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AN009
ELEPHANT CORPSE
'HEART OF DARKNESS' (TNT) 1993. Nicholas Roeg, director.
Specifications: One 18 foot long elephant with separate trunk.
Materials:
Plywood, chickenwire, burlap, plaster, joint compound and plastic eyes.
A Dream project- bring a crew down to Belize for a few months to work on a Nicholas Roeg movie. A wonderful dream, just don't pinch us- though come to think of it, quite a few of the bugs down there did. We created this Elephant under a tent in a swamp (see "more images" links for process shots). An accurate scale model -1" to the foot in this case- was first sculpted in water clay (note: always check to make sure the location country has things like clay). After approval, the model was molded and multiple rigid foam copies cast. These were each carefully cut in different directions on a band saw. The resulting cross-sections were enlarged with a projector; full size wooden bulkheads were built and covered with chickenwire. This was covered with burlap -dipped in plaster, leaving instant folds where an Elephant would be expected to fold. A thin coat of joint compound then allowed us to detail the Elephant skin with sharp sticks.
Pretty grisly. Tim Roth and his entourage come across this Elephant that has been butchered for its tusks. We researched as much as we could before leaving. Unable to confirm how poachers remove Ivory in the short setup time allowed, we conjectured that the Trunk would have to be cut out of the way first. So, our design had the Trunk to separated from the body. After returning home, we finally found photos that confirmed this to be correct.
I've always wanted to compliment Tim Roth on his intestinal fortitude- For added realism, maggots were bred in a five gallon drum and liberally splashed over the Elephant before shooting. Phenomenal luck Nicholas Roeg has got going, someone up there must also really like him. A maggot was put on the Elephant's eye for a close-up and darned if it didn't inch its way along in a perfect, artful spiral right into the pupil darkness. The A.D. gave us all a good laugh, calling out, "Cut. Reset. Maggot back to first position." Anyway, back to Tim Roth. These maggots and their birth 'soup' were plenty ripe -and with a real edge! The propmaster, Ron, placed them all as quickly as he could. Holding his breath under a kerchief, he still came back looking feverish and pallid. As each of the native extras walked no closer than 6' away past the Elephant, they were barely able to hold their stomach contents in until clearing the other side of the frame. Tim, on the other hand, was called on to walk right up to the beast within a foot -two at the most- and just stand there. He stood his ground, unflinching, and stared it down.
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