THE SECRETS OF SPECIAL EFFECTS with BRIAN JOHNSON of Star Wars, Thunderbirds, Space: 1999, and MORE
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- Опубліковано 18 чер 2024
- Join us as we sit down with special effects legend Brian Johnson to share visual effects tricks of the trade, remember some of the people he worked with along the way, and recall the journey towards what would become the iconic Century 21 Films' model effects style.
Brian Johnson has been a guiding hand behind SFX in countless films, including '2001: A Space Odyssey', 'Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back', 'Alien', 'The NeverEnding Story',and more. Before this Hollywood successes he learned his trade alongside Derek Meddings at Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's AP Films studio on series like 'Supercar', 'Fireball XL5', 'Stingray', and 'Thunderbirds'.
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About Us:
About Me:
Century 21 Films Ltd is a multi-faceted production company whose work spans drama to documentary, miniature effects to puppet shows. It was founded by a group of filmmakers who first collaborated on Filmed in Supermarionation, the story of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's hit puppet shows including Thunderbirds, Stingray and Captain Scarlet.
Since then, we have worked for a multitude of high-profile clients including ITV, BBC, Mammoth Productions, British Film Institute and the Halifax working on projects such Thunderbirds, Endeavour, Doctor Who and The Twilight Zone.
In addition to our regular filmmaking services, we specialise in ‘Supermarionation’ - the puppetry filming technique used to make shows like Thunderbirds and have collaborated with ITV repeatedly to provide specialised services. Our work has been featured on The One Show, This Morning, Good Morning Britain, BBC News, ITV News and Mastermind.
#filmedinsupermarionation #thunderbirds #century21films - Фільми й анімація
I still remember working with Brian in the 1960s on Hammer films like 'Moon Zero Two' and 'Taste the Blood of Dracula'.
What a brilliant artist and technician.
Now in my 70s, I can recall every moment working with this incredible man.
God bless you mate.
Brian is a very modest person.
His work helped inspire millions of children to draw explosions and with a green, blue and yellow crayon, the latest exciting episode of Thunderbirds. Those same children would be grateful to get a Thunderbird 2 or an Eagle for Christmas and treasure it like it was made of gold. They would make rocket noises as they flew the craft around their homes and fill their minds with hours of imagination.
It cannot even be quantified, just what an effect he had on just one of those children, let alone all the millions. Experiences they took with them throughout their lives and which they eagerly passed down to their offspring.
I hope he (and his family) are aware of just how much of a hero his hard work and dedication made him in the eyes of those children.
Best wishes - from one of those children
I couldn't agree more- I'm now in my 40s and first caught the Century 21 productions when BBC bought the catalogue and rescreened them in the early 90s- even in that era of special effects increasingly beecoming more computer-dominated, there is a quality of artistry, care and commitment often on a much lower budget than 'Hollywood' productions and which holds up well today. People like Brian, Gerry Anderson, Derek Meddings, Mat Irvine and many many other British model makers and effects men really don't get enough credit for the influence they've had on later filmmakers like Ridley Scott, James Cameron, Stanley Kubrick, Steven Spielberg etc.
The mismatch paint and repairs watching it now make it look like they unknowingly added another level of realism. Great interview!
Why Brian has not been given even a sniff of an Oscar is a mystery as if anybody deserves one, it's him
He did win one in 1980 as part of the Visual Effects team for ALIEN (1979), so there is that....
Congratulations to Brian Johnson as well as everyone else that worked on all the productions of A.P. Films. The many hours of entertainment they produced kept getting better and better as the years went by. In fact, they were so good at what they did, the apparent ease of the finished product fooled the producers of TV’s animated “South Park” into thinking that it actually WAS easy! So much so, that the “South Park” boys decided to make a big-budget feature in the style of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, entitled “Team America: World Police”. They found out (quite expensively) that making such things was NOT as easy as it looked when viewing the final product! In fact, when being interviewed for TV, one of the guys (I believe it was Matt Stone) told the interviewer that they would NEVER EVEN ATTEMPT to do anything with Marionettes EVER AGAIN! That feature came out looking good, but it went over budget and took MUCH longer than they expected. Knowing the amount of time and effort that went into shows like “Fireball XL5”, “Supercar” and especially “Thunderbirds”, few if ANY others have even attempted to do such a thing! All the gadgets the Special Effects people came up with - and I don’t just mean the rockets used in the numerous craft which “flew” on those shows, but things like the “rolling roads” which made it possible to shoot miniatures of land vehicles with the appearance of driving on endless multi-lane highways, among many other things - serve to show the genius of the people who made it happen. Some years ago, when the entire “Thunderbirds” series came out on DVD, I bought it! I still have every episode, and they look GREAT! Having been a Director of Network Television, I have the greatest respect for each and every member of the A.P. Films crew!
I think what has been missed was the effect this had on the minds of young children. My self included.
To achieve a nationwide motivation in anything to do with science, science fiction, and technology was totally amazing.
Also you had Philips Science Kits. Lego, Meccano, Do It Yourself Chemistry Kits, Estes Science Catalogues, Radio Shack, Popular Mechanics, Airfix Model kits, and lots of other great things to spend hoarded pocket money on.
The space race was another example of the effect of the above.
Where did all those engineers America needed to put men on the Moon come from.
How many of them designed, assembled, and built rockets that blasted off with Estes solid fuel motors in them.
I was a terror in my early years. No domestic appliance was safe near me if I got hold of the Old Boys Tool Box.
Greetings to you Brian, and the Crew. I owe you all a debt I cannot repay.
Kind Regard and greetings from Africa.
I watched this last night with a smile on my face. Now AGed 57, I remember so much of this - the repeats throughout the 1970s, really. Bravo !
Space 1999, now that was a favourite of mine.
Being involved with at least one of the Quatermass movies, is fascinating. Back in the days when very little broadcast content was recorded and/or preserved, perhaps viewers might find a talk on your experiences in that area equally interesting?
Greatest entertainment of my life. Thunderbirds was an early favorite. UFO was once preempted by Jimmy Carter. 1999 was simply inspiring. Taught a young kid about duty and responsibility. Sacrifice and hope. Maybe rewind and watch these again for the first time instead of dr pronoun and his rainbow machine. Oh my...banned again.
Fantastic insight to how legendary tv shows from my childhood were made.
These guys were real geniuses with real talent, which tbh makes today's "talent" pale into insignificance by comparison.
Thunderbird 1 was my favourite craft out of all of the shows 👍😁
Ipswitch Road Unit is still there to realise just how crazily small these amazing people were working in, and their unbelievable skills to create such legendary work. Fabulous people, incredible memories.
Always fascinating to listen to Brian talk about his work on all the shows he did! He was a massive influence on my life.
Thank you Brian Johnson and Derek Meddngs for such wonderful effects. They made me a lifelong science fiction fan
Well that was a little piece of wonderful, thanks all!
Oh to have been there to experience this. If anyone ever invents a time machine, my first *_"pay per use"_* would be to be around for some of these days, to share with these wonderfully talented people. So sad to hear ( from 3:11 ) that Derek Meddings didn't get a penny for his genius designs - that *_SUCKS_* . Gerry was the driving force, but Derek, Mike, Brian (and others too numerous to mention) created & assembled the engines. Those designs were *_EVERYTHING_* ! Brian is such a "calming" bloke to listen to - so much experience, ability & knowledge. Thank-you Brian for everything you did, and for all you have shared with us (I quite like your work with AC/DC too 😇)
This is a fantastic interview. Loved to learn all about the situation of it all. Fell in love with the thunderbirds and was bitterly disappointed when it was canned.
Always admired his work. Tremendous respect indeed.
space 1999 SFX still look good today, great documentary and interview great detail.
I have space 1999 on blue ray and i can confirm that.This was the first series that peaked my interest in science fiction when it first aired in germany 1977.Still love it today and Brian Johnson is one of my idols
@@1966joern
Holy words! Exactly the same for me.
There is only one difference... I write from Italy.
Thank you!
I grew up wanting to be Troy Tempest. Thanks to that did 30 years as an airline pilot. Thanks!
He and Meddings made my childhood
Compared to the new CGI versions they definitely had a look and a quality of motion :-)
What a brilliantly amazing interview with Brian Johnson. Whilst Thunderbird 2 is my favourite Thunderbird craft (and has always being my favourite Thunderbird craft since I was 5 years old), little did I realise how difficult she was for the special effects team - and likewise, it was the same case for Stingray which is now 60 years old.
That was really fascinating to hear! Thank you! For all the fun you gave me as a child! Little did I realise, that one day! I would meet Mr.Keith Schaklton (forgive me if I have spelt his name wrong!) Years later, re calendars our family firm made relating to making them for ABBA! He was a gentleman to deal with! R.I.P
Excellent, Excellent interview ❤
The models and effects were always the best part of Thunderbirds, I never bought the puppets even as a kid it just looked too fake. The models and effects looked real and that was the exciting part that kicked ass, but then this guy worked on Alien and Empire Strikes Back, both films are still absolutely stunning looking decades later because they had the very best artists like Brian. The one thing CGI rarely gets right is the weight and how real objects move and thats why movies that use real models will always be more realistic, when its done right its timeless.
Awesome interview. Thank you for your wonderful work Brian!
F.A.B. --- best thing I’ve ever watched on this www thing !!😊
What a fantastic interview.
Wonderful.
That was very interesting ! And we would never have had "Team America: World Police" without their efforts.
Not fair to blame them for that!
@@century21films28 Haha. Best love making scene of any movie ha ha
Brian’s eyebrows are as big as Parker’s now… happier times.
can see where they got the idea for parker from.
Ha, the scratched film!
0:55 "The Eagle Has Landed" What has that title to do with anyhting in the interview??
But I do very much love hearing Brian talking about how it was done back in the days, thank you.
Later in his career, Brian designed the Eagle Transporter for Space: 1999.
@@century21films28 That I am fully aware of 👍 but in this context it seems confusing 🙂 (From the title I was hoping to see and hear about the Eagle)
Terrific storyteller but of course droll as it gets. Sentimental value for me; watched Thunderbirds and Supercar on (I think) channel 5 here in SoCal. Whoever posted this, thank you, but you know it’s not too late to sync sound. No music, sound effects or other dialog to hinder you. You only have to care enough about the material, and know not doing it undermines channel credibility. Otherwise, well done.
It is in sync!
CGI sux.