Narnia Fans » Greg Nicotero

Oscar® winner Howard Berger and special make-up effects artist Gino Acevedo have been added as guest speakers for the International Make-Up Artist Trade Show (IMATS), held Sept. 12-13 at the Sydney Convention Centre in Sydney, Australia.

Berger, who won an Oscar® for his work on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, will take the stage along with the make-up team from Narnia. A Los Angeles native, Berger was hired by Stan Winston to work on Predator and Aliens. Later, Berger was hired by Rick Baker to work on Harry and the Hendersons. In 1988, after working for various studios, Berger and Gregory Nicotero formed their own studio, KNB EFX Group, Inc. in Los Angeles.

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A recent press junket went to both Disney’s Pixar studio, and KNB EFX.  Both are places that I dream of one day visiting.  Who knows, perhaps I could supply some voices to some characters in a Pixar film.   And I generally look like a faun, so KNB EFX would just have to apply some horns, a curly wig and ears, and I’d be just about set before Special Effects.

KNB EFX is the company that provided all of the furry prosthetics and creatures for The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

With both films arriving on Blu-ray and DVD, Disney decided to have a press junket that covered Wall-E and Prince Caspian at the same time.  The first stop was a visit to Pixar, who has made no bad film!  I love them all!  Get Wall-E!

Pixar was just day one.  Day two lead to KNB EFX.  Everyone took a short flight to Hollywood, and went for a rendezvous with Disney’s head of disc production at Burbank.

The looked at the new Circle-Vision Interactive feature, on the Prince Caspian Blu-ray Disc, that allows for 360-degree scene navigation.

Following the preview, the group of reporters was driven to KNB’s studios, where Greg Nicotero and his team created the costumes for Prince Caspian.

All in all, the efforts of the teams at both studios showed the variety of work that went into making two very different films.  But it also displayed the passion that both teams had for the work they are doing.  And that is what drives each them toward perfection in their work.

You can read the whole story at News Shopper Online.

A LOOK INTO THE CREATURES OF NARNIA
BY HOWARD BERGER
Makeup Effects and Creature Designer

Once in a lifetime, something so amazing happens and you are so grateful for it. But, to have it happen twice in a lifetime is unheard of. I am talking about the privilege of another journey into Narnia that the creative team at KNB EFX Group, Inc. gets to take for PRINCE CASPIAN.

The first film was a challenge, as we had never tackled a project so huge in scope and with so many creatures playing at once. It was important to bring all the Narnians to life and make it completely believable that they could believably live in this magical land. And here we are again, ready to meet up with the new Narnians that inhabit the land 1,500 years later.

The first step took partner Greg Nicotero and I back to the drawing board, as we wanted to mix things up a bit. We wanted to take another pass at what the Narnians would be like if they had become more wild in their appearance, seeing how they have been living in hiding within the forests all these centuries. What if they were all different age groups, sizes and races? We felt that the Narnians in the first film were all in their thirties, so we designed some study sculptures to demonstrate our concepts and approached director Andrew Adamson with the ideas. He liked our take and felt this could give Narnia an even more real existence.

In PRINCE CASPIAN, we have heavy set fauns, old age fauns, female dwarves, centaurs and their families. The minotaurs are now on the side of good. A new hag, a werewolf and the satyrs are back, but all newly redesigned to be more animal-like than the prior movie.

I think in every film there is one character you fall in love with. The first movie had Mr. Tumnus, played by the great James McAvoy. This time it is Peter Dinklage who plays Trumpkin the Dwarf. The character is so wonderfully written, and once you see Peter as Trumpkin, he becomes alive and real. We gave Trumpkin his look, but Peter gave him his heart, and the collaboration brings to life a new and interesting addition to this rich world.

A lot of the same crew from the first film have joined us, including my co-winner for the Best Makeup Oscar last year, Tami Lane (with key support from our third team member, Sarah Rubano). We are all excited and thrilled as there is an evolution that has occurred in Narnia and we are all privileged to be here to experience another wonderful adventure.

Read the rest at Narnia.com

The 32nd Annual Saturn Awards were presented at a gala affair in Universal City, California on May 2. The event attracted many of the top producers, directors and actors working in genre entertainment. The awards were spread out over several films showcasing the amazing success of genre films as a whole. “Batman Begins” and “King Kong” each received three Saturn Awards with “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith”, “Sin City”, and “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” each received two Saturn Awards.

“Battlestar Galactica” won three Saturn Awards with “Lost” taking home two honors. The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the George Pal Memorial Award to legendary filmmaker Ray Harryhausen. This special honor was presented to Harryhausen by acclaimed director Jon Favreau. Shane Black was honored with The Filmmakers Showcase Award which was presented by actor Clifton Collins Jr.

Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures tied with four Saturn Awards apiece. Buena Vista, Dimension / Miramax, and 20th Century Fox were awarded each with two Saturn Awards.

The Academy was founded in 1972 to honor, recognize and promote genre entertainment. The organization is currently headed by Robert Holguin who serves as President.

Best Costume:
ISIS MUSSENDEN
(The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)

Best Make-Up:
HOWARD BERGER, GREG NICOTERO, NIKKI GOOLEY
(The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)

[View a Complete List of Winners]