The Magic of the Lantern

Greetings Fellow Famous Monsters Fans!

Monsters in the night, in the flickering light of the silver screen…creatures and places and moments fantastic, grotesque, thrilling…manifested out of a high and steady craft by long-anonymous men and women.

For over a hundred years motion pictures have provided a medium capable of extending a storyteller’s vision far beyond what even the grandest opera houses could achieve. The development of special effects fed the audiences’ appetite for ever richer eye-candy. Over the course of decades Hollywood and other film industries built a body of astounding techniques to realize these visions.

For much of that era there was precious little information available to the eager and curious about the craft of special effects. In some ways this was the result of a professional philosophy descended from the priests and shamans of antiquity, and the stage magicians who inherited and expanded their stagecraft. This philosophy might be stated thusly: “To reveal the technique is to break the spell of the illusion.”

To learn the manifold skills required to put a monster or mysterious place on film was once a steep road to hoe; luck, a connection into the film industry and an iron resolve were prerequisites. But as more films were made and more special effects seen and wondered at, the numbers of the eager and curious grew and one famous fan took note and took action. The resulting publication launched the careers of many effects professionals, and kept awake a few boys named Steven and Peter and James.

Famous Monsters was for many years one of the only sources of information about stop-motion animation, matte painting, make-up, and the other tools of the SFX trade. The many artists it influenced have enriched our lives for the past 30 years; and their willingness to share has launched new waves of special-effects craftspeople.

My goal here is to revive the sort of SFX coverage FM was famous for, with a strong emphasis on stop-motion, matte paintings, miniatures, and optical tricks. It’s not merely an editor’s whim or a nostalgic exercise, although to get anywhere as an editor I must have a point of view, and the conservation of artistic and technical history is a Good Thing.

I believe there’s a quiet groundswell of Making afoot, an echo of William Morris’ thoughts about the nobility of craft. Because the filmmaking pipeline is now so democratized, a great many people can put their vision onscreen, if only their imaginations and determination be great enough. Digital technology has liberated filmmakers and helped put the most amazing spectacles on screen, and adds a powerful toolkit to the effects artist’s workshop. Yet the old-school techniques are in many ways more within reach than the complex CGI packages and skills needed to create complex imagery. FM is collaborating with other websites and publications to gather up and spread before you the lively and fascinating work going on today, and to celebrate a century’s worth of skill and wonder.

I look forward to joining you for the ride!