Narrator: Recognize these characters?
These eyeballs?
This face?
They're all made by the same guy, Stan Winston,
and there's a way to learn exactly how he brought
these practical-effects legends to life.
Practical effects often get overshadowed by CGI,
which can do the seemingly impossible.
One school, however, thinks that special effects
are here to stay and is helping teach the craft
to the next generation of artists.
The Stan Winston School is an online school
based in Los Angeles, where a wide array
of Hollywood special-effects artists
have taught character creation
to over 20,000 students since its founding.
Its online tutorials can be watched
either live or at your convenience.
Classes instruct viewers how to do everything
from putting feathers on a fake bird,
to making a mask, to creating a convincing monster.
Erich Grey Litoff: Online education allows you
to have the tools at your hands
to learn on your own time.
Narrator: The school's named after this guy,
Stan Winston, and his teachings and creations
greatly influence everything about the school.
He was one of Hollywood's most legendary
special-effects artists and a pioneer in the field.
The school was launched by his son, Matt Winston,
and son-in-law, Erich Grey Litoff.
Matt Winston: One of Stan's mantras was,
do what you love,
follow your passion,
and success will come.
Narrator: Winston came to Hollywood
with dreams of becoming an actor.
When that didn't work out,
he ended up in the world of special effects.
Even if you don't know his name, you know his work.
Perhaps his proudest achievement
was the "Jurassic Park" franchise,
in which he built dinosaurs both big and small.
Grey Litoff: So, this would be one of the claws,
screen-used claw from the T. rex in "Jurassic Park."
Narrator: Along with his many groundbreaking effects,
Winston also managed to film a lot of his work,
which the school has in its archive and often posts online.
The school itself is filled with some of Winston's classics.
Stan's influences show up
in many of the things it builds for classes.
Grey Litoff: These are raptor eyes
from the "Jurassic Park" series.
These are hand-painted, clear resin on top
of the painted eye, and, you can see, to give the illusion,
there's actually a little bit of depth
between where the paint is and the urethane is on there.
Narrator: Teachers will show you
how to make realistic fake eyeballs in class.
Winston also built the metal arm
for T-X in "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines."
In one of the classes, beginners were taught
how to build a very simple working mechanical arm.
Winston: Using just plumbing parts
and stuff you could go find at the hardware store.
Now, definitely, it's very crude, but the principles
can be applied to a much more advanced mechanical hand.
Narrator: And this silicone rod puppet,
which looks a lot like this one
that was designed for the movie "Small Soldiers."
Grey Litoff: And now, with CGI technology,
it's easier than ever
to remove the puppeteer, remove the rod.
Narrator: Sometimes, these old pieces
are actually used in lessons.
In one lesson, teachers use this moving tentacle,
which runs on cables attached to a controller
that was used to move and control the dinosaurs
in one of the "Jurassic Park" movies.
The school emphasizes Stan's philosophy for effects,
especially that a lot of influences,
even for sci-fi and fantasy puppets and effects,
should be rooted in the real world and nature.
It's why "Predator" might have looked so real to you
and also how, in "Instinct," they were able to get away
with a gorilla that was actually just an animatronic mask
worn by a guy in a gorilla suit.
Another major lesson that a budding
special-effects artist must learn:
avoiding the uncanny valley, when something
appears a little too frighteningly realistic.
Winston: If you actually have a puppet on set,
physics is now working with you,
and natural laws are now working with you.
The same light is landing on the puppet as is on the actor,
so that heightens the level of realism.
Narrator: The school's also a means
of teaching and preserving these methods.
A lot of movie special effects, sadly,
were made just for use on a given movie
and didn't have a long shelf life.
Winston: Oftentimes, the materials you need to use
to make sure something is totally lifelike are very fragile.
Back in the old days of props and effects and puppets,
people didn't really see a value beyond the filming
of the movie, and so many of those things
just disappeared or were thrown away.
More and more, studios are taking great efforts
to preserve these creations,
and that's fantastic for everyone
because this really is Hollywood history,
and it's our duty and our honor
to play our part in helping to preserve it.
Narrator: And even though movies today
are seemingly dominated by CGI,
practical effects aren't going anywhere.
Stan Winston embraced CGI, and in movies he worked on,
it often went hand in hand with practical effects.
For instance, in "Jurassic Park," in close-ups
or any shots involving interactions with humans,
the dinosaurs were usually puppets.
For wider shots involving more movement,
that was typically CGI.
Winston: He always believed that the job
of an effects artist is to be invisible.
You never want an audience
to walk out of a theater going, "Great effects."
You want them to say, "Great story, great characters."
And if you could achieve that, you succeeded.
For the famous shot in "Jurassic Park"
where the T. rex leans down and Lexi shines her flashlight
into his eye and the pupil dilates,
a special device was created to create that dilating action.