Tag Archives: Brett Piper

IMAGINATOR MAGAZINE’S STOP-MOTION SPECIAL EDITION!

Imaginator is more like a book than a magazine: it is a journal-type publication that has a thick spine and boasts 116 pages crammed with colour photos, concept art and storyboards! It will look great on any bookshelf!

This issue is currently ONLY AVAILABLE to preorder via Monster Zone in the UK and in the EU.

Imaginator Issue 12 – UK

This is a Stop-Motion Special Edition! There’s a 40-page celebration of David Allen’s The Primevals! Plus a big section focusing on the work of Brett Piper! Randall William Cook and other top animators are interviewed!

£22.99

Imaginator Issue 12 – EU

This is a Stop-Motion Special Edition! There’s a 40-page celebration of David Allen’s The Primevals! Plus a big section focusing on the work of Brett Piper! Randall William Cook and other top animators are interviewed!

€36.99

The first 40 orders will come with an A4 poster created by Imaginator’s regular cover illustrator Zilla Man!

Imaginator issue 12 will become available in the USA and elsewhere late next month.

This Stop-Motion Special Edition is a joy to behold, just check out the mouthwatering contents…

FOREWORD
Alan Friswell, the official restorer for the Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation, ponders what is so magical and special about the art and technique of stop-motion animation.  

Alan Friswell

INTERVIEW WITH AN ARGONAUT
Gary Raymond, who played the villainous Acastus in JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, recalls what it was like to star in this fantasy adventure classic!

Gary Raymond

YOU HAVE 20 SECONDS TO COMPLY…
Oscar-nominated FX genius Randal Dutra takes us all back to the time he animated rogue killer droid ED-209 in the iconic 1987 science fiction action masterpiece ROBOCOP!

ED-209

THE PRIMEVALS – A CELEBRATION
A 40-page zone focusing on David Allen’s stop-motion sci-fi-adventure-fantasy film! This section is full of interviews, storyboards, promo art and photos! Check out what’s in store within this celebration zone..

The Primevals - A Celebration

DECADES IN THE MAKING
An overview of the long and winding journey that THE PRIMEVALS took to finally reach the screen! 

eti!

IN THE ARENA
Chris Endicott, whose credits include ROBOT WARS, DOCTOR MORDRID and AVENGERS: ENDGAME, talks about how he saved the dormant PRIMEVALS project from extinction and ensured that it got finished with the help of lots of creative colleagues!

A CONVERSATION WITH TOM ST. AMAND
Tom, the ‘King of the Armature Makers’, was a key member of the team that attempted to make THE PRIMEVALS way back in 1978, and now he casts his mind back to those 70s-tastic times.

THE PRIMEVALS PROMO ART
Lee MacLeod, the gifted artist who produced cool poster illustrations for such releases as HOWARD THE DUCK, BATMAN, and SUBSPECIES, describes the techniques he used for the superb PRIMEVALS artworks he created to help Charles Band generate international interest in the project.

Lee MacLeod art

JULIET MILLS – YETI HUNTER
Juliet Mills, the star of THE PRIMEVALS, chats about working with David Allen during the shooting of the principle photography in 1994.

Juliet Mills

I, HOMINID
An interview with Jeff Farley, who headed-up the PRIMEVALS makeup effects department. He also portrayed several of the mutated hominids in the film!

Jeff Farley as a hominid

STORYBOARD ZONE
A talk with Peter William Von Sholly, a Hollywood storyboard artist who’s worked on over 100 movies, including VAMP (1986) and THE BLOB (1988). He recalls his time working on THE PRIMEVALS. Peter also looks back at PREHYSTERIA!, a film that was based on his ideas!  

Peter William Von Sholly art

YETIS AND RIVER LIZARDS
A selection of storyboard artwork examples that were rendered by artists Robin Bielefeld and Duncan Rouleau!

River Lizard storyboard

RAIDERS OF THE STONE RING STORYBOARD PANELS
A couple of panels drawn by David Allen back when the project was still titled RAIDERS OF THE STONE RING!
The 40-page PRIMEVALS celebration zone finishes here.

Detail of storyboard panel by David Allen

HANDCRAFTED FABULOUSNESS
A look at three of Czech director/screenwriter/special effects artist Karel Zeman’s most beloved films: JOURNEY TO THE BEGINNING OF TIME, INVENTION FOR DESTRUCTION and THE FABULOUS BARON MUNCHAUSEN!

Blu-ray cover for Invention for Destruction

OH! WHAT A BEAUTIFUL UGLY BIRD!
Uber-talented animator Harry Walton discusses the time he brought the squawking stop-motion terror known as the Ugly Bird to the screen in the quirky cult folk horror feature film THE LEGEND OF HILLBILLY JOHN. Harry also talks about the transition he made from traditional stop-motion to handling and supervising scenes that involved the Go-Motion process.

Ugly Bird by Harry Walton

STOP-MOTION FILM REVIEWS
Movies reviewed include THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD, MAD GOD, ONE MILLION YEARS B.C., EQUINOX and KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS.

Kubo behind the scenes
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad

BRETT PIPER’S STOP-MOTION WONDERLAND!
A 30-page zone focusing on the work of director, writer & animator Brett Piper. This section is overflowing with interviews, behind the scenes puppet shots, reviews, plus info on upcoming projects! Check out what’s in store within this section of the mag

Brett Piper intro page

CARRYING THE TORCH
An interview with Brett Piper, the unsung hero of the live action/stop-motion film genre! Brett continues to carry the torch, almost singlehandedly ensuring that stop-motion-with-live-action films are still getting made. Here he talks about the many entertaining, modestly-budgeted feature films that he’s been responsible for, including A NYMPHOID BARBARIAN IN DINOSAUR HELL, BATTLE FOR THE LOST PLANET, OUTPOST EARTH and REDNECK MUTANTS.

Triclops movie
Redneck Mutants movie

MAKING MONSTERS
A look at how Brett builds his puppets is demonstrated via two step-by-step examples. The first example focuses on the titular dinosaur-like id-critter from BUSTER (2024), and the second looks at the construction of an alien bug-monster, known as a ‘Clicket’, from OUTPOST EARTH (2019).

Monster puppet-making image

PICTURE PERFECT
A selection of creature sketches and concept drawings rendered by Brett for his various projects over the years.

Brett Piper concept painting

ON THE COMET
A sneak peek at a feature film project that Brett will hopefully be making. In this proposed adaptation of Jules Verne’s novel ‘Off on a Comet’, a steampunk-style airship finds itself on a comet where prehistoric beasts still roam!

On The Comet movie project

BRETT PIPER: TELLER OF TALES
In this interview Brett is asked about his ‘2 MINUTE KLASSICS’, which are a series of all-puppet stop-motion shorts. They are super-concise adaptations of such stories as FIRST MEN IN THE MOON and 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA. Brett also talks about his in-progress all-puppet short… SINBAD GOES TO MARS!

Shot from Jason and the Golden Fleece

FLEETING YARNS OF HIGH ADVENTURE
All of Brett’s 2 MINUTE KLASSICS (which are short mini-movies with running times that vary from around 7 to nearly 10 minutes in length) are reviewed!

Fleeting Yarns intro page
Shot from Brett's At The Earth's Core

PIPER’S PUPPET GALLERY
A double page spread of behind the scenes photos of some of Brett Piper’s gorgeous stop-motion puppets!
The 30-page Brett Piper Wonderland zone finishes here.

Some of Brett Piper's puppets

THE BEAUTY OF DESTRUCTION AND TRANSFORMATION
A dive into the strange, unsettling worlds of Japanese director Shinya Tsukamoto’s films TETSUO: THE IRON MAN, TETSUO II: BODY HAMMER and HIRUKO THE GOBLIN. These three movies are awash with off-the-wall stop-motion effects (including pixilation), copious amounts of surrealism & futurism, bouts of body horror and gritty cyberpunk aesthetics.

HIRUKO THE GOBLIN

YOU’LL JUST HAVE TIME TO SCREAM… BEFORE IT TEARS YOU APART!
Randall William Cook, the three-times Oscar winner, doesn’t mince his words as he is questioned about the Larry Cohen film Q: THE WINGED SERPENT! Randall chats about working with Tibor Takacs too.

William Cook talks about Q: The Winged Serpent

THE ANIMATED DINOSAURS OF JURASSIC PARK
In Randal Dutra’s second interview for this issue, he remembers his time producing animatics and the dinosaur movement ‘bible’ for JURASSIC PARK, and explains how it was his work using the newly-invented Dinosaur Input Device that heralded the seismic shift from stop-motion/Go-Motion over to CG effects. 

Randal Dutra working on a Dinosaur Input Device

RADIOACTIVE REVIEWS
A final mini-review section looking at a couple of non-animated movies, including the wild Taiwanese flick WATARI AND THE SEVEN MONSTERS!

WATARI AND THE SEVEN MONSTERS

C’mon folks, this issue is 100% pure-gold animation heaven for stop-motion movie fans everywhere!

Queen Crab (2015)

It's pincer-tastic!
It’s pincer-tastic!

Directed and written by Brett Piper, starring Michelle Simone Miller, Kathryn Metz, Richard Lounello, A.J. DeLucia, Steve Diasparra, Danielle Donahue and Ken Van Sant.

Michelle Simone Miller
Michelle Simone Miller
A crustacean on the rampage!
A massive crustacean on the rampage!

A girl rears a giant crab as her pet in a local pond, feeding it special food linked to her scientist father’s growth experiments, but, years later, the time comes for the crustacean to spawn and its existence can no longer be kept a secret…

Our young heroine feeds the crab special grapes
Our young heroine feeds the crab special grapes
The girl bonds with the fresh water crustacean
The girl bonds with the fresh water crustacean
Nothing to see here, just a girl riding around on the back of her giant pet crab...
Nothing to see here, just the heroine riding around on the back of her giant pet crab…

Brett Piper, the king of low budget stop-motion monster FX, is the man behind this production, which is maybe too talky at the start, requiring some filler scenes to pad out the running time, but the flick does boast a very fine-looking crab creature!

I’m not anti-CGI, okay, but I just love the look of a nicely-animated stop-motion monster – and this killer crab looks pretty damn great.

Richard Lounello is attacked by Queen Crab!
Richard Lounello is attacked by Queen Crab!
Here comes the big pinch!
Here comes the big pinch!

Along with the huge queen crab we get a bunch of baby monster crabs too. The stop-motion shots of these crab offspring were achieved by utilising the same stop-motion model used for the momma crab.

A smaller but just as nasty crab!
A smaller but just as nasty crab!

There’s a scene with baby crabs being run over by a car. These splatting crab shots were achieved by Brett using models, about a foot across the back of the shell, made of plaster and filled with pudding. They go splat real nice in the film!

A baby crab skitters across the road
A baby crab skitters across the road

I enjoyed the movie and, as I probably always say when reviewing a Brett Piper film, though this production is really super low budget, you do get a lot of lovingly-animated creature hijinks as compensation.

Here's a shot of Michelle Simone Miller and the stop-motion crab...
Here’s a shot of Michelle Simone Miller and the stop-motion crab…
...and here's another shot of the killer crab...
…and here’s another shot of the killer crab…
...and here's yet another pic of the stop-motion crab because, well, why not?
…and here’s yet another pic of the stop-motion crab because, well, why not?

Also known as CLAWS, this flick, which is full of barely passable performances, multiple stop-motion scenes, pincer attacks and a shoot-out near the huge crustacean’s pond, is a crab-tastic viewing experience best enjoyed with your brain switched off and a beer in your hand.

In the UK the film is known as CLAWS
In the UK the film is known as CLAWS

Finally, here’s a behind the scenes shot of the stop-motion crab puppet and a nicely-detailed miniature wrecked building that features in the film…

Brett Piper’s sweet-lookin’ ruined building scale model

Triclops (2016)

Scorpion attack!
Scorpion attack!

Directed by Brett Piper, starring Matthew Crawley, Steve Diasparra, Richard Lounello, Ken Van Sant and Erin Waterhouse.

'Hideous mutant giant rules a lost world!'
‘Hideous mutant giant rules a lost world!’
A creature in a cavern!
A creature in a cavern!

A low budget homage to 1950s creature features, this is the fun tale of a crater in the USA that is crammed with creatures and plants mutated by a glowing meteor in a cavern.

Killer plant!
Killer plant!
A nice shot of a stop-motion horn-nosed creature
A nice shot of a stop-motion horn-nosed creature

The film features a large variety of bug-beasts, a horned reptile monster and the titular three-eyed giant (who seems to be inspired by the big mutant dude from Bert I. Gordon’s 1957 movie THE CYCLOPS). The Triclops is played by a guy in makeup but most of the other monsters, including a cool giant scorpion, are stop-motion.

Being chased by the giant Triclops!
Being chased by the giant Triclops!
Triclops gets the girl!
Triclops gets the girl!
Who's a pretty boy then?
Who’s a pretty boy then?

The animated critters are the creations of director-animator Brett Piper, who has almost singlehandedly been keeping the art of live action stop-motion filmmaking alive with such productions as A NYMPHOID BARBARIAN IN DINOSAUR HELL (1990), ARACHNIA (2003) and QUEEN CRAB (2015).

Bug-beast!
Bug-beast!
A horned creature!
The horned creature!
A bug-faced beast bursts from a dirt bank!
A bug-faced beast bursts from a dirt bank!
Monster fight!
Monster fight!

Brett produces his movies on tight budgets, so don’t go expecting a multimillion dollar epic with famous actors, but, if you’re a stop-motion monster fan, this is going to be a diverting, critter-tastic way to spend 80 minutes. And the film also features some lava, which, in my opinion, all lost world-type movies must have!

Bug-beast alert!
Bug-beast alert!

Finally, here’s an illustration by Jamie Chase, inspired by this movie…

In the jaws of a cave-critter!
In the jaws of a cave-critter!

Posters for the movies of Brett Piper

Detail from Queen Crab artwork
Detail from Queen Crab artwork

Brett Piper is a prolific low budget film maker who has directed (plus written and created the special effects for) films like QUEEN CRAB (2015), A NYMPHOID BARBARIAN IN DINOSAUR HELL (1990) and ARACHNIA (2003). His first film was the ultra low budget sci-fi movie MYSTERIOUS PLANET (1982), which featured a giant, two-headed stop-motion snail.

Brett includes stop-motion effects in a lot of his movies. A fan of Ray Harryhausen films, King Kong, etc, Brett produces the animation himself, including the building of the puppets. In fact, he is really keeping the live action/stop-motion art form alive, for which he gets my utmost respect!

Some stop-motion from Drainiac (2000)
Some stop-motion from Drainiac (2000)

Here are posters, video covers, etc, for movies that Brett has directed (and for which he also created the stop-motion effects, monster costumes, miniatures and so on)…

UK video box art for the first film Brett directed
UK video box art for the first film Brett directed: Mysterious Planet (1982)
German video box art for Mysterious Planet
German video box art for Mysterious Planet (1982)
Battle For The Lost Planet: nice art!
Battle For The Lost Planet (1986): nice art!
Battle For the Lost Planet was also known as Galaxy Destroyer
Battle For the Lost Planet was also known as Galaxy Destroyer
Spanish version
Battle for The Lost Planet
Battle for The Lost Planet
Battle For The Lost Planet / Mutant War Blu-ray + DVD combo pack cover
Battle For The Lost Planet / Mutant War Blu-ray + DVD combo pack cover
Mutant War preliminary original art by Luis Dominguez
Mutant War (1988) preliminary original art by Luis Dominguez
Japanese VHS cover for Mutant War
Japanese VHS cover for Mutant War
Mutant War (1988)
Mutant War (1988)
A Nymphoid Barbarian In Dinosaur Hell (aka Dark Fortress) DVD cover
A Nymphoid Barbarian In Dinosaur Hell (aka Dark Fortress) DVD cover
Japanese VHS cover for A Nymphoid Barbarian In Dinosaur Hell (1990)
Japanese VHS sleeve for A Nymphoid Barbarian In Dinosaur Hell
Japanese VHS sleeve for A Nymphoid Barbarian In Dinosaur Hell
Mmm... this one's a pretty misleading piece of artwork for the movie
Mmm… this one’s a pretty misleading piece of artwork for the movie
Promotional artwork
Promotional artwork
They Bite (1996) video cover
They Bite (1996) video cover
"They live... They suck..."
“They live… They suck…” They Bite
Dinosaur Babes (1996) VHS cover
Dinosaur Babes (1996) VHS cover
Drainiac! (2000): an impactful DVD cover!
Drainiac! (2000): an impactful DVD cover!
Drainiac! (2000) VHS cover
Drainiac! (2000) VHS cover
Drainiac (2000)
Drainiac (2000)
The Return Of Captain Sinbad (2001)
The Return Of Captain Sinbad (2001)
Psyclops (2002) US DVD cover
Psyclops (2002) US DVD cover
Arachnia (2003) US DVD cover
Arachnia (2003) US DVD cover
Arachnia German DVD cover
Arachnia German DVD cover
Arachnia (2003) Czech DVD sleeve
Arachnia (2003) Czech DVD sleeve
Rampaging bugs in Arachnia (2003)
Rampaging bugs in Arachnia (2003)
Screaming Dead (2003)
Screaming Dead (2003)
Alternative poster designs for Screaming Dead
Alternative poster designs for Screaming Dead
Bite Me! (2004)
Bite Me! (2004)
Bite Me! (2004)
Bite Me! (2004)
Some stop-motion from Bite Me! (2004)
Some stop-motion from Bite Me! (2004)
Shock-O-Rama (2005)
Shock-O-Rama (2005)
'Shock-O-Rama Horror Collection' DVD cover
Shock-O-Rama Horror Collection DVD cover
Bacterium (2006)
Bacterium (2006)
Muckman (2009)
Muckman (2009)
The Dark Sleep (2012)
The Dark Sleep (2012)
The Dark Sleep (2012)
The Dark Sleep (2012)
Queen Crab (2015): cool!
Queen Crab (2015): cool!
"She has awakened... and she's hungry!"
“She has awakened… and she’s hungry!”
Queen Crab aka Claws
Queen Crab aka Claws
Triclops (2016)
Triclops (2016)
Outpost Earth (2019)
Outpost Earth (2019)
Outpost Earth (2019)
Outpost Earth (2019)

Here are posters, DVD covers, etc, for just some of the other films Brett has been linked with. He didn’t direct any of these films, but provided such services as special effects, makeup, miniatures and so on. For one of the films Brett was the ‘tentacle wrangler’! Some of these flicks are really super-low budget, such as those directed by Mark Polonia (ZILLAFOOT, SHARKENSTEIN, AMITYVILLE DEATH HOUSE, etc) – but Mark certainly knows how to promote them via cool covers regardless of the low-low budgets!

Raiders Of the Living Dead (1986)
Raiders Of the Living Dead (1986) – Brett wrote the screenplay
Blood Red Planet (2000) - Brett provided the miniature effects
Blood Red Planet (2000) – Brett provided the miniature effects
Gorilla Warfare: Battle of the Apes (2002) - Brett's credit was: miniature effects
Gorilla Warfare: Battle of the Apes (2002) – Brett’s credit was: miniature effects
Bikini Girls On Dinosaur Planet (2005) - Brett was special effects technician
Bikini Girls On Dinosaur Planet (2005) – Brett was special effects technician
Splatter Beach (2007) DVD cover - Brett was director of photography
Splatter Beach (2007) DVD cover – Brett was director of photography
Killer Rack (2015) - Brett was stop motion supervisor
Killer Rack (2015) – Brett was stop motion supervisor
Amityville Death House (2015) - Brett provided the special effects make-up
Amityville Death House (2015) – Brett provided the special effects make-up
Amityville Death House DVD sleeve
Amityville Death House DVD sleeve
Jurassic Prey (2015) - Brett oversaw the dinosaur design
Jurassic Prey (2015) – Brett oversaw the dinosaur design
Sharkenstein (2016) - Brett provided the special effects
Sharkenstein (2016) – Brett provided the special effects
ZillaFoot (2019) - Brett was special effects supervisor
ZillaFoot (2019) – Brett was special effects supervisor
Lycanimator (2018) - Brett's credit was 'tentacle wrangler: special effects'!
Lycanimator (2018) – Brett’s credit was ‘tentacle wrangler: special effects’!

Here’s a behind the scenes shot from Brett’s REDNECK MUTANTS, showing a stop-motion bug monster model and a gorgeous house miniature.

REDNECK MUTANTS
Nice!

Finally, here’s one of the stop-motion critters from A NYMPHOID BARBARIAN IN DINOSAUR HELL…

I love stop-motion monsters!
I love stop-motion monsters!

H.G. Wells’ First Men in the Moon (2017)

Lots of Selenites!
Lots of Selenites!
Our story begins...
Our story begins…

Two Victorian gentlemen take a trip to the moon and encounter an underground civilisation created by beings known as Selenites.

 Eccentric scientist Cavor's sphere is ready for launch
Eccentric scientist Cavor’s sphere is ready for launch
The protagonists arrive on the moon...
The protagonists arrive on the moon…
...and are captured by Selenites
…and are captured by Selenites
A Selenite holds a prodder-type staff that can give off electric shocks
A Selenite holds a prodder-type staff that can give off electric shocks

This is animator Brett Piper’s adaptation of the H.G. Wells science fiction classic – and it is told in just seven minutes. Yikes! The story certainly zips along at a cracking pace.

Selenites are bred to perform specific tasks for their society
Selenites are bred to perform specific tasks for their society
A Selenite with big legs & feet runs on a treadmill that helps to power the subterranean world
A Selenite with big legs & feet runs on a treadmill to help power the subterranean world

Brett, who has created such fun full-length, low budget stop-motion gems as A NYMPHOID BARBARIAN IN DINOSAUR HELL (1990), ARACHNIA (2003), CLAWS (2015) and TRICLOPS (2016), handles this project with a deft, light touch.

A Selenite tinkers with some apparatus
A thinker Selenite tinkers with some apparatus

I especially liked the depiction of the different, amusing types of Selenites (really strong ones, really tiny ones, etc) and the conversation the protagonists have with the Grand Lunar, explaining to him the war-like nature of mankind, is cool (and quite damning).

An audience with the leader of the selenites: the Grand Lunar
An audience with the leader of the selenites: the Grand Lunar
"You mean to say that Earthmen are constantly killing each other in huge numbers for no apparent purpose?"
Grand Lunar: “You mean to say that Earthmen are constantly killing each other in huge numbers for no apparent purpose?”
This Selenite's a heavy-lifter!
This strong Selenite is a heavy-lifter!
A Selenite scientist uses a specifically-designed nose to sniff out different chemicals
A Selenite scientist uses a specifically-designed nose to sniff out different chemicals
Mini-Selenites!
Mini-Selenites!
A front view shot of the Grand Lunar stop-motion model used in the film
Profile view of the Grand Lunar stop-motion model. Love how the back of the throne supports his massive cranium!
Selenites are shocked at the thought of the large-scale wars on Earth
Selenites are shocked at the thought of the large-scale wars on Earth

The stop-motion models are charming, built with a great economy of design, Dave Fitzgerald‘s vocal work is also perfect for the production and I liked Brett’s depiction of the mooncalf (a food source for the Selenites) as a kind of grey-skinned, semi-comical quadruped with small antenna-like protrusions on its bulky head. 

A mooncalf is prodded by a Selenite
A mooncalf is prodded by a Selenite
Stop prodding the poor mooncalf!
Stop prodding the poor mooncalf!

Since making FIRST MEN IN THE MOON Brett has tackled a TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA short and has now just finished his mini-version of JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. Hopefully all of these adaptations will be released together one day!

FIRST MEN IN THE MOON is available as an extra on the DVD for Brett’s OUTPOST EARTH.

The End