I'm still Phil Tippett, VFX Supervisor, Animator, Director & Dinosaur Supervisor - AMA

Did Shudder put Mad God in a theater long enough to make it Oscar eligible?

yes! Thank God!

What was the simplest implementation of an effect that gave off the biggest "wow" out of everything you've done?

The cannons that blast at the beginning of MAD GOD look like pyro. In fact, they are just cotton illuminated with an interior light and shot separately at a high exposure. The effect is really cool.

I used the same technique on ED-209 on Robocop. It was a lot harder then because it was shot on 35mm film. And if we want to get into the weeds, I would shoot 1 frame of ED-209 with its guns recoiling, then I had an auxiliary shutter that I would close. I would back wind the camera 1 frame and then shoot that frame with the lights on the set off. And then shoot the overexposed cotton and light pass. And that was done over and over and over again until the shooting was done. It was insane. Craig Hayes wired the lights. They were flash cubes from a still camera. sometimes when I touched the wires it gave me an incredible shock. And Craig would be in the other room and I could hear him laughing at my pain.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

I never got the joke. It's stupid.

Hi Phil, how on earth did you deal with consistency of film stock over such a long period?

It's easy. About 30 years ago, I shot about 3-4 minutes of MAD GOD on 35mm film. And then when we rebooted, everything was shot digitally using Canon and later Red cameras. I like the look of film grain, because it diffuses the image, so we added a film grain to the new footage to match the original. It's done in compositing.

Hi Phil, hope you are well? I am a huge fan of practical effects in movies and just wondered what your thoughts were in regard to the current state of movie making and the push for CGI?

It is both getting better and worse at the same time.

Hi Phil, one could say mad god was a hell of a movie. What idea came to you first when you decided to create that world?

it all came at once. it was a vision.

Are there any specific design or technical elements in Mad God that you're particularly proud of (things that a layperson like me may not notice/appreciate)?

I understand Mad God was a long-term passion project for you. Is there another big personal project or idea you plan to work on next?

I also want to say it's been fun as an adult revisiting many of your works I loved as a kid. As a small child I wasn't concerned with who designed specific elements in the movies I was consuming, but it's been really eye-opening to find out your work is one of the major through-lines that tied my interests together.

One more silly question: If you could bring any one of your film creations to life, in the real world, which would it be and why?

re: any specific design or technical elements that I'm proud of: I'm proud that I got it done! If you want to know what elements a layperson might not appreciate, I suggest watching it a thousand more times. there's tons of shit it there you won't see the first 20 times.

re: my next project: I have a few projects in development. I have a stop motion episodic feature called "Pequins Pendequin" and various screenplays for live action movies that are horror and sci-fi. I'm working on a new script now that's over 190 pages.

re: bringing something to life in the real world: I already did... they are my daughters.

Hi Phil, Mad God genuinely changed my life as a stop motion animator! My question is, with Mad God, Pinocchio, and Wendell & Wild coming out the past couple years, do you think the future of stop motion animation is bright?

If they make enough money!

Hey Phil, why no Star Wars shit?

Just kidding - Mad God was tremendous and I’m glad I reactivated my Shudder account for it.

I'm so lucky that Shudder didn't think it was a piece of shit. I was kind of amazed.

Hi Phil! Mad God was a delight! I was wondering what you felt was the toughest sequence to bring to life in the film?

The toughest sequence was the creation of the universe and the evolutionary arc, comprising the rise of life, mankind's great cities, and the destruction of civilization. Their destruction is an Einsteinian view of time. That was the idea - the structure of the final scenes, but I just shot for 2 years, not really knowing what I was doing, much like Kubrick did in the early stages of 2001. And then I left it to editor Ken Rogerson to put it all together.

Hi Phil! I love thinking about how long the film was in production. Which shot was the oldest thing that actually made it into the final cut?

The first thing we shot was the boom up to the fortress.

Hi Phil,

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Is it true you came up with the "I've become extinct" joke / movie line after seeing the CGI test footage for Jurassic Park?

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Also did you ever meet / work with Ray Harryhausen? If so can you tell us about that experience? Thank you!

It is true. I "came up with" the joke. but it was not a joke. It was my perception of the truth at that time. As a result of computer graphics demolishing the work that I had trained for all my life, in those kinds of films.

I first met Ray when I was 16, at Forest J. Ackerman's Ackermansion in Los Angeles.

When I was working on Dragonslayer, he was working on Clash of the Titans on the next stage, and we would go to the pub for lunch.

Subsequently, whenever he was on a book tour, and came to the Bay Area, I would do a Q&A with him and we'd go out to dinner and have a couple of pints.

do you think that the access to cheaper VFX work has made the creative process lazier? It seems to me that a lot of VFX especially on tv productions are super lazy and over used.

I can't disagree.

Hi Phil, hope you’re well. Can’t wait to watch Mad God here in the UK when it’s released on disc. Having made Mad God and seeing the positive reaction and reviews, do you think there could be a push back to more practical effects with other film makers over CGI? There definitely seems to be a lot of demand for more practical effects and models in film.

Yes. However, it generally takes an 800 pound gorilla director to insist on that approach.

hi Phil! thank you for the film! making Mad God for 30 years how many times you changed the original script and why? thank you again!

the original idea existed as a 16 page "vision." And once the vision was there, that was it. Proceeding forward, it was just a matter of adjustments.

Hi Phil, you’re a legend. What was your favourite creature/monster you made for Mad God and why?

How can any parent say what child is their favorite?

Hi Phil, thanks for doing this AMA! Do you have any personal tips and tricks for creating stop motion creatures doing the foam buildup technique? I read that some of the creatures (if not all) from Mad God were build like that. As a side question: Were your dinosaurs from the Prehistoric Beasts short film made using the same technique, or did you used molds and foam latex. Thank you!

There are many tutorials available that articulate different approaches, all a variation of what Marcel Delgado came up with for 1925's The Lost World and King Kong.

Prehistoric Beast started with a foam latex sculpture of the musculature, and taxidermy techniques to create the skin.

Hi Phil, Mad God is fantastic. One of the best films I’ve seen in years. I’m really hoping you will opt to use crowdfunding for a future project as I missed the boat with Mad God. Can you tell us if that’s a possibility?

Crowdfunding was a pain. I learned my lesson and don't plan to do it again anytime soon. Or ever.

When do we get a physical edition of Mad God?

MAD GOD comes out on DVD December 6th. It is also still playing in theaters in select markets including Japan.

Hi Phil,

Were there any moments of gore that freaked you out at first when you put them in Mad God, or are you generally a fan of gore?

I always enjoyed the concept of the Grand Guignol theater, which specialized in naturalistic horror shows. They were quite popular with the surrealists.

Can you talk about dimension and how you can make things seem small or huge?

MAD GOD was about time, process, and scale. It defies any understanding of how large or small things may be. I ripped off Alice in Wonderland

I watched it during an October movie challenge (Joe Bob Brigg's Discord) for the category of animation.

Like another poster, I was in awe of the 'down to the tiniest' detail and an obvious enormous amount of work, care and love (and I'm sure frustration too) that had to have went into it.

What was your daily work schedule? And did you work on it and walk away and come back again and again?

I am also always interested where creatives get that first spark of an idea. What was the "seed" for Mad God?

Towards the end, I hated that motherfucker. It was just a matter of getting behind the mule every day. I really did. I resented it. It's like a house. When you buy it, you don't own it. It owns you.

Were you at all influenced by the film BEGOTTEN which came out around the same time you started on Mad God?

Never heard of it

Hi Phil, what inspired you to make Mad God?

I watch the news.

What was your thought process behind the direction of the music in Mad God? The track "Long Way Down" in particular has this haunting and tired feel while also conveying a sense of necessity and duty. Did you give Dan Wool an idea of what you were aiming for or did you leave it up to him where to go?

I met Dan Wool and sound designer Richard Beggs through our mutual friend Alex Cox. The music Dan did for Alex's movies was quite Morricone-esque. I asked him if he might be interested in doing the score, and showed him some experimental sound/image pieces that I had done as hi-8 sketches, which were quite abstract and ambient, which is what Dan was really interested in. It was a marriage made in heaven.

How did you project manage Mad God over such a time frame? How were the scenes developed, was it all a cohesive idea or was it just flying by the seat of your pants?

I had no producer lurking over me and I did whatever I wanted to do. Many ideas for the scenes were developed 30 years ago. Recently we were looking at some of the very early mock-ups of MAD GOD that we edited together with the 3-minutes of footage that I had shot years ago, supplemented with storyboards. That piece was approximately 10 minutes long and contained everything that the movie wanted to be. We were all surprised at how cohesive the vision was once there was the spark - everything came into focus at once. As with many artists, you'll hear the same thing, which is "it was a religious experience." I was just listening to Bono saying the exact same thing. And Brian Eno. So many artists just say exactly the same thing. When Bach, Beethoven and Mozart would give the equivalent of interviews in their day, they would say, "I was just transcribing. Everything came from God." funny how that works.

Chocolate cake or vanilla?

Apple Pie

Favourite Karel Zeman film Phil?

Fabulous World of Jules Verne (Invention of Destruction in Czech) & Baron Munchausen. There's some amazing things he did - an attack with replacement dinosaurs attacking a fortress... Can't remember the title.

Hey Phil--thanks for the ama!

I've heard you talk a little bit about the Miltonian influence on Mad God; can you talk a little more about the specific literary, filmic, or even fine art pieces that influenced you while working on the project over such a lengthy span of time? Did they change or stay relatively consistent?

Virgil tells Dante, that those that exist in Hell are there by their own choice. Dante and Milton were important in constructing the concept for the film. Hieronymous Bosch was a major influence. Those influences, among others, informed the vision.

Have you watched Oni yet? What do you think of CGI made to look stop motion? I loved it. The environments can be so amazingly lush.

It's very well done. I watched 5 minutes and turned it off. It wasn't my thing. A bit too cute.

I haven't had a chance to see the final cut, but backed all three parts on Kickstarter (at the Signature, Monster Level and Artifact Level respectively). I know in the pieces, at different backing levels donors names could be listed in the credits. I was curious if those names are in the final film's credits at all?

They are!

Hi Phil, like many here and many who have seen Mad God around the world - I applaud your work! Absolutely unique film.

I have two questions:

1) How completed was your idea for Mad God, in regards to story, before beginning the actual filming process?

2) Did you feel elated upon completion of Mad God?

1) It was all a vision that came at once 2) I ended up in the psych ward and was in recovery for 2 months.

G'day Phil, what is George Lucas like as a person?

All of the directors that I was lucky enough to work with were great creative managers. I believe that was my greatest takeaway from those experiences. Precisely as indicated in the question before.

Where can we watch Mad God today?

Watch it on Shudder or on DVD - coming out December 6th.

Hi Phil! Music question for you! How did/do you ask someone to score something like Mad God, that was being finished in pieces over such a long period? Did the music change at all for each segment’s release? Did you always have a certain sound in mind?

I trusted Dan Wool. I do not micromanage. The process is engaging for me when I work with other talented people. And I leave things open for their interpretations and collaborations. Rarely would I give Dan any direction.

The score is available on Vinyl and CD from waxwork records. https://waxworkrecords.com/products/phil-tippetts-mad-god

You've been a huge inspiration for me, from Empire on up to Mad God. I'm working on my own CGI stop motion styled film. It takes a ton of time and energy, and maybe I'll get there in 10 more years? I dunno. But thanks for showing me it can be done! Best of luck on your new venture!

Thanks. Good luck.

Do you have a favorite film score composer? Or someone you would like to work with in the future?

Max Steiner, Erich Korngold, Bernard Herrman... They're all dead.

Favorite shot in the movie or the shot you are proudest of?

All of them.

Hi Phil. I'm curious - how many Gordos burritos were consumed by the crew during the creation of Mad God?

Zero. All of the crew meals were at Juan's Mexican Restaurant, Berkeley, California, 94710. Call in an order. Ask for Jorge.

Hi Phil, first off, you're one of my biggest inspirations as an aspiring animator, with Mad God being a definite part of that, so my question to you is how can I schedule/put aside time for myself to animate and create? It's a little difficult sometimes due to college and ADD, so any time management advice would be greatly appreciated 👍

No advice other than just keep doing it.

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Fantastico!

My home boy saying I gay cuz I always havin this dream where I be gettin tor up by Clive Owen but I been telling him it ain't mean nothing cuz it's just a dream. But he's all saying he subscribe to the Freudian model n some other shit which mean deep down I wanna get tor up by Clive Owen but he never got any degree or nothin so who's right?

You're clearly fucking with me, but here's a legit answer. A great deal of Freud and Jung's concepts were woven into MAD GOD. Check 'em out.