Rick Baker - on the inspiration for Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video

Full interview at http://www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/rick-baker
Rick Baker was interviewed for nearly two hours in Glendale, CA. In this excerpt he talks about the process of creating the zombie look for Michael Jackson's Thriller video (directed by John Landis), and the star's input on the process. He describes how the inspiration came from "American Werewolf" and Jackson's desire to be in a film.

In the rest of this interview (emmytvlegends.org for more info), Baker talked about his desire to become a doctor when he grew up, and having an epiphany that the doctor he actually wanted to be was Dr. Frankenstein, so he could make monsters. He described his youthful interest in monster magazines and model kits and discussed producing his own 8mm version of Frankenstein. He talked about the influence of television in his formative years and how being in front of the box led him to his career path, discovering the world of make-up through the horror/ sci-fi television series of the 1960s and the Million Dollar Movie which ran classic films. He talked about his first professional job, when he was a teenager, at the (Art) Clokey Studios, where he was a puppet designer for the stop-motion animation series Davey and Goliath. He talked about writing a letter to his mentor, legendary make-up artist Dick Smith, who invited him to his house and showed him his make-up lab and taught him the tricks of the trade. He spoke about their continued association that culminated in Bakers assisting Smith on the feature film The Exorcist. He talked about the Emmy-Award-winning work he did (with Stan Winston) on the landmark television movie The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, in which the lead character ages to 110 years old. He discussed how, due to the fact that he was not in the union, he was paired with Winston and how their collaboration was complicated due to their divergent techniques. He described his memorable work on the Cantina sequence in the movie blockbuster Star Wars. He spoke about his groundbreaking, Academy-Award winning work for An American Werewolf in London, which featured werewolf metamorphosis sequences that did not rely on optical effects. Additionally, Baker talked about his work on Michael Jacksons Thriller music video, the series Beauty and the Beast, and the feature film Ed Wood, in which he transformed Martin Landau into Bela Lugosi. The interview was conducted by Stephen J. Abramson on February 24, 2003.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Michael
• Jackson
• Thriller
• music
• video
• Rick
• Baker
• zombie
• makeup
• King
• of
• Pop
• American
• Werewolf

[orwellianson]

Where are the rest of the videos? I remember there were several parts to this interview!

[TVLEGENDS]

@orwellianson see first line in description above for the link to the Full interview with Rick Baker- -thanks!

[KACrawfordI4C]

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

Michael Jackson 1958-2009

Stay Encouraged! Don't give up!

[cbdances4god]

WOW! I totally had no idea that was the crew in the video!!! AMAZING!!!

[scottybroker]

@KACrawfordI4C Please explain YOUR application if this scripture to MJ. 

[fanguk2]

@cbdances4god Yeah, Rick is the guy who comes out of the crypt...

[orwellianson]

@TVLEGENDS Thank you!

[Monsternutt]

He Said MonsterNutt! I Love It!

[rodrigoraulsuarez]

Horror movies needs more guys like this guy. 

[83phatman]

That just kills me that Vincent and Harry are right behind him!!!

[donkeymasternr1]

@feetler haha, that's awesome!