Stan Winston needs no introduction amongst movie fans. The four time Academy Award winner was responsible for the amazing visual effects in dozens of films, including the Terminator, Alien, Predator and Jurassic Park series. Not to mention Edward Scissorhands, Batman Returns, Pearl Harbor Constantine and the recent hit movies Iron Man and Avatar. Upon his passing in June 2008, his son, Matt Winston, knew it was up to him to continue his father's legacy in the industry. He has chosen to do just that by educating the next generation of visual effects hopefuls:
The Stan Winston School of Character Arts Founded by the Winston Family, the Stan Winston School of Character Arts offers a training curriculum that covers the entire spectrum of character arts, from practical to digital. Each student can customize their own curriculum through a range of online videos, DVD lessons and hands-on workshops held in association with world-renowned Winston partners. From the first day of training, the Stan Winston School transports students to the realms of robots, aliens, dinosaurs and monsters as they learn to bring their imaginations to life on the silver screen.
The School will officially launch in January 2011, with the first block of courses already set for release:
* Practical/Digital Hybrid Characters with Stan Winston life-long collaborator and co-owner of Legacy Effects, John Rosengrant
* Script Breakdown for Character Creators with Academy Award Nominee and co-owner of Legacy Effects, Shane Mahan
* Directing Creature Characters with Academy Award Nominee and co-owner of Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc., Alec Gillis
* Creature Performance with Academy Award Winner and co-owner of Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc., Tom Woodruff, Jr.
* Prosthetic Makeup with Academy Award Winner and co-owner of KNB EFX, Howard Berger
This will be the premiere site of it's kind in the world for character creations," Matt Winston explained.
"If you like monsters, dinosaurs, robots and every creature in between you won't want to miss this.
"The site is chock full of eye candy! We have 40 years of never before seen archival footage just waiting to be released. Everything from Terminator and Alien to Jurassic Park to dad's latest work on Avatar and Iron Man. We're going to be cutting these into our teaching video to show students the step by step process of bringing these creations to life." What was the motivation behind starting this School? It comes down to following in the footsteps of greatness.
"Dad was such an advocate of education. When he passed we knew it was our responsibility to carry on his legacy in a responsible way. I feel that this School, and the opportunity to share his knowledge, is something that he would absolutely love."
Along with all the information for the Stan Winston School of Character Arts, Matt brought to San Diego some of the best display items at this year's Con: the Avatar Exosuit, the Mark I, II and III Iron Man Armors and the massive Iron Monger armor:
Those interested in learning more about the Stan Winston School of Character Arts can sign up on the site's registration page or on Facebook to receive weekly e-mail updates, sneak peeks of lessons, new plans for master artist classes, rotating Winston archival footage and interview clips.
Don't forget to check out the site to see tons of behind the scenes images and clips that are continuously being added.