Exclusive: Vincent Guastini Interview !

We had the chance to interview the man who made all the wonderful Special Effects for Brian Yuzna's "Rottweiler". YES ! Vincent Guastini answered our questions. This alone would be cool enough, but he also sent us some exclusive pictures. Read on for interesting facts about the "Rottweiler" special effects, Vincent Guastini's favourite movies, upcoming projects and lots more.

Brian Yuzna directs your latest movie "Rottweiler". Most of our readers know him for directing movies like "Society", "Return of the Living Dead 3" and producing the "Re-Animator" series where he also directed the sequels. Did Brian have any specific requests or demands for Rottweiler?

Brian's demands were:

• That the dog looked scary.
• That the dog had big teeth.
• That the fur on the dog looked real.

What kind of good-looking, crazy effects can we expect from "Rottweiler"?

I can tell you that my intentions were to make this dog look great. What we built was a very complex and realistic animatronics Rottweiler, in various stages of destruction and decay. There were many puppets for these various functions that were required. All of the movements in the dogs face and body were very complex and numerous.

Such as: ear twitching, full rotation of the eyes, tongue, snarl, panting, breathing, chewing, and even nose twitching. We also had a final stage that was a half skeleton dog/half cyborg for the end sequence when it comes back to life after an explosion- AKA like in Terminator. All in all we had five anamatronic Rottweilers. They were brought to life in various ways, from rod puppeteed, hand puppeteered, and radio control.

You and your team had to make many clay models of the dog. How long does it take to make a life-size sculpture like the "Rottweiler"?

It took my sculptor, Don Lanning, 8 days. It was a short time as it was because we only had seven weeks to build all of the effects for "Rottweiler" and have them shipped from my shop in the US to Spain.

What was the most difficult effect you had do make for this movie?

All of them- because of the time constraints on top of trying to build this dog and have it look of quality in such a short amount of time. But, I would have to say the most difficult effect of all was getting all of the animatronics and movements into the dogs.

I often read that Brian Yuzna is a very friendly man and has a great sense of humor. Can you tell us, how it was to work with him?

It was both a joy as well as greatly frustrating, due to the fact of the schedule and adjusting to the European way of filmmaking. But, I find him to be a very intelligent, good-hearted, as well as very good, businessman.

My favorite movie is John Carpenter's "The Thing" and I read on your website (Vincent Guastini Productions) that this movie had a great influence on you also. Was this because of the quality of Rob Bottin's outstanding special effects, because of the ideas he brought into the movie, or both?

All of the above. Rob Bottin is the best, most brilliant creature designer, and effects man in this entire business. No one and I mean no one can hold a candle to the man's imagination and the pure love he puts into his creations.
As far as "The Thing" is concerned- as a film, it's John Carpenters best-- and I fear he will never top it due to Rob's effects. The film has changed my life; it has forever influenced me, and is solely responsible for what I do today.

On your site I also saw many pictures of projects and movies you worked on. Really great craftsmanship and lots of work are necessary to build those models. Every single one is unique, but there has to be one model, animatronics or prosthetic effect you made, you like most. Which is it?

On a realistic end of things, I would have to say the transformation of Ellen Burstyn, of her weight loss in the film "Requiem for a Dream". As far as an animatronic effect, I would have to say the wings in "Dogma".

What was the most difficult effect you had to do so far, and why?

"Requiem for a Dream"-

It was a very difficult and time consuming project done for very little time effects prep wise, less then six weeks--with very little patience from most of the production due to the fact they never worked with this stuff before. I was so burned out because I was working non-stop with no breaks at all from other projects. The film had other elements, like a fake arm that gets cut off, for "Fight Club" actor Jared Leto, which was made like a real arm would be.

It just wasn't some rubber arm being cut. There were dozens of tests for that effect alone; and you see it for only half a second. Also, there's an animatronics hand that gets stabbed by Jennifer Connelly, which came off looking totally real as the fork hits it and the fingers curl in to react with the pain. Get your pause button out on the DVD for these moments I speak of.

I was really thrown for a loop on this project at times just wanting to lay down and never get up. I get so involved in my work and so personally hands on, I really try and become part of the work. Sometimes your efforts are destroyed due to bad lighting, editing or direction, but in this rare case Darren and his DP did their best to work with everything when it came to it finally being on camera and in the editing room. So I was quite pleased.

Darren Aronofsky, was a hard man to please who changed his mind a lot or did not like something till he saw it finished on set, was a bit of a ride to work with. You have to give it to him - he's a brilliant director.

Was there ever a movie you refused to make and afterwards you thought, "I should have done it"?

No, but there are a lot of films that I did work on that were soooooooo bad I wish I had never had my name attached to them. Hahaha...

You worked on so many movies including "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back", "Thinner", "Dogma" and of course "Virus" with Jamie Lee Curtis. Out of all of them, which is your favorite movie, and director? Realizing of course they are all pretty great!

Kevin Smith. He is the most relaxing, fun, collaborative, and intelligent man I have ever met. Two of my favorite directors- that I have worked with (who are very hard to work with I might add), were Darren Aronofsky and Michael Mann.

As far as favorite movie goes, "Requiem For a Dream".

Is there a director, you always wanted to work for?

Yes. Paul Verhoeven, Frank Darabont, and David Fincher.

What are your favorite movies to watch when your not working on them?

"Fight Club", "Seven", Kevin Smith films, "Terminator", and of course, "The Thing".

There are a lot of movies coming out this year. The long anticipated "Land of the Dead", "Boogeyman", "Star Wars Episode III" and "War of the Worlds", just to name a few. What movie are you most curious to see?

"Star Wars Episode III" and "War of the Worlds".

Tell us on which future projects "V.G.P. Effects + Design Studios" is working now. What can we expect to see from you and your team in the near future?

Well, right now I'm set to do, Director Tim Sullivan's next films. He directed the upcoming "2001 Maniacs" remake and co-produced "Detroit Rock City". The first one will be "Snoop Dog's Hood Of Horror" starring of course, Snoop Dog. I'm also dealing with some comic book properties and studios on a few projects and talking to a few famous Steven King directors about things.

We also did some test make-ups and designs for Kevin Smith's, still in development, "Green Hornet" movie. And, before Darren Aronofsky folded on "Watchman" we were doing some preliminary stuff on that. There is some other stuff that's too early to talk about. This past year we did a Film Fantasy Musical for Grease director, Randal Kleiser, called "Red Riding Hood", due for release this year.

I was just offered a huge multi million Dollar "Lord of the Rings" type show with monsters, goblins, and all of my favorite types of fantasy creatures. I just worked with Lawrence Bender's company, A BAND A PART who produced "Reservoir Dogs", on a big prosthetics commercial out of Mexico over the holiday weeks. We did a bunch of "Lord Of the Rings" type trolls for them and they came out excellent and really real looking. So, the New Year- offer wise- is starting off with a bang.

Thank you very much for answering our questions. Finally, is there anything you want the fans to know, and most importantly do you read the site? Enquiring minds want to know.

Yes, I do read the site. I enjoy it very much.

What I want the fans to know is how much work and time goes into creating this work and also for directors and producers to realize how much goes into special make-up effects. It's not like ordering at a fast food restaurant or going to a Halloween store to buy a mask off a shelf. It's all custom made. And depending on what shop you go to like fast food, you can get some very good effects and bad ones. If the fans want to really know how it all works they can get a better idea of that at: WWW.VINCENTGUASTINIPRODUCTIONS.COM

Special thanks to Vincent Guastini, for answering our questions. Be sure to check out Vincent Guastini's website. Also Vincent sent us a great stash of pictures of the various special effects he has done on different movies. You can see them in our exclusive Vincent Guastini Gallery.

Interview by René aka MacReady - MoviesOnline Editor, January 2005