PROFILE
RAISED BY MONSTERS
2017 VES LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WINNER KEN RALSTON: THE MASTER IS STILL THE STUDENT By NAOMI GOLDMAN
Meryl Streep rehearsing a scene from Death Becomes Her. Ralston is watching to make sure everything she does will work in post when they twist her head around 180 degrees.
76 • VFXVOICE.COM SPRING 2017
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When you ask VFX pioneer Ken Ralston to remark on receiving the 2017 VES Lifetime Achievement Award, he shakes his head and notes he’s struggled to find the words. “Despite that graying face I see in the mirror, in my head,” he says, “I’m still that 14-year-old kid animating clay creatures in my folks’ garage, just having fun, figuring out problems.” It is that humility, childlike sense of wonder and desire to tackle complex issues that undoubtedly propelled Ralston to become a game-changing force in the visual effects industry for more than four decades…and counting. Ralston’s love affair with VFX has earned him legendary bona fides and five Academy Awards® in the process, including a Special Achievement Oscar® for the visual effects in the 1984 phenomenon Star Wars: Episode VI – The Return of the Jedi and visual effects Oscars for his transformative work on Forrest Gump, Death Becomes Her, the revolutionary Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Cocoon. He was also Oscar-nominated for The Rocketeer, Jumanji, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Dragonslayer, Back to the Future Part II and Alice in Wonderland (3D). Ralston is currently Senior Visual Effect Supervisor and Creative Head at Sony Pictures Imageworks. Previously, he placed his artistic and technical stamp on the films at Industrial Light & Magic and played a pivotal role in advancing the company’s renown over the course of 20 years.
“As a little kid I loved science fiction, fantasy and horror movies, and I started doing my own 8mm movies with my parents’ camera. I was initially really interested in make-up – so picture me with latex on my face and parents who had no idea what their peculiar kid in the garage was up to. “I was trying to learn and have fun doing this, but at that time there was no information on anything. I was just fighting my way through it. The only thing that came close – and barely that – was the magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland. It was really through that magazine that I met some people who helped launch my career. Little did I know then…” Ralston officially started his career at seminal commercial animation and visual effects company, Cascade Pictures in Hollywood, after submitting his 45-minute self-described “8mm opus” The Bounds of Imagination, which took a year of work to complete amidst his high school studies. At age 17, Ralston got a three-month gig doing stop-motion work on a short film and when it ended, he just stayed put. Ralston worked on more than 150 memorable advertising campaigns at Cascade in the 1970s in a dizzying array of capacities. He built sets, sculpted models, animated puppets, created optical effects and stop-motion animation for such iconic commercial characters as Poppin’ Fresh, the Pillsbury Dough Boy, and the Jolly Green Giant. “I would not be where I am now without the chance to touch every aspect of the work in those early days.” He describes Cascade as a veritable incubator of VFX wizards, as Ralston worked with the dream team of Dennis Muren, VES, Phil Tippett, VES, Jon Berg, David Allen and occasionally Rick Baker. “We were just a bunch of young goofs, but I learned an awful lot. That’s where Dennis got the script for Star Wars and we all laughed – Ha! There’s sure a lot of work in that one…and next thing I knew Dennis asked me to be his camera assistant.” “It’s thrilling to be connected to so many of these guys and to have worked with them from Cascade to ILM and on, and watching what our little group of friends has gone on to do has been fascinating. We’re brethren of the School of Hard Knocks.”
TOP LEFT: Ralston with the stop motion miniature of the Rocketeer. The building was never in the movie. Ralston says he used it in a series of shots to show Disney Studios how cool the puppet looked. TOP RIGHT: Ralston with legendary director Akira Kurosawa at a pre-production meeting for Dreams. Ralston says it was one of life’s great honors working for him. BOTTOM LEFT: Ralston operates the Ceti eel for Star Trek II. Ralston designed the disgusting little critter and also shot all the inserts. BOTTOM RIGHT: Ralston at the 2017 VES Awards Show. (Photo credit: Danny Moloshok and Phil McCarten)
“In my head, I’m still that 14-year-old kid animating clay creatures in my folks’ garage, just having fun, figuring out problems.” —Ken Ralston
IDOLS AND INSPIRATIONS
“The person I idolized who really got me into the business was Ray Harryhausen. I saw The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad at a local theater and it really did something to me. I simply couldn’t believe
SPRING 2017
VFXVOICE.COM • 77
5/7/18 1:21 PM