Typically, when visual effects artist Steve Newburn takes on a project, his involvement is limited to a few key moments or scenes. “For the most part, you’re making an alien on ‘Star Trek’ that shows up for one scene or creating a body for a slasher film,” Newburn told IndieWire. “It’s rare that you’re coming in and doing something that will be in every frame of the movie.” That’s why David and Nathan Zellner‘s “Sasquatch Sunset” was a “bucket-list project,” in Newburn’s words. “We’ll probably never do anything like it again.”
For “Sasquatch Sunset,” Newburn and his team created four Sasquatches to be played by Riley Keough, Jesse Eisenberg, Christophe Zajac-Denek, and Nathan Zellner, all of whom would be in full prosthetic makeup for the entire film. The job immediately sparked Newburn’s imagination thanks to his obsession with a 1980s Spielberg production...
For “Sasquatch Sunset,” Newburn and his team created four Sasquatches to be played by Riley Keough, Jesse Eisenberg, Christophe Zajac-Denek, and Nathan Zellner, all of whom would be in full prosthetic makeup for the entire film. The job immediately sparked Newburn’s imagination thanks to his obsession with a 1980s Spielberg production...
- 4/22/2024
- by Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
With “Sasquatch Sunset,” directors David and Nathan Zellner have created one of the oddest but most entertaining movies in recent years, a tale of a Sasquatch family whose relationships are explored with equal amounts of lowbrow humor and affecting poignancy. The Sasquatches’ inner lives are clearly and hilariously conveyed by the actors, a remarkable achievement given that there’s not a single line of dialogue in the entire film (unless you count the creatures’ assorted grunts and yells). The reversion to silent film techniques adds to the movie’s sense of wonder and humor, giving “Sasquatch Sunset” a pleasing sense of innocence that’s paradoxically the result of some extremely sophisticated filmmaking.
For the Zellners, the initial conversations with the actors were primarily technical ones about movement and body language. “We shared a lot of primate videos and talked about how to create a cohesive species with movements and vocalizations,...
For the Zellners, the initial conversations with the actors were primarily technical ones about movement and body language. “We shared a lot of primate videos and talked about how to create a cohesive species with movements and vocalizations,...
- 4/11/2024
- by Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
Riley Keough and Jesse Eisenberg shape-shift into shaggy, mythical beasts in the absurdist comedy Sasquatch Sunset.
Less than a minute into Bleecker Street’s Sasquatch Sunset trailer, one bearded sasquatch dry humps another in a North American forest. The trailer then follows the family of ape-like creatures as they forage, hike, and interact with wildlife over the course of a year. Christophe Zajac-Denek (Oz the Great and Powerful) and Nathan Zellner also star as members of the Bigfoot tribe, who are unrecognizable by makeup and costume head Steve Newburn’s...
Less than a minute into Bleecker Street’s Sasquatch Sunset trailer, one bearded sasquatch dry humps another in a North American forest. The trailer then follows the family of ape-like creatures as they forage, hike, and interact with wildlife over the course of a year. Christophe Zajac-Denek (Oz the Great and Powerful) and Nathan Zellner also star as members of the Bigfoot tribe, who are unrecognizable by makeup and costume head Steve Newburn’s...
- 2/13/2024
- by Kalia Richardson
- Rollingstone.com
Sasquatch is a funny word, the sounding out of it likely to prompt a smile even before you consider the mythical beast that lies behind it. And the idea of comedy is only bolstered by the suggestion of a dialogue-free film featuring actors in Bigfoot outfits. But filmmaking brothers David and Craig Zellner aren’t just here to make us laugh - although they certainly achieve that - they’re also in the business of building a detailed and delicate world around a year in the life of their creatures that proves surprisingly poignant.
It starts with the exquisitely rendered costume design from Steve Newburn, which the Zellners have judiciously chosen to only include a distant glimpse of in the pre-publicity still for the film. The sasquatches are most certainly hirsuit, but there’s a soulfulness to the face design that achieves the sort of connection that Planet Of The Apes once did.
It starts with the exquisitely rendered costume design from Steve Newburn, which the Zellners have judiciously chosen to only include a distant glimpse of in the pre-publicity still for the film. The sasquatches are most certainly hirsuit, but there’s a soulfulness to the face design that achieves the sort of connection that Planet Of The Apes once did.
- 2/7/2024
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
David and Nathan Zellner, the fraternal directing duo of offbeat films, have been captivated by Bigfoot since they were children. To them, Bob Gimlin and Robert Patterson’s roughly one-minute 1967 short — jerky and grainy footage of an ape-like creature strolling the banks of Bluff Creek in Northern California — is as legendary as the mythic figure it claims to capture. In 2011, the Zellners premiered Sasquatch Birth Journal No. 2, a four-minute film that feels inspired by Gimlin-Patterson’s offering, at Sundance. Now, at the same festival, more than a decade later, the brothers have taken their obsession one step farther with a film that imagines the life of a mythic humanoid.
Who is the Sasquatch to herself? To others? How does she love, fight, play and survive? How about travel? Can she communicate? What are her rituals? Sasquatch Sunset is built on these curiosities and sustained by striking formal choices. The sometimes...
Who is the Sasquatch to herself? To others? How does she love, fight, play and survive? How about travel? Can she communicate? What are her rituals? Sasquatch Sunset is built on these curiosities and sustained by striking formal choices. The sometimes...
- 1/20/2024
- by Lovia Gyarkye
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The latest collaboration between A24 and director Ari Aster (Hereditary, Midsommar), Beau Is Afraid, is available now in wide theatrical release.
The “nightmare comedy” sends its protagonist, Beau (Joaquin Phoenix), on a surreal, genre-bending odyssey through guilt and repression as he tries to make his way to his mother’s house. It’s packed with creativity and endless surprises (our review), including a few that venture into horror.
For the film’s release, Bloody Disgusting spoke with Aster and Phoenix for a roundtable discussion on the film. The pair broke down what it was like filming the chaos and also discussed a surprising practical effect no one will see coming…
The first act of the film introduces Beau at his home, a crumbling apartment on a hectic street filled with bizarre denizens. Aster blocks and directs the chaos with seemingly effortless ease, providing the audience with plenty of sight gags to take in.
The “nightmare comedy” sends its protagonist, Beau (Joaquin Phoenix), on a surreal, genre-bending odyssey through guilt and repression as he tries to make his way to his mother’s house. It’s packed with creativity and endless surprises (our review), including a few that venture into horror.
For the film’s release, Bloody Disgusting spoke with Aster and Phoenix for a roundtable discussion on the film. The pair broke down what it was like filming the chaos and also discussed a surprising practical effect no one will see coming…
The first act of the film introduces Beau at his home, a crumbling apartment on a hectic street filled with bizarre denizens. Aster blocks and directs the chaos with seemingly effortless ease, providing the audience with plenty of sight gags to take in.
- 4/21/2023
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
In addition to creating prosthetics for “Hereditary,” multidisciplinary Toronto-based visual effects artist Steve Newburn designed and built the miniature house and dioramas that are key to the storytelling in writer-director Ari Aster’s supernatural horror film, now in theaters.
“To be able to get in on the miniature side, which in this day and age of computer effects is not something that’s really done as much anymore, was a lot of fun,” says Newburn, whose credits include “The Mummy,” “The Dark Knight Rises” and “Inception.” “If I could spend the next 10 years doing projects like this with the miniature work featured so prominently, it would be a nice 10 years.”
Miniatures are seen throughout “Hereditary” because the film’s main character, Annie Graham (Toni Collette), specializes
in that art form, drawing inspiration from her family’s everyday life, which takes a dark turn after her mother dies. “The miniatures tell...
“To be able to get in on the miniature side, which in this day and age of computer effects is not something that’s really done as much anymore, was a lot of fun,” says Newburn, whose credits include “The Mummy,” “The Dark Knight Rises” and “Inception.” “If I could spend the next 10 years doing projects like this with the miniature work featured so prominently, it would be a nice 10 years.”
Miniatures are seen throughout “Hereditary” because the film’s main character, Annie Graham (Toni Collette), specializes
in that art form, drawing inspiration from her family’s everyday life, which takes a dark turn after her mother dies. “The miniatures tell...
- 6/21/2018
- by Christine Champagne
- Variety Film + TV
In its sense of poisoned family bloodlines, of the everyday invaded by unspeakable evil, of bonechilling terror you won't be able to shake, Hereditary is a new horror landmark that puts a unique face on things that go bump in the night. To be clear, this award-caliber debut feature from writer-director Ari Aster is eons away from the torture porn and B-movie scares that litter the multiplex. The 31-year-old filmmaker, known for such potent short films as Munchausen and The Strange Thing About the Johnsons, approaches the supernatural like Jennifer Kent...
- 6/5/2018
- Rollingstone.com
Toronto, On. The set is neat and tidy, a two-level suburban home ready for guests. On the ground floor, there's an orderly living room and an adjacent kitchen. The rugs are flat and properly placed, the chairs and tables laid out to encourage openness, the couch looks comfortable. The pictures on the walls and in leaning frames are spic-and-span. You could practically eat off the floors, were it not for the unfortunately mutilated body. The corpse looks almost restful. And when I say "almost restful," I mean "as restful as a decapitated corpse could possibly look." It's just there. On its back. Without a head. There are no signs of struggle. And for good reason. The corpse has nothing to do with the scene that will next be shot in this house on the Toronto set of FX's "The Strain." Or at least that's what the group of reporters wandering...
- 7/8/2014
- by Daniel Fienberg
- Hitfix
The Visual Effects Society has announced the nominees for their 11th Annual Ves Awards. From film to animation to television to commercials and video games, the Ves Awards honor the outstanding visual effects artistry.
"Life of Pi's" Ang Lee will be honored with the Visionary Award. Winners will be announced on Tuesday, February 5, at the Beverly Hilton.
Here's the complete list of nominees; for winners/nominees of other award-giving bodies, click here:
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Joe Letteri
Eileen Moran
Eric Saindon
Kevin L. Sherwood
Prometheus
Paul Butterworth
Charley Henley
Allen Maris
Richard Stammers
Life of Pi
Thomas Fisher
Susan Macleod
Guillaume Rocheron
Bill Westenhofer
The Avengers
Susan Pickett
Janek Sirrs
Jeff White
Guy Williams
Battleship
Grady Cofer
Pablo Helman
Jeanie King
Glen Mcintosh
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture
Rust and Bone
Béatrice Bauwens...
"Life of Pi's" Ang Lee will be honored with the Visionary Award. Winners will be announced on Tuesday, February 5, at the Beverly Hilton.
Here's the complete list of nominees; for winners/nominees of other award-giving bodies, click here:
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Joe Letteri
Eileen Moran
Eric Saindon
Kevin L. Sherwood
Prometheus
Paul Butterworth
Charley Henley
Allen Maris
Richard Stammers
Life of Pi
Thomas Fisher
Susan Macleod
Guillaume Rocheron
Bill Westenhofer
The Avengers
Susan Pickett
Janek Sirrs
Jeff White
Guy Williams
Battleship
Grady Cofer
Pablo Helman
Jeanie King
Glen Mcintosh
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture
Rust and Bone
Béatrice Bauwens...
- 1/8/2013
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
Fuel VFX has received two award nominations from the Visual Effects Society.
The.peer-voted accolade for the company's work on Ridley Scott.s Prometheus follows the near-collapse of the VFX house, which was saved in October 2012 when Animal Logic acquired its assets.
Fuel co-founder Paul Butterworth was nominated for .Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture. for Prometheus (alongside non-Fuel nominations Charley Henley, Allen Maris and Richard Stammers).
The Fuel team of Xavier Bourque, Sam Cole, Simone Riginell and Denis Scolan - representing the hard work of all 16 compositors who worked on the film at the company - were nominated for Prometheus (Engineers & the Orrery) in the "Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture" category.
Fuel has also provided effects on a number of Marvel films including Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger. Fuel continues to run from its Newtown, Sydney-based offices where Animal Logic...
The.peer-voted accolade for the company's work on Ridley Scott.s Prometheus follows the near-collapse of the VFX house, which was saved in October 2012 when Animal Logic acquired its assets.
Fuel co-founder Paul Butterworth was nominated for .Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture. for Prometheus (alongside non-Fuel nominations Charley Henley, Allen Maris and Richard Stammers).
The Fuel team of Xavier Bourque, Sam Cole, Simone Riginell and Denis Scolan - representing the hard work of all 16 compositors who worked on the film at the company - were nominated for Prometheus (Engineers & the Orrery) in the "Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture" category.
Fuel has also provided effects on a number of Marvel films including Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger. Fuel continues to run from its Newtown, Sydney-based offices where Animal Logic...
- 1/8/2013
- by Brendan Swift
- IF.com.au
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