuck to it's back...lol). Either way - good effect for 1959.
fM
The 'dinosaurs' used in this scene are actually marine iguanas dressed up to look like dinosaurs, then shot with seperate cameras. This technique was used frequently in those days.
shareSo they were real - I suspected as much. They actually looked much "realer" than the Jurrasic park cgi ones...in terms of movement etc.
Fm
separate GN
suzycreamcheese RIP Heath Ledger 1979-2008
A tiny spear was put into the mouth of the iguana with a thin wire attached, then pulled out. They merely reversed the film to make it look as if the spear is thrown in. Also, the iguanas were shot in high speed and made to move by aiming blow dryers at them.
shareIn answer to your question....how was the scene involving the giant lizards or Dimetradons as they are called in the movie done.Indeed this was a tricky piece of film making to do back in 1959 however the lizards were of a very small size,the film makers effects team attached added fins and spines to each lizard and as the actual lizards themselves were of a very dosile nature they seemed not to mind this being done at all,as to the scene of the other lizards attacking the doomed victim from Hans the guides spear,the filmakers shot the sequence with a single lizard seperately and with the aid of clever film editing gave the effect that the lizard had indeed been speared through the mouth,now finally as for the other lizards attacking the now dead lizard now lying on its side dead from being speared,no the lizard lying on its side is not really the real lizard but a incredible piece of then rubber and foam puppet,and lets be honest it looks pretty damn real lying there,to intice the other lizards to attack the puppet as if it were food the filmmakers did just that,stuffed the puppet with raw meat,the smell alone was enough to entice the other lizards to think it was tea time,then ofcourse the final shot of the explorers dragging the raft past the creatures as they stood guard over their feast was matted into the shot.
shareLB Abbott was Fox's SFX Genius, way before CGI
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