Ray Harryhausen didn't invent stop-motion animation, but he advanced the technique so much that his name has become forever intertwined with the art of stop-motion. You've seen his work in films ranging from Mighty Joe Young in 1949 to Jason and the Argonauts (1963) through Clash of the Titans in 1981. Harryhausen pioneered techniques for mixing stop-motion skeletons, dinosaurs, and monsters with live-action actors. It was not any easy thing to accomplish without computers. Harryhausen had to line up all his shots by hand and time them frame-by-frame to get what he wanted. The finished product was a mind-blowing and surreal experience for the audience. The Royal Ocean Film Society shows us how he did it in this video. -via Laughing Squid
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That scene with the skeletons is, to me, one of the greatest stop-motion moments on film. They were masterfully animated. Harryhausen's Medusa from the first Clash of the Titans(the only good one) is second.
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Those skeletons wielding swords were pretty scary for me as I watched them at the drive-in. My mother took my brother and I to drive-ins quite frequently when we were kids. She liked comedies (Carry on, Nurses, anything 'Carry on...') Martin and Lewis, Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein, Dracula, the Werewolf, Jason and the Argonauts, Hercules, etc. For a kid those Harryhausen movies were mighty realistic. And to think it was all stop motion camera work! Thank you, Ray. You made movies a whole lotta fun!
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Clash of the Titans was a staple in my house for at least 5 years or more. Couldn't tell you how many times I've watched that movie. So good.
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