latimes.com: Long before the age of computer-generated special effects, Marcel Vercoutere helped create a scene widely considered among the most terrifying in movie-going history.
In "The Exorcist," the 1973 horror film that became a pop-culture phenomenon, the head of a helpless young girl twists completely around as a young priest battles the demon that inhabits her body. With its wild, animated eyes, the life-size robot used as a stand-in for actress Linda Blair was built by Vercoutere, the film's special effects director, with help from its chief makeup artist, Dick Smith.
3 comments:
There is certain romanticism associated with"old-school" special effects as opposed to today's CGI. As illustrated by this article, those effects have a much more personal, human dimension to them. I admire people like Vercoutere who have managed to make a name for themselves through hard work and a constant stream of innovative techniques and ideas. This is something than can be done in any discipline of film, in any industry; here, it is a romantic idea because it is so closely tied to every child's imaginative dreams of magic and tricks.
it would have been better if it had a video of the robot twisting, but I could still imagine, which greatly intrigued me! I also agree with Camille how it is certainly different between "old-school" special effects and today's CG. I see how today's CG with its amazing technology can create anything that seemed impossible in the past. However, with the old special effects, I feel like the innovator will feel more personal attachment to it even after 20-30 years. Especially for Vercoutere, the robot would be very special for him because The Exorcist was a famous film that everyone sees once in his/her life. For me, although I didn't watch the whole film because I was scared after hearing all of curse of the film, but I definitely saw the part where the robot is used and I never realized that it was a robot! This seems amazing how in the old days, this creative and unruffled innovator managed to create this effect. I hope to see this full movie one day and see the details of special effects that he put a lot of efforts.
This gentlemen seemed lucky enough to be one of the few that truly had the American dream experience. What better yet, he came from immigrant parents and worked hard to pursue his dreams. This is just a small bit of inspiration to me on this last week of classes prior to the end of the year. So what is before the days of CGI and before well anything that was the computer he figured it out. That is exciting in and of itself! He just had to figure it out and well that is so much of what our industry does. We pride ourselves on the ability to "FIGURE IT OUT". So I tip my hat to you Mr. Vercoutere!
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