Ray Harryhausen

With some more research around my source material, I found out that the first use of stop motion animation in a feature film was actually the very first adaptation of The Lost World itself, made in 1925. Intrigued, I later found a pioneer of this technique to be Ray Harryhausen who is renown for his brand of stop-motion model animations. His book 'The Art of Ray Harryhausen' showcases a collection of his concept art used for a range of environments and creatures in several films before CG animation was introduced.

His works are greatly inspiring capturing some iconic scenes that are particularly effective in creating a sense of depth and space, with a layering of background to foreground elements. Most of these are charcoal and pencil sketches used in production.





While this project is focused on environments, I believe including some creatures, if only just a suggestion, could really help provide a further sense of scale and atmosphere to the piece - so something I intend to keep in mind.

I also found a video of all the creatures Harryhausen designed, modelled and animated, some really fantastic stuff given the limitations of technology.


Check out his website here.

You can also find his book, 'The Art of Ray Harryhausen' at the UCA library.