AUDIO: Ray Harryhausen; Special Effects Titan Q&A at Gate Picturehouse

Born in the 80s? Then Christmas time, if anything like mine, was spent in front of the television, with He-Man and Moss Man figures cast aside to duel by themselves as I was enveloped in my world within that box of pixels and fluorescence.

Christmas has always been a time of favoured repetition, a day or two to relax and indulge, rarely changing from the last, doubtlessly changing much to the next. The Brussel sprouts and spring greens bubbled away as my mother conjured up a magical festive feast, sisters carried out their ritual of squabbling over their stocking filler triumphs in the background and Dad, having cleverly bored us to yawns by putting on The Great Escape, would be left in his grown-up haven of wrapping-paper strewn solitude in the living room downstairs.

INTERVIEW: Writer and producer Brian Clemens

What a wonderful chap. Brian Clemens chuckled and plugged his way through our interview with ease, like the seasoned pro that he is. Renowned for the ever-so classy handling of his slice of UK cult-televisual pie, most would say it was The Avengers; that quaint, idiosyncratic upper-class British adventure-cum sci-fi production, that Brian's name would ring most familiar. Not the only celebrity in the family, Brian is permitted to boast about his achievements; he even has a medal to show for it all...

The following interview was broadcast on The Geekend, Radio Reverb on 10th September 2011. 

INTERVIEW: Mark Waring at Empire Big Screen

I’m turning this introduction upside down a little, by opening with a brief background to the iconic screen animator and inventor of animation technique Dynamation; Ray Harryhausen. I attended Empire’s Big Screen (the magazine’s virgin three-day event celebrating all things filmic) with a leap in my heart when I spotted that there was to be a panel dedicated to the celebration of this man. I grew up with white knuckles watching Jason ward off the sword wielding Skeleton’s and followed every silent fatalistic footstep Harry Hamlin took evading Medusa’s stony gaze in Clash of the Titans (1981). Even now watching the films again, I chuckle with delight when I discover Doctor Who’s Tom Baker moonlighting as an evil sorcerer in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973).

This nonagenarian was responsible for no less than 16 feature films, and like one of his monsters, his influence spiders off into a web of notoriety inspiring the likes of Steven Spielberg to James Cameron, with some of the most magical creature creations ever seen on screen. All with personality and character; the magic that truly brought these stop-frame models to life, made the viewer believe what they were seeing could actually be real, in some far flung corner of the world that many of the characters ventured to.

It was at this panel where I met marvellous model-manipulator Mark Waring. Mark was a guest speaker on stage, citing Harryhausen as an inspiration in his very successful career as an animator. Here is my interview with him post-panel...