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The Lightsabre Interview Danny Wagner
Welcome to
Lightsabre. Our next guest has amassed
an amazing list of credits on such diverse films as Ghostbusters 2, Pirates
of the Caribbean and the Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition. Involved at many levels, including
maquettes, shooting models, sculpts and make-up, he has seen more of the Star
Wars universe than most of us will in a lifetime. Please give a hearty welcome to Daniel J
Wagner. Q - Danny, welcome to Lightsabre.
A - Thank you very much, it's a pleasure to be here.
Q – Your CV is absolutely
fantastic, covering almost all of the most beloved and successful films of
the last twenty years. How proud does that CV make you feel, and what
memories does it invoke? A – I'm very proud to be involved in such exciting
films and being part of the movie industry was my goal in life. As a
movie go’er it’s a huge thrill. The
memories are timeless, and unforgettable.
To start things off, there was seeing the Lucas film archives for the
first time in ‘88. There was everything you can think of that was in
Star Wars at your finger tips!! But of course you couldn’t touch anything. I
just stood there with my mouth wide open.
I think I felt a tear come to my eye...Then there was my special time
working at the ranch in the JAK art department for George Lucas and during a
short visit Steven Spielberg came in the help George with the film and we got
to meet him. Of Course working at ILM was a dream come true. Going to
location as a puppeteer and working with M. Night Shyamalan and Mel Gibson
for Sign's was a blast. Being able to utilize my skills, and have them all in
these fantastic films is a great feeling. I even got on a Mars Attacks!
the movie widescreen trading card sculpting a brain! That’s was so cool!
Q – Tell us something of your
career. Where did you begin making monsters and models and what led you to
Kerner Optical? A - I started making monsters professionally at the age of 17 where my
career started. In the very beginning I was doing makeup’s for plays in high school and my local collage. Then I
hooked up with a man who did a travelling show called Hollywood Halloween (in
Reno). Creating makeup appliances and haunted house murals. After that I went
to Chicago to demonstrate a new gelatine makeup called GoreFX gels. Then I went to visit San Francisco and came
across a small studio called Magic Vista Studios. I sculpted a dragon for
something. Mmmmm I actually can't remember what it was for, sorry. I also did
a cute troll type character for the company for there mascot. We also did the
special effects for Look Who’s Talking way back then. I wouldn’t consider it
monsters but I sculpted the sperm in 3 different sizes and created the uterus
walls for the scene we needed to shoot. From there It let to ILM, I was hired
through a Tim Lawrence, Rick
Baker's right hand man at the time. I do remember getting the first phone
call to come to work at ILM I was so excited that I saved the message machine
tape for my family and couldn’t sleep that night. I was hired as a Slime
Wrangler; I took the job just to get in the door hoping to go on to more
creative positions. There I meet some very nice friendly people, that had
become very close friends to this day. Among these friends were Slimer and
Boba Fett some humans too. Early in my
career when I was young and didn’t have seniority, when I was laid off from
ILM I worked at another creature shop called Chris Walas Inc (CWI). Where
they did The Fly and Enemy Mine in the 80's. Here I worked as a creature
builder for films such as Arachnophobia, RoboCop 2, Naked Lunch and others.
When I went back to ILM, I was able to continue my model making skills as
well as creature skills. One thing I must
say, I would have never become as good
as a model maker as I am today if I never stayed at ILM. So Now I'm very proud to say I’m and model
and creature maker. With such luck since I was a creature person at ILM I was
able to work on such great projects as a sculptor, makeup artist and
puppeteer. When Star Wars came along, my god!, things got interesting for me,
the opportunities were wide open. Models, Creatures and Makeup. I never new when I was a 9 year old kid
watching Star Wars for the first time, I was going to be able to get an
opportunity to do every thing that I
love for a movie like that, not even thinking it was going to be a STAR WARS MOVIE! After years of service
working at ILM, The model shop was informed Lucas decided to focus on his
newly built ILM in San Francisco which offers digital effects for the movie
industry. To sell the model shop to a
18 year veteran named Mark Anderson. This newly formed company is now called
Kerner Optical, Mark is wonderful and wide open for all types of work to keep
us busy. As a sub-contractor we will still continue to do work for ILM and also
work on other effects for films. Mark
is interested in going after creature work too, so I’m all for that. The future looks great
and I’m happy that Mark decided to take this challenge. We are behind him all
the way and strive to continue to break barriers and create new cutting edge
effects.
Q – What is it like to be a part
of the Star Wars phenomenon? A- Pretty amazing! I had no idea I was going to have such a big part of
contributions towards this trilogy. I
went to the Celebration 3 for Sith and felt so special . It was a blast to
share the stories and pictures with the fans. I know how they feel because I
am still a fan myself. I wouldn’t have
worked so hard and long at this career if I wasn't a fan. My passion for the art of all of it Is a powerful
force, a force I will always carry around with me. I guess you can say the
force is strong with me....
Q – Looking back on your tour
through the Star Wars galaxy, what is your proudest moment, and your best
work? A – WOW! That’s a hard one. Mmmm, I would pick the environment maquettes
I did for Jak films art department on Revenge of the Sith. I total loved it. I was working at Jak and
every Friday met with George to discuss the maquettes and get feedback. It
was so amazing to be there, contributing my ideas with George and Eric
Tiemens and Ryan Church. Coming up with new and really interesting worlds for
the last film. On top of all that I was pleasing George so much I was
receiving Fabulousos stamps on my maquettes all the time. Which I learned was
a rarity. Most people got the work stamped with an OK. For a while people
were called me Mr. Fabulouso was very proud to be apart of the Art department
for Episode 3. I feel that my work was really a strong contribution at that
time. Last year during the
Oscars the makeup for Sith received a nomination and my good friends Dave and
Lou Esley got a nomination for this category. I got an email from a good
friend and this is what it said. OSCAR NOMS There is one unsung hero in this
nomination – Danny Wagner of the model shop. He was responsible for all
Makeup shot here at ILM for pick ups ( of which were many) , including the
makeup done on George Lucas for his cameo. Unfortunately, Danny probably
won’t be recognized in any formal way, but I think everyone here should be
aware of his achievements and contributions. That was very nice to
him to send out. I was very proud of this. This was a great moment for me. In a sense I was
included is this nomination. And was greatly honored. Another proud moment
was receiving a VES award or the best miniatures in a motion picture. For War of the Worlds.
Steve Gawley our supervisor, and
received this in LA we all took a picture with it. Because it was a
group effort. It really boosted moral in the shop.
Q – What has the transition been
like moving away from being a part of ILM to becoming an independent unit at
Kerner Optical? A – We were all sad to see this happen. I loved being a part of ILM. The history of the company was a topic that
always sparked an interest in people. People, family and friends were always
impressed. As time when on and now
since this new company is born and every body is working it seems nothing has
changed. Just more work, which is a great thing. Since Mark is going to bid
on creature projects that's even better. I think people who are interested in
using this type of work for there
films, should realize all the model makers from the ILM model shop are at Kerner Optical
now and the excellence of the work and talent that they all have will pour
out of KO the same way that ILM model shop did. I personally feel like
I really didn’t leave ILM, in a sense as a whole company now we are all working for ILM on certain
projects. There still is a connection
Q – There is a marriage between
CGI and traditional models that ILM balanced particularly well. Do you think
this is still the way to go, or will physical models eventually make way for
pixels and digital? A – I think It's the very best way to execute filmmaking and a story. I
think the time has pasts where cg feels like it is going to take over.
Producers and director know when it’s a good time to go with a model. Some times it’s faster
and cheaper to go practical. Use the
right tool for the right reason. That
makes real magic.
Q – You have a huge list of past
productions, including the fantastic Galaxy Quest. For many Star Trek fans
this was ‘the best Trek film since First Contact’. How interesting a show was
that to work on? A – Galaxy
Quest was a blast. I worked on this
amazing creature type ship called the Sarris ship. It was constructed to look like a real
living creature. Its organics, texture and body form was a lot of fun but a
challenge. We had to develop a sinister evil embodiment into this character
that had a soul which was going to be a major part of the final film. Then we
painted it with UV paints, so it would emulate a Erie glow on its body,
giving the ship a essence of life.
Q – You must have interacted with
some special people, working on Clint Eastwood’s Bird and War of the Worlds
for Steven Spielberg. In that working environment, how do you approach
working with such legendary people? Is it overwhelming, or does that pass
into a working relationship? A – Well, it's interesting. Its part of the job. Meeting these people and
working with them. Some times you just meet them because they’re either on
the set when your there too or they’re present to visit to give input for the production.
There is a lot of politics in every business, and I tend to stay professional
and not buddy up with any one. I want to do my job and make them happy.
Sometime you tend to get bad vibes from co-workers if you try to become close
friends with these directors. Your there to do a job and do it well, not to
be social and become friends. I only worked with Clint once on Bird, which
was an amazing experience but made me a little nervous. I was only 19 then and
I wanted to impress anyone who I was working for. I was lucky that the crew
was helpful and nurturing. Maybe they had pity on me because I was so young.
I did see Clint on
Space Cowboys, but I never got close enough, so I didn’t get the chance to
say hello, remember me? As for Spielberg, I was
lucky enough to be a part of the JAK art department when they announce that
George was going to bring in a guest director so he could add some creative
input on the film and work with the crew on Sith. We all were guessing which
one would it be. I was hoping it was Steven! I won! I said that would be sooo cool to meet Spielberg. The Friday meeting went very well and he (Steven) was very open and nice. He was telling us about a helicopter ride he took over a volcano in Hawaii and he had to pay this pilot a lot of money to fly as close as he could to get the best reference he could. This was of course for Mustafar. I gasped and he looked at me and said this was a amazing tour of a volcano and could have been dangerous if they came too close. He said more technical things and was so understanding of the people in the room. He didn’t just focus on Lucas; he was there for all of us. Which was heavenly! On War of the Worlds I
didn’t get to meet Steven again but had a great time working on the film and
got a chance to work close with Dennis Muren. Conceptualizing a paint scheme
for a tripod a couple days before he have to leave to LA to show Steven.
Q – Tell us something of your
other interests outside of Star Wars? A – What
do you mean??! There is none!!..... ok, ok ...Just Kidding. Gee! That's a
first. Well I love going to movies
I’m sure that not a surprise. I do like documentaries
on true crime and profilers. CSI is a good show and Dayle Heinmen and Body of Evidence on court tv is a
entertaining show. I know that’s a total swist and change to what I do but it
just one of those things that grew on me while watching some of those drama/
horror movies like Silence on the Lambs. It was interesting stuff. Other than
that I pretty much do the same thing at home when I have free time to myself.
Sculpt, draw or computer art such as zbrush. When I sculpt some thing, I sometimes
turn it into a Resin kit to sell. Known as the garage kit. I love collecting
also. My house is one big Museum. Full of Sideshow collectables and of course
Star Wars toys. Some from my childhood that I saved and some are new. I
do have other action figures that I need to sell. I got all the Master
Replica’s FX lightsaber’s, there awesome. Legend's Darkness and
Predators and some stuff that I sculpted are displayed around. Since I’m
currently single I pretty much do what I want and make my own plans daily,
that’s if I’m not working.
Q – You had the daunting job of
turning George Lucas into Baron Papanoida. Tell us something of the day’s
events. Were you calm and cool, or were you palms sweating at the thought of
Lucas being in your hands? A – That’s
a good question, It all started when Brian Gernand came into the spray booth
where I was painting something. He grabbed a chair and told me to set down. I
said to myself OH SHIT! Im fired?? he said that something came up in
production that concerns George Lucas, I’m
thinking “Oh dear mmmm. What’s Up?” I ask. Brian said George is
going to have a first time cameo in this episode and he gets makeup on his
face and they want you to do it. I
said Oh man! are you serious!! YES!! I scrambled in my chair with excitement
and Brian started laughing. He said I
wanted to give you a chair because he was afraid I would faint. I’m glad he
did. I might have. The night before, I was
on pins and needles. Making sure
everything was set up and going smoothly. I actually called my mom to calm me
down. She was a good listener. The
morning off I started to set up and get ready for George. When he came in he was told, Danny is going
to do your makeup ok, I’m sure you remember him, from the Art Department.? He
replied Ya sure, He was with his daughter Katie who I was also going to
makeup. It was nice not having Georges entourage because he was so down to
earth and more approachable. Even making jokes and laughing. I Applied Katies makeup first, which was a
big help because she said my Dad doesn’t like anything poked on his face,
special his eyes. Mmmm nice tip? Thanks! I replied. Her makeup only took an
hour and she said that's was faster than last time in Australia. I said thanks! She was done and left for
wardrobe, then George was next. He
came in and sat down in the chair. I had something on my
mind I wanted to ask the man so I figure what the hell, I’ll ask, Have you
ever got your face casted before, as in a life cast done on you? He looked at
me and thought for a moment and replied "no", I said oh , If you
ever want it done I will be happy to do it.
He said ok. A George Lucas life
cast does not exist! Maybe some day I'll do it. I continue to explain
what I was going to do. This is an airbrush technique and I was going to have
the pressure on 15 to 20 pounds. I thought it might help to be soothing on
the face instead of stipple or brushed on. I had a small fan in my hand to
blow off any excess makeup. I did have a big fan behind him. Faced outwards
to such the paint away. I used REEL CREATIONS Body Art Inks for the makeup
and some grey and white Highlight for his beard. He was pretty adamant about
his beard not being covered up. After painting him blue I had to highlight
the beard because it changed the color on his normal hair. For his tribal
markings I had a lazer cut stencil made for this design. It was pretty simple
two yellow lines on both of his checks and 3 on his forehead. I did give him
highlight’s and shadow for his face, and slightly eyelid makeup. The design its self was really simple, and
not that striking but the whole exciting thing was, it was going to be
applied on Lucas. This was the first time
George ever had makeup on his face, and I did it, that’s cool! When I was done He stood up and looked straight
in the mirror and said good job, I like it,.. I replied Thank you. That was the best compliment. I told him he
was one of the best subjects I have ever worked with. He said thanks. After his shoot I took
it off. It was kind of nice, He sat
down and I used makeup remover and warm towels to open up his pours on his
skin and loosen up the makeup so it will come off a lot faster. I was
standing there explaining this to George, massaging his face around losing up
the makeup. It was a neat moment. I felt like George’s
personal message therapist for a short while. It was wild! The makeup came
off quick and easy. He was pleased. Months later they even
made Baron Papanoida action figures from that. That was a must have. I should do a Danny Wagner makeup artist
action figure to go along with that. One of my personal
items that I kept for posterity was the stencil I used on him.
Q – Looking back to your earliest
influences of Harryhausen, Rick Baker and Rob Bottin, which of their works
still holds up today? A - In my
opinion for The animation of Harryhausen, everything the man did was ahead of
his time. I specially love the medusa from Clash of the titans, the 7headed
Hydra was amazing. The skeleton fight scene in Jason and the Argonauts was
mind-blowing. As for Rick baker, His shop is constantly pushing the envelope
and producing cutting edged techniques with makeup design and
characters. Every thing that comes out
of that shop is just phenomenal. If I
would have to pick his work from the past would be Gorillas in the Mist,
Greystoke and Mighty Joe Young, in that case most of his Gorillas. Of Course
American werewolf In London still looks great today. His character makeup as in Coming to
America to Nutty Professor to Click are amazing real. Mr. Bottin's work is so
bizarre and original I can't think of anything I’ve seen that come close to
The Thing , and Legend's Darkness character, including Meg Mucklebones. Even
Robocop looks great still to this day.. I do like to mention effects that
were brilliantly executed, that you didn’t get so see that much of it in the
final film. Which was the Darl Van horn character from Witches of Eastwick. Those Jack Nickleson evil
devil puppets were amazing! Call me
old school but I just love that stuff. I grew up on it and still love it. I
will never get tired of it.
Q - What lies ahead for you in
the future? A – Good Question, I hope a lot
more work. It would be nice to be able to supervise more projects. I’m getting a website up soon hopefully it
will be up and ready next year. Its
called www.dannywagner.com
Q – A quick question about our
site, Lightsabre. Any comments? A – It’s a great site. A lot of
interesting components. It’s nice that you share the art work of fan in there
too. There's a lot of different things to read, it's interesting. It’s nice being able to read about the
other people. I do appreciate the site wanting me featured in there too!
Q - It's been a great interview,
and thanks for being our guest on Lightsabre. Just one final question. Marty
McFly from Back to the Future appears in your back garden and beckons you
inside. 88 MPH later and you are flying through time. Marty turns to you and
asks you a question. “Danny, I can take you through time to one of three
films in movie history, and you can head the model team. Those films are the
original King Kong, Seventh Voyage of Sinbad or Star Wars. Which will it be?” A – STAR WARS!! Only because It had
so many different effects in it. And it really change a lot of peoples lives
after it hit the big screen. King Kong
and Seventh Voyage were wonderful pictures but its a lot of animation that I
wasn’t focusing on. Although I did do stop motion in the beginning and it was
one of my inspirations. I wasn’t going to be a animator I wanted to be a
creator of models, makeup and creatures. It's funny you mention Marty and the BTTF, I loved
those films and dreamed of turning my Toyota MR2 into a flying car. I
actually had dreams of that scenario. It
was quite beautiful flying over the mountains on Marin. I even took a model kit of an MR2 and turned
it into a flying car from a BTTF Delorian kit that was the same scale. My
good friend Don has a Delorian - he owe’s me a ride in it. I also got the pleasure of working on Part
2 and even got credit! Thanks for your
interest, it’s always a pleasure. |
