The Academy has two short ‘Behind the Oscars Speech’ videos with the pair.
In 1993, Ken Ralston, Doug Chiang, Doug Smythe and Tom Woodruff, Jr. were award the Best Visual Effects Oscar for Death Becomes Her (1992) at the Academy Awards.
This was a landmark film for Industrial Light & Magic in 1992, coming in between its huge advancements made for Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park. It was also a significant achievement for practical creature effects studio Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc.
I missed these videos when they were released a few weeks ago, but the Academy has posted two ‘Behind the Oscars Speech’ pieces with Doug Chiang and Doug Smythe about that moment on stage for them, and also in the press room.
These are really great to have online, perhaps because we don’t always get to see VFX artists profiled right next to directors and actors.
Check out the videos, below, along with befores & afters’ retro coverage of the film, where we dove in with Ken Ralston on how key aspects of the digital (and practical) work was done back then.
Head stretching and stomach holes: re-visiting the visual effects of ‘Death Becomes Her’
