CENTURY 21 FX - Behind the Scenes with Thunderbirds Special Effects Wizard Shaun Whittacker-Cook
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- Опубліковано 18 лис 2024
- From Thunderbirds to Captain Scarlet, Joe 90, and beyond, Special Effects director Shaun Whittacker-Cook was on-hand to bring the cult creations of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson to life on both the big and small screen. Join him as he recalls his time working on classic AP Films and Century 21 television series and movies, including Thunderbirds Are GO and Doppelgänger AKA Journey to the Far Side of the Sun. Alongside colleagues Derek Meddings, Mike Trim and others, Shaun was responsible for some of International Rescue's greatest missions and Captain Scarlet's deadliest adventures.
Filmed in Supermarionation, these productions have endured since their 1960s debuts. In our ongoing series of documentary interviews, we invite you to meet the crew of scriptwriters, directors, editors, puppeteers and visual effects artists as they reveal the space age secrets that blasted UK television into the 21st century and inspired films such as Star Wars and James Bond.
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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
Shaun was my grandad and he sadly passed away in 2021, this was such an amazing video to come across. It’s so nice to hear his voice again, he was an amazing man ♥️
Did anyone else in the family follow in his footsteps?
your grandad, would of worked with my grandfather,he was an uncredited production manager, whom worked for mgm. too sadly he passed away in 2018. But i always like watching the old interviews
The incredible work that Shaun and the others did lives on in millions of us kids from the 1960's.
Fantastic interview really interesting, thank you Shaun and the whole team , for this programme and all your work! Best regards Steve
This is very interesting….because the end result was so convincing (to a child at least). I loved Thunderbirds and as a child saw the original broadcasts - It really was ahead of its time and a joy to watch
I think that your comments could describe how many of us felt when watching The Thunderbirds.
In some ways, given the level of sophistication in the model making, the puppets and the special effects it spoilt us and made us harsh critics of poor quality special effects.
Mark from Melbourne Australia 🇦🇺
@@markfryer9880 Melbourne, Australia - visited many years ago - seem to recall there was a tram system in operation. I guess we are of an age that we enjoyed the same childhood experience but you are right the series set the standard very high. The models were brilliantly cast and the puppets employed circuits so that the mouth movements correlated with the speech. I grew up in North West London which geographically is where my childhood memories took place.
Even now, I look at sequences like Thunderbird 2 coming out of the hangar and it still looks like a BIG machine
What an amazing man and a wonderful interview. Thank you.
I could listen to this guy talk for hours
I grew up watching Thunderbirds and have always been fascinated by the model making and the behind the scenes stories.
I loved Thunderbirds as a 9 year old, watched every episode, collected the cards and had a model of TB1 and 2. Fabulous work to produce this british icon of TV.
The really GREAT response to this interview is a warm feeling that this ADDED to my childhood joy at watching Thunderbirds from the first episode, without any really-worrying injections of truth to spoil childhood memories, It was just a joy to see "how they did that". A perfect historical document, capturing the man's experiences for posterity. Well done, 2024 TV team - much respect. A great tribute, also, to Derek Meddings.
The first episode was the best one. It was the one where they had to land the airliner with the bomb in the landing gear.
Loved Thunderbirds as a kid, the special effects were outstanding for the time.
Very talented people.
Another great video - and a big thanks from a 60 year plus fan! There is absolutely nothing better than a practical miniature, together with the incredible skill and devotion of all those talented folk. CGI is perfectly fine and clever programming, but a great model shot is always better, (because it’s ‘real’ !) It’s such a shame they couldn’t have stayed together and formed an independent effects company. Perhaps there wasn’t the funding at the time, but I’m sure there would have been a big demand for their unique talents.
I grew up watching Gerry Anderson shows here in the US. Loved Supercar. In the Tampa Bay Area it came in on channel 13 which was UHF and you had this circular antenna on the back of the tv and was a pain to adjust to get a decent picture. Thunderbirds was on another level. Too bad Supermarionation became obsolete. Here I am at 71 years old and I still enjoy watching these children’s shows.
The people behind the camera are very much forgotten then. Great interview.
Most still are today to be fair🤷♂️ Maybe some recognition from peers, but that’s something I guess?
Bloody hell, the poor model makers must have wept when their beautiful creations went off for filming, I wonder if they took bets as to wether they would come back in one piece after filming! I love the quality of the models built fro Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Stingray et al, they have stuck with me to this day, proper down-and-dirty, lived in craft that you could believe existed. I build all my kits with the weathering/lived in aesthetic, always striving for that authentic look. Thanks for your efforts, invaluable ideas for the modeller.
CENTURY 21 FX - Behind the Scenes with Thunderbirds Special Effects Wizard Shaun Whittacker-Cook 0856am 30.9.124 a great tradition the anglo-saxon profanity. a dying art, in fact. whereas some swear to offend others swear to express some internal or eternal discord. you need to be of that current to meet the anglo-saxon swear word unannoyed or let the profanity to go unchallenged. though, again, maybe you need to be subtle enough to discern the profanity from the genuine offensive remark... haha.. heady days. as i say, the job market is such that nothing will ever be the same again... we only listen to people having had employment during the early 80's..... 70's.... 60's... 50's etc etc with awe and amazement. even one's mother pointing out the original site of the labour exchange as she wanders round rochdale is the stuff of wonder...
Great video! The attention to detail that went into these shows is outstanding.
Talented geniuses - one and all. Thanks again for creating and uploading 🥰 I will never tire of watching these.
Great interview with some anecdotes I hadn’t heard previously
This was just so fantastic, only really eclipsed by the UFO series. Amazing we do such great work on a shoestring budget.
Everything Thunderbirds was F.A.B.
A timeless masterpiece.
I am 62 now, and remember it like it was yesterday.
Fantastic stuff! British ingenuity & improvisation at it's very best! They made on-screen magic 👍🏻🇬🇧👏🏻
Afraid I was never a Thunderbird child (my earliest memory were Joe 90 and Space 1999) but watching this was fascinating, thank you.
Absolutely 💯 brilliant interview. What talent.
Thank you for an excellent interview. It's disappointing to realise that the working relations were not happy!
that's really just life😮
Brings a smile to this 63 year old born in the early 1960s Britain. My Thunderbirds 1,2,3, Mole and miniature 4, never made it to Australia. A friend had a full size space station 5. Lucky duck. And Fab1 when driven by an untrained Lady Penelope was hilarious. Thanks for the memories.
As a child of the Star Wars generation growing up in the US during the 1970’s and 80’s, it still staggers me that this never made it to the US, either in its day or after. We would’ve absolutely eaten this up! I remember seeing a couple short films where people used their large GI Joe’s in sort of a stop motion story. This would’ve completely blown my mind at the time. Love the creativity and ingenuity that went into the process
of bringing these stories to life. Well done to all involved. I’m sure you’ve created fond memories for millions that will last a lifetime.
Thank you for making my childhood,s favorite TV program. God Bless
Thanks Sean Whitaker-Cook and Thanks Century 21 directors, voice overs, visual effects and writes and anybody I missed. Thanks for my childhood memories growing up. Captain Scarlet, Fireball XL5, Space 1999, Stingray, Supercar and Thunderbirds, the ones I got to see in Aus and others. Sorry to hear that about Gerry, in most cases thats the way it was/is. The person at the top gets the credit, the monete, and screw the the rest.
What a great piece of tv history. Thank you for sharing
Thoroughly enjoyed this 'warts and all' interview.
Absolutely fascinating stuff! What a brilliant interview.
Gerry wasn't really a people person, was he? :)
Great video. One of the best so far.
From Japan.
I watched Thunderbirds obsessively as a kid.
I loved Thunderbird 2
Also, I was scared of the guy with the glowing eyes.
Missed the first Thunderbirds episode. Every lad in the school playground was going wild over it, and I didn’t know what they were going on about. A smash hit from day one with a whole generation; of boys at least.
Thunderbirds were the absolute highlight of my childhood……and my adult life.
Horrible to hear how the staff were treated ! But I wish to convey my thanks for a great childhood viewing.
Sad how people "in the trenches" (that actually do work) are always treated badly.
Wow, this was really great to watch! Thank you _so_ much! 😊 ❤
Well done to everybody...love thunderbirds. Happy Memories
great documentary great talent.
Very interesting little film about my favourite entertainment growing up.
I hope all of these talented people went on to other jobs in the movie industry after making these amazing TV series such a shame of how they were treated at the end
How can such geniuses be treated to badly!. 😢 these people made it so magical!. And believable!. Thank you everyone!!!!!
To put everything on the line to produce these special effects, including their health and lives, then to end up with nothing but memories and no thanks.
This is always the way when bigger businesses get involved, the workers get all told that this is going to be great, it will be better for everyone. It NEVER is, these businesses or investors always expect big results and fast money and just put all that pressure on the workers.
One mans ego just ruined it all, it went beyond wanting to makes something good that people would love, became a monster that destroyed everyone involved all for more money.
But, now years on, the dust has settled and the money side of things has gone, whats left was the original reason, an exellent series of programmes that had stunning effects done by very commited people, for that, everyone who is a fan is grateful
umoshiroi ! it is very special to hear master Shaun Whittacker-Cook !
cheers from Rio
Great interview. It just goes to shows how things can sour in creative endeavours (any group effort really). All it usually takes is a bit of time to check in with everyone, see how they're doing and give appreciation where due. Criticism is then easier to take, rather than being out of the blue. If you get too busy to do that, then you're not delegating right. But, we're only human and can only do what we can do.
CENTURY 21 FX - Behind the Scenes with Thunderbirds Special Effects Wizard Shaun Whittacker-Cook 0840am 30.9.24 aeronautically invalid? so was the space shuttle... described as being akin to " landing a brick"..
2:03 Awesome Behind The Scenes Look About Gerry Anderson's Joe 90 Along With Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons The Original Series And Of Course Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds Are GO The Movie And Thunderbirds The Original Series. Thanks Century 21 Films Buddy Amigo Dude Mate. XXxxx❤ 🇬🇧 🇦🇺 🇺🇸
Shaun seems like a great guy with a lot of insight in to the production stories of the models, special effects, the physicality and dangers of working on set and all kinds of crazy stuff with the various series.
I personally LOVE the story he had about Thunderbird 2's launch ramp sound effect was sampled and recorded from a real world nearby power station!
It adds level of believability to it all, it has a basis in reality somewhere!
If Shaun ever swings by here to read the comments on this video, we salute you mate for all the work you guys did on the series.
Sadly, Shaun has passed away in the years since this interview was filmed.
Minor correction. It was Professor Eric Laithwaite from Imperial College that developed the Linear Induction motor. It both levitated and propelled forward by linear induction and not by propeller
Remember the first episode. I was addicted to the show as a kid. Great job, although I must admit that certain parts always got me wondering how technically correct they were. 👏👏👏👏🇦🇺
Terrific interview...what an amazing man.
As a child in the '60's who was absolutely addicted to Thunderbirds, I loved this chap explaining how it was all done. Another Anderson program was 'Marina' mostly set underwater - was it or wasn't it?! These programs and Dr Who made an SFX tragic - how did they do that? I often watch movies or TV programs now especially for the special effects. Thanks for the interview Shaun and the magic you made 😁
Great story telling by Shaun.
Toxic management takes credit for the hard work and innovation but $hits on the talent. Nothing changes!
No mobile phones, no computers - thankfully TV and Fireball XL5, Thunderbirds, Stingray et al. Happy memories of happy days as a boy.
Even as a young lad in the 60s,I could see the strings, but the special effects looked great on the screen and this is a real insight into how it was done and in my display cabinet, I have my two favourite models, Stingray and Fireball XL5.
Fireflash was a stunning piece of work.
Shame about Gerry Anderson's attitude towards the end. I used to admire him for his ideas and imagination but the more of these look-backs I watch, the more apparent it is that all the good ideas came from the likes of Shaun, Derek and Co. What a shame Gerry got a bit up himself and never gave the guys personal credit for their fantastic efforts in the special effects department, these shows would not have succeeded without them, I for one, salute you! Fond childhood memories of the glory days of inventive telly.
Great insight to the making of t-birds. Thanks for all you & the crew did. FAB
That guy actually looks like a Thunderbirds Villain 😀👍
Yes he does...The Hood
Wow thatbks for these great videos. The more i see the more i love the shows even more. I actualy have the matchbox tb2 and 4 on my desk and on a shelf i have a matchbox tb3 still in its og packaging. Well on to watch the next vid (which is naughty as im supposed to be working on my own lol)
Thunderbirds ill admit was the best one of Andersons creations, but as a kid I watched them all. Supercar, Fireball Xl5, Space Patrol, Stingray, Captain Scarlett. TB1 was my favorite, I had a model of it.
What a great interview loved it
Well, it's like sixty years too late...but for loading passengers in TB3 they could have started with the couch in the ship, *lowered* it...then just run the film backwards. No need to hit a tiny target.
Doh!
Lovely story and narration.
Absolutely loved the thunderbirds ❤❤❤❤❤❤
this is such a pleasure to watch… Thunderbirds forever ❤
I remember any boy who wore glasses stopped being teased and was automatically cast and revered as Brains or Joe 90 at playtime and we all had to do the puppet walk. Sounds daft now but what fun he had. I loved those programmes, we all did.
I love how the monorail was inspired by the then-recent invention of linear induction motors. It's funny he says the dangly one was not convincing, when there's three in Germany which look quite a bit like that! (Well, one has the J-beam cantilevered type like in Thunderbirds, the older two have boxes holding them up.)
Terrific stories! I can just picture the Angel jet stabbing someone's arm!
just genius,,,, and so much fun,,, its crying out to be remade using the old techniques
Derek meddings absolute genius 👏 gazz 😉
I would liked to see a scene shot from the behind the scene of Thunderbird 3 because I'm always curious to know how they manage to pull it up from under neath the round house at it's huge size while getting ready to launch.
Amazing video and it's a bit sad how people were treated in those days
Effects look great - even in this digital age.
Shawn, a really nice man, fastening knowledge,Behind the scenes
Great interview
Thunderbirds class...les bowie worked for hammer..brilliant 👏 gazz
Shaun mentions 100's of Mars Bars being brought in. This was early days for the Slough Trading Estate and Mars Limited was just a short drive from the Gerry & Sylvia Anderson's studio's, my Dad was a Refrigeration Engineer with Mars Limited, we kids spanned Thomas Grey County Primary and Slough Technical High School. Wealthy families sent their kids to one of the Grammar Schools. Exciting days for kids, Thunderbirds, Fireball XL5, Supercar, Captain Scarlet, Dr Who and Daleks everywhere, The Beatles and dozzens of other great bands and artists...... Slough High Street bustled with life..... Memories of happier times....
62....sat on sofa listening to this account just makes me sad.... we've all worked places where management take the praise and walk all over the staff but up till now i assumed that they were a small film group all pulling together to achieve greatness....rather sad that this seems to be not the case.
@@sitcorocket This is one man’s account of the back end of the company. It wasn’t like this the whole time.
Another example of the British being way ahead of the game (model making and SFX) and not capitalising on it. When will we ever learn to think long term...
Now this is Entertainment!!!
I think they did a good job for the day, we kids loved it anyway we didn’t know any better.
Whoa. I always assumed the smoke effects involved some toxic, now-banned chemicals... but I didn't realise it was bad enough as to produce phosgene. Nor that they _already were_ banned even when Thunderbirds was being shot! Jeez.
I allways said they should have put the thunderbird 2 ship in ALIENS as the dropship that had the armored vehical in cargo
if you took away the goatee and mo he would look like the villain
Brilliant insight… sorry to hear about the way the talented and passionate crew were treated, thats not right.
"It's not as bad as it looks."
That has to be up there with:
"It's just a fIesh wound!"
😆
"E-Type carrot!" 🤣
Wow! Stuff I hadn't heard before...good and bad.
Out of them all CAPTAIN SCARLET was my favourite, mainly because of its dark anti hero.
Great.!!!!
Loved Thunderbirds as a child, it's was great, but everything I hear tells me Gerry Andersen was a shit to work for
Sad ending.
This might come across as a silly question,
Is there any connection between the wonderful work and scale modelling in film and the movie Terminator 2/James Cameron?
The time period although not that close, hmm
Interview shows that the film industry is a tough business, even if they film dolls...
what a pleasure...
The bumble bee analogy is wrong. They are perfectly aerodynamic for what they need to do. Who cares if T2 can’t fly? We’re kids enjoying the wonder! And I love it today as much as I did >50 years ago. Thanks everyone.
Regarding the closing explosion, it looks like Just Stop Oil are still around in 2065
I don't know what he is going on about, every where is like this. Everyone will tread on others to get to the top, it's just how life is.
Murry Walker anyone?
Wow never knew that disappointing.
To me 'supermarionation' was more 'real' than modern CGI, which never looks convincing!
Aye!
I love the special effects of these series - just amazing considering how long ago they were made