The fight for recognition is difficult to measure. At what point does it feel like it’s established and part of any official narrative? Take Creature from the Black Lagoon for example. This iconic creature is the only universal monster designed by a prominent female artist Millicent Patrick. She was entrusted by the head of the studio’s makeup department to design the monster’s makeup. Bud Westmore, after he saw her sketches of actors on set. Universal Pictures liked her work and decided to send her to a promotional campaign. Westmore was unhappy with the loss of the spotlight and went on to remove her from the tour, taking credit for her designs. More than 50 years passed before authors like this appeared Mallory O’Meara (and her book lady from black lake) set out to save the true story and give Patrick the recognition she deserves. More female special effects artists are waiting their turn.
Stories like this are why San Diego Comic-Con ’24 The panel titled “The Forgotten Creator: The Lady Behind the Monster” is very important. Hosted by fashion designer re nelson and Nikki Blackwell, which focuses on three female visual effects artists who contributed to some of the most impressive creature designs in film in the 1980s and 1990s, but still struggled for recognition in various aspects. It’s easily one of the best groups in the conference and deserves to be continued and replicated.
Nelson and Blackwell hosted three of the group’s creators: Trek (drag me to hell, spot, fear and loathing in las vegas), Tonya Ridnor Nelson (it miniseries, Dark Army, Gremlins 2), and Wendy Polutanovich (Mortal Kombat ’95, Star Wars: Picard, Earth girl is simple).
The talent on display was amazing and when they started sharing their stories, experiences and teachings, people were stunned. Ridenour Nelson (also RE Nelson’s mother) is quick to point out that filmmakers often ignore or minimize the input of artists on set. She told a story about how the spider gremlin died on screen in the second installment of the series, and how the director behind it overturned this to create an impossible sequence that didn’t even make the final cut.
The director wanted the spider to burn in flames while writhing in agony. Ridnor Nelson says this is a bad idea because the materials in the bio-golems are extremely flammable. They went ahead with it anyway, and the result was a giant fireball that overexposed the film and rendered it unusable. There are many similar stories, and they all make a very simple but unwavering point: listen to the experts on the ground.
Of course, their experience is often just the opposite. Fluker, for example, focuses on the challenge of making functional garments that move and flow organically, and do what they’re supposed to do based on their design and construction. Unsurprisingly, many of the observations from others working outside her field lead to debates about how things look in movies and how to actually make them work (yet another example of a female expert’s perspective not being taken seriously ) It’s worth it, male artists experience this to a lesser extent).
Fluke went on to say that one way to help combat this problem is to remind female creators to band together and support each other. She said this was not always the case and it was vital for them to have a sense of community to support their work, given the resistance they still encountered in the industry, which remained sexist and lacked appreciation despite some measures taken. Improve this.
Polutanovich emphasized safety and health. FX artists often deal with toxic chemicals and their uncomfortable applications. She points to her experience as a cautionary tale about the physical challenges of work and how self-care may be the most important aspect of staying productive long-term.
However, Polutanovich said demands from filmmakers and other stakeholders could run counter to this. Sometimes a project’s budget is woefully inadequate, so artists are asked to work wonders with what they have, slogging away for long hours trying to be resourceful while putting themselves in dangerous situations because if the project had something better financial support, you probably should not handle these materials.
Ridenour Nelson looks back on this, telling some harrowing stories of how sexism makes this job infinitely more difficult for women. She was reminded of an incident once when she was struggling to move large and heavy work materials from one place to another. A male artist saw that she was having difficulty with this and told her that she should wear knee pads to help the task go smoothly (implying that she should perform sex acts on the men to keep them motivated).
Another story happened on the set of a commercial she was filming. There was a family emergency for her daughter that required her to leave immediately and go directly to the hospital. The head of FX’s creative team was visibly angry and told her “Why on earth did you decide to have children in this industry?” The person who said this had children of his own.
Clearly, the struggle for recognition is multifaceted and requires attention on many levels. What’s special about hearing these women talk about their experiences is witnessing their determination to refuse to let bad actors drive them away from the jobs they love so much. Through Perseverance, audiences around the world have seen some of the most terrifying and shocking monsters ever put on the big screen. Their legacy is undeniable and they need to be given the exposure they deserve to avoid becoming a footnote in the history of the actual impact (which we desperately need given that it is still difficult to find comprehensive sources of film credits and information) of individual women in the special effects industry ). Thankfully, RE Nelson and Nikki Blackwell’s team managed to do just that, leaving a thirst for more.
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