The Filmumentaries Podcast - deep dives into practical effects, model making, matte painting, creature creation and prosthetics, animatronics, puppetry, prop restoration and VFX. Hosted by filmmaker, author, and film historian Jamie Benning, The Filmumentaries Podcast features long-form interviews with the unsung heroes of cinema - the production designers, editors, composers, cinematographers, digital artists, puppeteers, model makers, sound designers and effects crews who actually bring our favourite films to life. <br /><br />Each episode dives into the real work of filmmaking, from practical, in-camera effects to cutting-edge digital techniques. You'll hear from art directors, production designers, VFX supervisors, model makers, matte painters, creature and animatronics experts, puppeteers, performance capture artists, motion control specialists, editors, sound designers, re-recording mixers, composers, animators, prop restoration experts and Propstore archivists who helped shape iconic films like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Blade Runner, Jaws, Ghostbusters and Alien. With a strong focus on practical effects, physical filmmaking, and the craft behind the illusion, the podcast preserves the knowledge and stories of the people who built, shot and brought these worlds to life long before pixels took over - and those still pushing the boundaries today through performance capture, motion control and modern visual effects. <br /><br />Jamie is also a writer for Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) and Skywalker Sound, and has close ties to the BFI's film restoration and archive teams. Whether you're a cinephile, filmmaker, prop collector or simply curious about how films are really made, this podcast is your all-access pass to film history.<br /><br />What You'll Discover:<br /><ul><li>First-hand stories from the artists, craftspeople and technicians behind the films</li><li>Deep dives into practical effects, model making, matte painting, prosthetics, animatronics, puppetry, performance capture and VFX</li><li>Conversations on production design, art direction, cinematography, editing, sound design and film composing</li><li>Interviews with veterans of ILM, Lucasfilm, Skywalker Sound, Weta, DNEG, Digital Domain and Stan Winston Studio</li><li>Historic coverage of iconic films including Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jaws, Jurassic Park, Blade Runner, Ghostbusters, Alien and many more</li><li>A celebration of cinema's hidden heroes</li></ul>New episodes every other week. Follow @filmumentaries on Instagram, Threads and Facebook, and @jamieswb on X. Visit filmumentaries.com for transcripts, archives and bonus content.
The Filmumentaries Podcast
Claim This Podcastby Jamie Benning
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Podcast Overview
The Filmumentaries Podcast - deep dives into practical effects, model making, matte painting, creature creation and prosthetics, animatronics, puppetry, prop restoration and VFX. Hosted by filmmaker, author, and film historian Jamie Benning, The Filmumentaries Podcast features long-form interviews with the unsung heroes of cinema - the production designers, editors, composers, cinematographers, digital artists, puppeteers, model makers, sound designers and effects crews who actually bring our favourite films to life. <br /><br />Each episode dives into the real work of filmmaking, from practical, in-camera effects to cutting-edge digital techniques. You'll hear from art directors, production designers, VFX supervisors, model makers, matte painters, creature and animatronics experts, puppeteers, performance capture artists, motion control specialists, editors, sound designers, re-recording mixers, composers, animators, prop restoration experts and Propstore archivists who helped shape iconic films like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Blade Runner, Jaws, Ghostbusters and Alien. With a strong focus on practical effects, physical filmmaking, and the craft behind the illusion, the podcast preserves the knowledge and stories of the people who built, shot and brought these worlds to life long before pixels took over - and those still pushing the boundaries today through performance capture, motion control and modern visual effects. <br /><br />Jamie is also a writer for Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) and Skywalker Sound, and has close ties to the BFI's film restoration and archive teams. Whether you're a cinephile, filmmaker, prop collector or simply curious about how films are really made, this podcast is your all-access pass to film history.<br /><br />What You'll Discover:<br /><ul><li>First-hand stories from the artists, craftspeople and technicians behind the films</li><li>Deep dives into practical effects, model making, matte painting, prosthetics, animatronics, puppetry, performance capture and VFX</li><li>Conversations on production design, art direction, cinematography, editing, sound design and film composing</li><li>Interviews with veterans of ILM, Lucasfilm, Skywalker Sound, Weta, DNEG, Digital Domain and Stan Winston Studio</li><li>Historic coverage of iconic films including Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jaws, Jurassic Park, Blade Runner, Ghostbusters, Alien and many more</li><li>A celebration of cinema's hidden heroes</li></ul>New episodes every other week. Follow @filmumentaries on Instagram, Threads and Facebook, and @jamieswb on X. Visit filmumentaries.com for transcripts, archives and bonus content.
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
6/4/2020
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Recent Episodes
June 9, 2026
Ep 151 | Ian Hunter - VFX Supervisor on Cameron, Burton and more
VFX Supervisor Ian Hunter shares his four-decade career journey, detailing his work on iconic films with directors like James Cameron and Tim Burton.
May 26, 2026
150 David Dozoretz - Pre-vis Pioneer, VFX Supervisor and Director
Host interviews VFX pioneer David Dozoretz about his groundbreaking career shaping digital filmmaking and pre-visualization from Jurassic Park to modern animation.
May 12, 2026
149 Craig Caton-Largent - Puppeteering Raptors, Caring for ET & Co-Founding Digital Domain
In this episode, I chat with creature effects artist, puppeteer and digital pioneer Craig Caton-Largent about a career that arguably traces the entire arc of modern visual effects — from foam latex and animatronics to motion control, performance capture and full CG animation. <br /><br />Craig talks about growing up on a sheep and cattle ranch in Washington State, being captivated by the 1960s Batman TV show and then Planet of the Apes, and teaching himself prosthetics from Dick Smith's Monster Makeup Handbook. After tracking down Dick Smith's address in Who's Who in America, he wrote a letter that led to a year of mentorship over cassette tapes and ultimately introductions to Rick Baker, Stan Winston and Tom Burman. <br /><br />We get into his first job on Charles Band's Metal Storm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn, working on the Olympic alien for the 1984 closing ceremonies, sculpting barnacles on Cocoon, building Spock's seamless silicone ears on Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, undulating menacingly under shaving cream on Larry Cohen's The Stuff, and puppeteering Slimer's mouth on the original Ghostbusters. A big part of the conversation focuses on Jurassic Park, including the design evolution of the T-Rex, the helicopter convention moment that led to the McFadden motion base, the logistics of moving the full-size animatronic across the San Fernando Valley at night, and Craig's work as the Raptor puppeteer, including the now-legendary "head tilt" at the kitchen window that earned an on-set "It's like Alien, I love it" from Spielberg. <br /><br />We also talk about Craig's twenty-year stint as the caretaker, or "doctor", to the original ET puppet, including the time the LAPD turned up at his garage door thinking he was running a crack lab while he was actually repainting ET. <br /><br />Plus the story of how Stan Winston handing him a couple of SGI machines led, almost overnight, to him becoming one of the eight co-founders of Digital Domain alongside James Cameron and Scott Ross. Later in the conversation we move into Craig's animation career as a final layout artist and character TD at DreamWorks and Disney, with credits on Tangled, Rise of the Guardians, How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Turbo, and stories from working with Guillermo del Toro at DreamWorks. We finish on Craig's current role as Creative Director of the 3D Animation and Visual Effects department at the New York Film Academy in Burbank. <br /><br />Topics covered<br /><ul><li>Growing up on a Washington State ranch and falling in love with Planet of the Apes</li><li>Famous Monsters of Filmland and Dick Smith's Monster Makeup Handbook</li><li>Cold-writing to Dick Smith and a year of cassette-tape mentorship</li><li>Arriving in Hollywood at the start of the "golden age" of effects</li><li>First feature work on Metal Storm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn</li><li>The closing ceremonies of the 1984 LA Olympics and Ron Cobb's alien</li><li>Sculpting barnacles and cocoons for Cocoon (1985)</li><li>Seamless silicone Spock ears on Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home</li><li>The Stuff with Larry Cohen and "undulating menacingly"</li><li>Puppeteering Slimer's mouth on Ghostbusters</li><li>Designing the T-Rex around helicopter flight simulator technology</li><li>Working with McFadden Simulation on the T-Rex motion base</li><li>Moving the full-size T-Rex across the San Fernando Valley</li><li>Building a 70lb Steadicam-rigged Raptor insert head for Jurassic Park</li><li>Using parrots as reference for bird-like Raptor movement</li><li>The kitchen porthole head tilt, and Spielberg's "It's like Alien" reaction</li><li>Using Kermit the Frog's voice on set as the Raptor performer</li><li>Twenty years as ET's "doctor", and the LAPD crack-lab incident</li><li>ET's arm in a rifle case at JFK a week after 9/11</li><li>Motion capture experiments and blood-spread effects on Interview with the Vampire</li><li>A flying logo on an Amiga, and becoming a co-founder of Digital Domain</li><li>Working...
159 total episodes available with 8 transcripts
Recent guests on The Filmumentaries Podcast
Guests from recent episodes — sign up to see every guest that has ever appeared on this show.
Ian Hunter
Guest
David Dozoretz
Guest
Doug Weir
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Paul Collard
Guest
Anthony Forrest
Guest
Paul King
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Max Evry
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Frequently asked questions
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- What is The Filmumentaries Podcast?
- How often does this podcast release new episodes?
This podcast updates weekly.
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This podcast is available on 9 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
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Yes, this podcast regularly features guests.
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