I felt like I was punched in the gut this morning to read in a rather obscure part of the net that special effects master Stan Winston has died. I find it remarkable that more main stream media outlets haven’t reported on his passing. Or maybe I’ve just been out of touch the past couple of days. It seems like 2008 has been a rather busy year for Hollywood obituaries.

Stan Winston’s work stands out in my mind as the impetus for my interest in working on movies. I giggle like a school girl thinking of the creatures in such films as PUMPKINHEAD, PREDATOR, TERMINATOR, JURASSIC PARK and more recently IRON MAN. The novelty of creating monsters and fantasy for the silver screen flabbergasted me and when I realized you could get paid to do it… well, I’ll just say that was the beginning of the end. In high school I wanted to become a creature concept artist for feature films. I took art classes and intended to pursue some sort of studio art track in college. But with the advent of the digital revolution in the 90’s I began to think that computer animation was the way to go. In the end I settled on videography and editing, but my love of make-up effects remains constant to this day. In fact I enjoy most films nowadays when practical effects are used rather than flashy CGI techniques.

So I bid adieu to Mr. Winston and his career of imagination and creativity. He inspired in me the very first inkling of what my career is today and what it will become tomorrow. RIP.