It's All About The Moves

The other day I was reminded of film that seemed to feature in the Christmas schedule most years during my childhood, Jason and the Argonauts.

The film will be memorable to most model fans for the work of the late Ray Harryhausen and in particular one scene stand out above all other. The fight between the heroes of the story and Harryhausen's stop-motion skeletons. I remember it having such an effect on me back then. The stop motion effect only seemed to add a realism to the skeletons. With their awkward movements they seem to have such a sinister malevolence about them as a result of it. And then when they get going, their speed makes them such a determined and fierce enemy.

Watching it again after so many years and I was surprised how good this scene still is. I think it's more alive than the majority of CGI scenes in the films of today. A remarkable testament to Ray Harryhausen's craft given that this film is now 50 years old.

And it was this that got me thinking about models. Fantasy models tend to be a bit static, especially ones that are meant to be standing in rank and file. Was it possible to capture that speed and ferocity in model form? Of course unlike the film skeletons, these ones will not be viewed as moving, so the challenge is in capturing a still moment of movement.

After a search through my spares box I've got together a selection of Games Workshop skeleton parts and I'm going to give it a go. As you can see from the image below they're mostly standing still and so they'll need a bit of repositioning and a few weapon swaps to add a some variation.

This is one thing I really enjoy, converting models. It's been a while since I've done this and so I'm really looking forward it as a mini project. While I'm at it I might also go through my spares to find some opponents for them to face off against as well.

Finally, the clip above is only a part clip. It's hard to believe that youtube doesn't have the whole scene (without some awful soundtrack added). The full scene can be found here mostly likely after a long advert...