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In the Studio: Phil Tippett: Mad God, 30 years in the making

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Phil Tippett: Mad God, 30 years in the making

07/09/2021 GMT

BBC World Service - In the Studio, Phil Tippett: Mad God, 30 years in the making

Oscar-winning film-maker and visual FX artist on his love song to stop motion animation

Oscar-winning film-maker and visual FX artist on his love song to stop motion animation.

A bowler hatted, gas mask-wearing figure descends in a diving bell into an apocalyptic landscape of nightmarish creatures. Flames and searchlights puncture the darkness as the ‘Assassin’ begins his wordless quest in a shattered world.  Welcome to Mad God.

This is a film that has been 30 years in the making. The dark, disturbing vision of filmmaker and visual FX artist Phil Tippett, Mad God is his tormented love song for the craft and power of stop motion animation. A technique as old as cinema itself but largely abandoned since the coming of digital technology.
 
Tippett won two Oscars for his work on The Empire Strikes Back and Jurassic Park. That film effectively spelled the end for stop motion in major motion pictures. But Mad God remained an unshakeable vision for Tippett. It was begun and abandoned as too costly and time consuming.  

Tippett had his own all digital vfx studio to run with projects like Starship Troopers & Evolution. That was until the new century and a new generation of colleagues who saw the footage and urged him to revive the project. 

Tippett mentored these younger animators, all keen to experience the art and craft of stop-motion and volunteering their spare time. Jointly they expanded Mad God from a 6 minute short into a full blown apocalyptic vision.

As Mad God enters its final weeks of completion and unveiling, Mark Burman speaks to Tippett and some of his key collaborators about the art, madness and dreams that have fuelled the project and their collective love for the hand crafted magic of stop motion.
 
Presenter and producer: Mark Burman
Executive producer: Ella-mai Robey

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