HARRY Potter will not be the only one working his magic on the silver screen when the pint-sized hero's fourth adventure lands at local cinemas today (Friday), reports Jim Smith.
For behind the camera, Kendal's very own movie wizard, Nick Dudman, has played an important role in bringing to life Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Nick, whose business, Pigs Might Fly, is based at Fleece Inn Yard, worked as creature and make-up effects supervisor on the eagerly-awaited new blockbuster, which has earned rave reviews from the critics.
Directed by Mike Newell, The Goblet of Fire sees Harry Potter confront his nemesis, Lord Voldemort, for the first time, while other new characters include the latest Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher, Professor Mad Eye Moody.
Moody's piercing blue mechanical eye was created for the production by Nick Dudman and visual effects supervisor Jimmy Mitchell.
Mr Dudman and special effects supervisor John Richardson also designed and built a "practical dragon" a 40-foot long animatronic beast equipped with a fully operational flamethrower. "The dragon operates through a combination of animatronics and people manoeuvring it manually under the wings," says Mr Dudman of the creature, which appears in the scene where Hagrid leads Harry to the forest one night before a Triwizard tournament, to warn him about the dragons.
"The movement is computerised for safety, as the flamethrower has a range of 30 feet. At that distance, just one minute jolt could barbecue half the stunt team!"
Mr Dudman and his team were also responsible for tethering likenesses of Ron, Hermione and other characters to a loch's ruins assembled at the bottom of a tank, where Harry struggles to free his friends from their bonds.
Mr Dudman explains the meticulous process: "We made body casts of each actor, punched in each hair individually and added skin colour layer by layer. We needed to make them match the person perfectly as well as move in a way that made them look peaceful or asleep. We used floatation tanks and pumped water into rams in order to keep them bouyant."
Mr Dudman and his team have created the make-up effects and the magical animatronic creatures in all of the films to date Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the latter earning a BAFTA nomination.
He got his start in films working on the Jedi master Yoda, as a trainee to British make-up artist Stuart Freeborn on Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
After apprenticing with Freeborn for four years on films such as Superman II and Top Secret!, Mr Dudman was asked to head up English make-up laboratory for Ridley Scott's Legend. Since then, he has worked on a wide range of films, including Mona Lisa, High Spirits, Interview With the Vampire, Batman and Judge Dredd.
In 1995, Mr Dudman's career path widened into animatronics and large scale creature effects when he was asked to oversee the 55-man creature department for the Luc Besson film The Fifth Element.
Since then, he has led the creatures/make-up effects departments on several blockbusters, including Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, The Mummy and The Mummy Returns.
In addition, Mr Dudman's company, Pigs Might Fly, creates and sells blood and make-up products and provides special make-up courses.
Go to What's On...Cinema for more...
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