Meddings magic miniatures - JOURNEY TO THE FAR SIDE OF THE SUN : Gerry Anderson's big screen science fiction epic with long time effects designer Derek Meddings.

This is one of those films that had always escaped me back in the day though not through any fault of my own - it just never seemed to play here in New Zealand, and if it did, it was a here today gone tomorrow enterprise which is unfortunate as it's a really neat little sci-fi epic.  The idea of there being an identical planet 'Earth' at the other side of the sun is an intriguing one and for the most part the film really delivers some great concepts, though the whole show ends too abruptly to have properly developed that alter-ego strategy sadly.

Like so many others I'd grown up on all of the Gerry Anderson shows in the 1960's and couldn't contain myself in anxious wait for next weeks' episode, be it STINGRAY, FIREBALL XL, CAPTAIN SCARLETT, JOE 90,  UFO or best of all THUNDERBIRDS.  Naturally what bothered us most was the not so subtle "in colour" title card thrust into our faces each week - a slap in the face as all we had on offer in NZ until 1973 or so was good old black and white television sets.  Despite the Government mandated monochromatic viewing option and having just the one and only channel -  we kids just couldn't get enough of all Gerry and Sylvia and their ace special effects chief Derek Meddings had to offer - and boy, oh boy did they deliver!  Every week without fail some bloody big behemoth of a mechanised contraption would fall off of a bridge, slide down a canyon or just plain blow up - jeepers, who could ask for more??  Excitement all the way, amd so much so that it took like minded kids a day or so to 'come down' after the televised events of the night before.

When the feature length motion picture THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO! hit the screen around 1967 I was first in line to see my favourite characters, vehicles and explosions on the big screen in Technicolour AND Cinemascope - a double windfall.... and I was not disappointed for a minute.  That show was all I had hoped for.  I think I must have seen that feature around 25 times - often double featured with the Japanese epic KING KONG ESCAPES or ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS.

Meddings with UFO miniature

Gerry and; Sylvia Anderson

For me Derek Meddings was the first 'special effects' personality I'd ever heard of and as he created such marvels each week he became my hero.  As with so many other young people I built model sets out in the sandpit and blew them up with fireworks or burnt them to the ground while taking snapshots on a crummy old instamatic camera.  I owned all of the official THUNDERBIRDS models which came out around 1966 - and I just wish I still had them (in their original boxes) - but alas they are long gone.

Which brings me to todays' special effect blog entry... JOURNEY TO THE FAR SIDE OF THE SUN.  This blog is primarily a matte shot blog, though as I've mentioned previously that doesn't by any means discount the possibility of other traditional effects methods being a topic here - be they old style miniatures, stop motion, optical printing, and just simply amazing feats created by hand (though the true love is of the painted matte).

Superman Oscar win- Colin Chilvers, Derek, Denys Coop

THUNDERBIRDS - all the toys a kid could ever want

JTTFSOTS  (also known as DOPPELGANGER in some markets, which no doubt killed it at the box office)is a great case in point as it has many ingredients from the above list of effects and presents them all extremely well in my book.  The film naturally is abundant with Meddings miniatures, there are optical effects and travelling mattes,  painted backings (which kind of qualify as matte paintings), split screen effects with actors and models combined and terrific physical effects in the form of the Meddings explosions.  Of course Derek started off in the film business as a matte painter under Les Bowie at the old Anglo-Scottish pictures in the late 50's.

So sit back and enjoy some wonderful visual effects from a genius who departed this world far too early, Mr Derek Meddings......................

Special effects director - Derek Meddings

Special effects art director - Bob Bell
Optical effects supervisor - Roy Field

Visual effects lighting cameraman - Harry Oakes, BSC

Visual effects designer - Mike Trim

Visual effects supervisors - Jimmy Elliott,  Shaun Whittaker-Cook and Peter Wragg

Effects technicians -  Alan Berry, Tony Harding, David Mitten, Ian Wingrove, John Evans,             Richard Conway, George Gibbs and Warwick Embury.

Model makers - Alan Shubrook, David Palmer, Brian Smithies, Russell Page, Ray Brown, Peter Aston, Eric Backman and Charlie Bryant.

*I don't know whether Brian Johnson was involved as he was tied up with Kubrick's 2001 around this time.

Derek Meddings - quiet, unassuming - an artist in many guises.

A wonderful painted backing, probably orchestrated by Bob Bell, who himself would become a matte artist years later.

Expert miniature cinematography by long time Meddings cameraman Harry Oakes

Although uncredited it's likely that models were fabricated by Alan Shubrook, David Palmer and Brian Smithies

Some of the wonderful mechanised miniature effects that Derek was the master of.

Dereks' models always had that sense of weight and believable motion to them.

As convincing a model shot as one could ever expect to see.

Astronaut training centrifuge - a miniature effect Derek would revisit on MOONRAKER

A rare use of blue screen travelling matte adds that extra credibility to the miniature set up.

The miniature stood around seven feet tall, allowing excellent depth of field for the lighting cameraman.

Another blue screen travelling matte.

The dazzling tilt up shot of the rocket - superbly lit and featuring lots of small moving parts and little 'workers' on the gantry

A spectacular down view combining actors with model set via blue screen matte by long time Pinewood optical man Roy Field.

Lift off!!!  I love that authentic white hot exhaust - a Meddings trademark on many shows with his similar work in 1979 on MOONRAKER being a career high for such an effect.

Meddings and crew putting the final touches on the magnificently detailed craft.

Meddings was 'dirtying up' miniatures decades before George Lucas.

A rare matte shot from a Gerry Anderson show - this being a superb and convincing split screen of actors in foreground and matted in miniature set and painted sky backing - terrific shot that really sells the show.

Century 21 model making at it's best.

A terrific sense of scale here.

A magnificent shot - spaceship, starfield, rotating earth and a rising sun all beautifully shot and composited presumably in camera or perhaps shot as a one take deal due to the entirely credible interactive lighting on the ship and no signs of negative degradation from duping.  This too was a signature shot refilmed for MOONRAKER by Derek years later.

Blue screened miniatures matted against rotating planet - presumably using Meddings' trademark rotating painted cylinder method again re employed by Derek for the SUPERMAN films and SPIES ARE US.

Crashing onto 'Earth'? 

More Meddings exhaust glow expertise at work.

I was always fascinated with the miniature wheels and tires in these shows and just how realistic they looked with a supposedly heavy load atop of the chassis.

I love this shot - breaking the sound barrier.  Wonderfully atmospheric effect with utterly believable clouds and sky.

Blue screen composite of miniature and revolving Earth with totally believable atmosphere.

An excellent blue screen comp with similar elements all expertly lit and photographed.  This footage was years ahead of it's time and when compared to very mundane Oscar winning shots such as those in MAROONED at about the same time JTTFSOTS really is a winner I feel - though naturally the academy wouldn't agree as it's not an American film, despite Universal releasing same.

Reverse angel on above scene - again totally realistic cinematography, set detail and lighting.

The only giveaway is the dirt and grain build up on the dupe during the matting process.

Catastrophe strikes - the end of the Space Program courtesy of Derek Meddings and his pyrotechnics.

All good things must come to an end - Meddings style!

It was the best of times...it was the worst of times.