Back in August, the website,
Monster Legacy, conducted an interview with Nick Nicolaou, co-founder of the
Make-Up Effects Group, the company responsible for the special effects seen in the 2005
Man-Thing film.
How the budget effected the film: Nick Nicolaou: We were approached by Brett Leonard and the production and were successful with our bid for the project. The script was cool — but so many things started to be cut and changed due to budgetary issues. I feel the final film lost so much by the time it got to the screen. There were more interesting character building ideas surrounding the Man-Thing creature, that showed his connection to the swamp and the environment. Many were heavily FX related, so they were the first to go.
Why the change to Man-Thing's comic design: Nick Nicolaou: The Director & Production Designer wanted to “tweak” the design a little and Marvel were supportive of the changes (I have a FAX from Marvel saying the suit looked amazing). The main difference in the design is the 3 huge tendrils/tentacles that were central to the face of the Man-Thing comic design. With VFX and Practical MUFX budget constraints – we did not want to have these 3 huge tendrils in the center of the face and be static – so we just went with hundreds of smaller tendrils that were not as “in your face”.
In the story the swampland is a sacred Indian burial site. The branches on the back of the Man-Thing’s head were designed to replicate an American Indian feathered headdress, to link this theme and to physically add more height to the creature suit. The creature had to look huge and we were physically fighting the logistics of doing this, making sure the actor could perform inside the suit and keeping it safe for him to move around in.
Their practical suit was only meant as a stand-in: Nick Nicolaou: They were going to use our suit as just a stand-in for a CGI creature. Every meeting we went in to they said, “we just need the shape and size, as the suit will be replaced”. We had a bad feeling about this, as they were cutting the budget left, right and centre. In the end no 3D creature was made due to diminishing budget. Our physical creature suit is in every shot.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL INTERVIEW
Concept Art & Storyboards by Peter Pound (via monsterlegacy)
Agents of an oil tycoon vanish while exploring a swamp marked for drilling. The local sheriff investigates and faces a Seminole legend come to life: Man-Thing, a shambling swamp-monster whose touch burns those who feel fear.
MAN-THING was directed by Brett Leonard ("The Lawnmower Man"), from a screenplay written by Hans Rodionoff ("Lost Boys: The Tribe"). It's based on Marvel Comics creature created by Stan Lee, Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway. The cast included: Matthew Le Nevez as Sheriff Kyle Williams, Rachael Taylor as Teri Elizabeth Richards, Jack Thompson as Frederic Schist, Rawiri Paratene as Pete Horn, Alex O'Loughlin as Deputy Eric Fraser, Steve Bastoni as Rene LaRoque, Robert Mammone as Mike Ploog, Pat Thompson as Jake Schist and Conan Stevens as Man-Thing. The film was released as a "Sci-Fi Original" on the Sci Fi Channel in 2005.
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