The legendary Hollywood FX man died Tuesday at age 92. Known for creating the monsters in such films as Mighty Joe Young and Jason and the Argonauts, Harryhausen spoke with Fresh Air in 2003 about studying animals in nature to create the monsters of our imaginations.
http://www.npr.org/2013/05/09/181947528/remembering-monster-maker-ray-harryhausen
Tagged with npr film special effects ray harryhausen
Brilliant visual effects master Douglas Trumbull got his start at a young age working on Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Although he was only in his early 20s during production of 2001, his contribution of figuring out a way to film the now-famous "Stargate Sequence" changed the special effects industry drastically and made films like Star Wars possible (Trumbull himself was asked to work on Star Wars but turned it down due to other projects at the time).
After 2001 wrapped, Trumbull went on to direct his own films, including Silent Running (1972) and Brainstrom (1983), as well as working on the visual effects for The Andromeda Strain (1971), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), and Blade Runner (1982). He also designed the Back to the Future Ride at Universal Studios during the 80s, and has been a leader in creating special effects technology.
http://www.criticizethis.ca/2010/12/audio-interview-with-visual-effects.html