Derek Meddings (15 January 1931 – 10 September 1995) was a British film and television

special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual wo ...

designer. He was initially noted for his work on the " Supermarionation" TV puppet series produced by

Gerry Anderson Gerald Alexander Anderson (; 14 April 1929 – 26 December 2012) was an English television and film producer, director, writer and occasional voice artist. He remains famous for his futuristic television programmes, especially his 1960s produ ...

, and later for the 1970s and 1980s ''

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

'' and '' Superman'' film series.

Biography

Early years

Derek Meddings was born in St Pancras, London, England. Both Meddings' parents had worked in the British

film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, p ...

: his father as a carpenter at

Denham Studios Denham Film Studios was a British film production studio operating from 1936 to 1952, founded by Alexander Korda. Notable films made at Denham include ''Brief Encounter'' and David Lean's ''Great Expectations''. From the 1950s to the 1970s th ...

and his mother as producer

Alex Korda Sir Alexander Korda (; born Sándor László Kellner; hu, Korda Sándor; 16 September 1893 – 23 January 1956)Merle Oberon Merle Oberon (born Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson; 19 February 191123 November 1979) was a British actress who began her film career in British films as Anne Boleyn in ''The Private Life of Henry VIII'' (1933). After her success in ''The Scarle ...

's stand-in. Meddings went to

art school An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, including fine art – especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. Art schools can offer elementary, secondary, post-second ...

and, in the late 1940s, also found work at Denham Studios, lettering credit titles. It was there that he met effects designer

Les Bowie Les Bowie (November 10, 1913 – January 27, 1979) was a Canadian-born special effects artist working mainly in Britain. Bowie began his career as a matte painter in 1946. His work found places in classic films such as ''Great Expectations'', '' ...

and joined his

matte painting A matte painting is a painted representation of a landscape, set, or distant location that allows filmmakers to create the illusion of an environment that is not present at the filming location. Historically, matte painters and film technicians ...

department. During the 1950s, Meddings' work with Bowie included the creation of

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

n landscapes for Hammer Films and a "string and cardboard" invention that proved useful when Meddings was hired for

's earliest TV puppet series. In 1953, he married Anne S. Dodge (born 1935). In 1972, Meddings married Alexe Anne Inglis (born 18 May 1954).

Gerry Anderson productions

Meddings' first work with Anderson was as an uncredited art assistant on Anderson's second puppet series, ''

Torchy the Battery Boy ''Torchy the Battery Boy'' is a British television series, the second produced by AP Films and Gerry Anderson, running from 1959 to 1961. Directed by Anderson, it was a collaboration with author Roberta Leigh, with music scored by Barry Gray ...

'', produced in 1957. In 1960, he painted cut-out backgrounds of ranch houses and picket fences for ''

Four Feather Falls ''Four Feather Falls'' is a British television programme, the third puppet TV show produced by Gerry Anderson for ITV Granada, Granada Television (now ITV Granada). It was based on an idea by Barry Gray, who also wrote the show's music. The ser ...

''. He was credited with the

in Anderson's 1960 and 1962 series ''

Supercar A supercar – also called exotic car – is a loosely defined description of street-legal, high-performance sports cars. Since the 2010s, the term hypercar has come into use for the highest performing supercars. Supercars commonly serve as t ...

'' and ''

Fireball XL5 ''Fireball XL5'' is a 1960s British children's science-fiction puppet television series about the missions of ''Fireball XL5'', a vessel of the World Space Patrol that polices the cosmos in the year 2062. Commanded by Colonel Steve Zodiac, ''XL5' ...

'', being elevated to special effects director for '' Stingray'' (1964) for which he and Reg Hill designed the main models. Meddings became special effects supervisor for '' Thunderbirds'' (1965–66), during which time he was responsible for the design of the ''Thunderbird'' machines themselves. He was visual effects supervisor for all the Anderson puppet series of the late 1960s (''

Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons ''Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons'', often shortened to ''Captain Scarlet'', is a British science fiction television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company Century 21 Productions for distributor ...

'', ''

Joe 90 ''Joe 90'' is a 1968–1969 British Science fiction on television, science-fiction television series created by Gerry Anderson, Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company, AP Films#Century 21, Century 21, for ITC Enterta ...

'' and ''

The Secret Service ''The Secret Service'' is a 1969 British science fiction television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company, Century 21, for ITC Entertainment. It follows the exploits of Father Stanley Unwin, a pup ...

'') and also Anderson's first

live-action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ...

series, ''

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

'', at the start of the 1970s. He performed the same role on Anderson's three 1960s feature films, '' Thunderbirds Are Go'' (1966), ''

Thunderbird 6 ''Thunderbird 6'' is a 1968 British science fiction puppet film based on '' Thunderbirds'', a Supermarionation television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company Century 21 Productions. Written by ...

'' (1968) and the live-action '' Doppelgänger'' (1969; also known as ''Journey to the Far Side of the Sun''). During his time working on these series, Meddings and his team developed a number of innovations in the filming of miniature models and landscapes which have since become standard in the industry.

''James Bond'' films

In the 1970s Meddings furthered his career by working on the

for the ''

'' films. He first impressed producer

Cubby Broccoli Albert Romolo Broccoli ( ; April 5, 1909 – June 27, 1996), nicknamed "Cubby", was an American film producer who made more than 40 motion pictures throughout his career. Most of the films were made in the United Kingdom and often filmed at Pi ...

with some miniature effects that he had created for '' Live and Let Die'' (1973). Once Broccoli realised the economic advantages of building detailed models instead of expensive full-sized constructions, Meddings was encouraged to come up with design concepts for the next film in the series, '' The Man with the Golden Gun'' (1974). After this, he was contacted by Pink Floyd, and Meddings handled all the pyrotechnics on the Pink Floyd shows in 1975. He returned to the James Bond films in 1977 with '' The Spy Who Loved Me''. Among other tasks, Meddings spent four months on location in the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...

, where he supervised the construction of a "miniature"

supertanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined ...

more than long and three "miniature"

nuclear submarines A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor, but not necessarily nuclear-armed. Nuclear submarines have considerable performance advantages over "conventional" (typically diesel-electric) submarines. Nuclear propulsion, ...

for exterior sequences filmed at sea. He also designed and built the

Lotus Esprit The Lotus Esprit is a British sports car that was built by Lotus Cars at their Hethel factory in England between 1976 and 2004. It was among the first of designer Giorgetto Giugiaro's polygonal "folded paper" designs. Background In 1970 Tony ...

car which converted into a submersible, cleverly intercutting full-sized body shells with one-quarter-scale miniatures. For '' Moonraker'' (1979), Meddings created and photographed miniatures of Drax's space shuttles and space station and also realised the final space battle. Due to the film's tight schedule, Meddings was unable to use optical

compositing Compositing is the process or technique of combining visual elements from separate sources into single images, often to create the illusion that all those elements are parts of the same scene. Live action, Live-action shooting for compositing is ...

(which is a lengthy process due to the extensive film processing involved) to combine the different elements for the space sequences. Instead, they were combined in-camera using multiple passes of the same piece of film. Film would sometimes be exposed as many as 90 times to capture the dozens of separately photographed elements. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Visual Effects. Meddings was Visual Effects Supervisor on '' For Your Eyes Only'' (1981). The ship's explosion was done with a miniature at Pinewood Studios in the tank on the

007 Stage The Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage is one of the largest sound stages in the world. It is located at Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, and named after James Bond film producer Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli. The stage was ori ...

. For ''

GoldenEye ''GoldenEye'' is a 1995 spy film, the seventeenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the first to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by Martin Campbell, it was the first in the se ...

'' (1995), Meddings again created miniatures. This includes a train crash and a jet fighter crash. The climatic destruction of a gigantic satellite dish used a model built by Meddings' team, intercut with scenes shot with stuntmen in Britain.

Other work

In 1975, Meddings created cost-effective model monsters which could be photographed in the same frame as the actors in the prehistoric adventure film '' The Land That Time Forgot''. On '' Superman'' (1978), his work included building a miniature of the Golden Gate Bridge to be destroyed in an earthquake, complete with a colliding scale school bus and cars, while Superman (suspended on wires) flew in to the rescue. He also built and photographed the

Krypton Krypton (from grc, κρυπτός, translit=kryptos 'the hidden one') is a chemical element with the symbol Kr and atomic number 36. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless noble gas that occurs in trace amounts in the atmosphere and is often ...

miniatures in addition to a large-scale model of the Hoover Dam. Due to the film's schedule overruns and Meddings' own commitments to the ''James Bond'' series, he was unable to complete the dam flooding sequence and the production hired a California-based company to complete the sequence – resulting in some visibly inferior miniature work in the latter part of the film. Meddings believed that he was asked to supervise the effects for '' Batman'' (1989) because director

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as '' Beetlejuice'' (1988), '' Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), '' The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993 ...

was a fan of his work on '' Thunderbirds''. Meddings set up his own visual effects company, The Magic Camera Company, based at Lee International Studios in

Shepperton Shepperton is an urban village in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, approximately south west of central London. Shepperton is equidistant between the towns of Chertsey and Sunbury-on-Thames. The village is mentioned in a document of 959 AD ...

. For '' The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter'' (1990), he established another company in Germany. He appeared once as an actor, in the role of Dr Stinson in ''

Spies Like Us ''Spies Like Us'' is a 1985 American spy comedy film directed by John Landis, and starring Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Steve Forrest and Donna Dixon. The film presents the comic adventures of two novice intelligence agents sent to the Soviet Un ...

'' (1985).

Death

At the time of his death from colorectal cancer in 1995, Meddings was engaged in post-production on the latest ''James Bond'' film, ''

'', on which his sons Mark and Elliott James (born May 1973) also worked. A dedication in the credits of the completed films reads "To the memory of Derek Meddings". Meddings is known to have had two other sons: Nicholas Alexander (born July 1980) and Noah Luscombe (born August 1978). He also had at least one daughter: Chloe Loveday (born 1982).

Awards

*In 1979, for his work on '' Superman'' (1978), Meddings was awarded a shared Special Achievement Award for special effects by the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

, and shared the

Michael Balcon Sir Michael Elias Balcon (19 May 1896 – 17 October 1977) was an English film producer known for his leadership of Ealing Studios in West London from 1938 to 1955. Under his direction, the studio became one of the most important British fil ...

Award of the

British Academy of Film and Television Arts British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

(BAFTA). *He was also nominated for the 1980 Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for his work on '' Moonraker'' (1979), for the 1990

BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects This is a list of winners and nominees for the BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects for each year. This award is for special effects and visual effects and recognises achievement in both of these crafts. The British Academy of Film and Tele ...

for '' Batman'' (1989), and posthumously for a 1996 BAFTA Award for Best Achievement (in special effects) for ''

'' (1995).

Filmography

Visual Effects

*''Fireball XL5'' (1962) *''Stingray'' (1963) *''Thunderbirds'' (1965) *''Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons'' (1967) *''Joe 90'' (1968) *''The Secret Service'' (1969) *''

'' (1970) *'' Thunderbirds Are Go'' (1966) *''

'' (1968) *'' Doppelgänger'' (aka ''Journey to the Far Side of the Sun''; 1969) *'' Z.P.G.'' (1972) *'' Fear Is the Key'' (1972) *'' Live and Let Die'' (1973) *'' The Man with the Golden Gun'' (1974) *'' The Land That Time Forgot'' (1975) *''

Shout at the Devil ''Shout at the Devil'' is the second studio album by American heavy metal band Mötley Crüe, released on September 26, 1983. It was the band's breakthrough album, establishing Mötley Crüe as one of the top selling heavy metal acts of the 198 ...

'' (1976) *'' Aces High'' (1976) *'' The Spy Who Loved Me'' (1977) *'' Superman: The Movie'' (1978) *'' Moonraker'' (1979) *''

Superman II ''Superman II'' is a 1980 superhero film directed by Richard Lester and written by Mario Puzo and David and Leslie Newman from a story by Puzo based on the DC Comics character Superman. It is the second installment in the ''Superman'' film se ...

'' (1980) *'' For Your Eyes Only'' (1981) *'' Krull'' (1983) *''

Banzaï ''Banzaï'' is a 1983 French comedy film directed by Claude Zidi and starring Coluche. Plot Michel Bernardin works at Planet Assistance, an organisation who helps out Frenchmen who are in trouble in foreign countries. Behind the scenes * The p ...

'' (1983) *''

Superman III ''Superman III'' is a 1983 superhero film directed by Richard Lester from a screenplay by David Newman and Leslie Newman based on the DC Comics character Superman. It is the third installment in the ''Superman'' film series and a sequel to '' ...

'' (1983) *''

Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. The character made her fir ...

'' (1984) *''

'' (1985) *'' Santa Claus: The Movie'' (1985) *'' Mio min Mio'' (1987) *'' High Spirits'' (1988) *'' Apprentice to Murder'' (1988) *'' Batman'' (1989) *'' The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter'' (1991) *''

Hudson Hawk ''Hudson Hawk'' is a 1991 American action comedy film directed by Michael Lehmann. Bruce Willis stars in the title role and also co-wrote both the story and the theme song. Danny Aiello, Andie MacDowell, James Coburn, David Caruso, Lorraine To ...

'' (1991) *'' Cape Fear'' (1991) *''

The NeverEnding Story III ''The NeverEnding Story III: Escape from Fantasia'' (also known as: ''The NeverEnding Story III: Return to Fantasia'') is a 1994 fantasy-adventure film. It is the third and final film in the franchise. It stars Jason James Richter as Bastian Balth ...

'' (1994) *''

'' (1995)

Actor

*''

'' (1985) - Dr. Stinson

References

External links

*
Derek Meddings: 21st-Century Visions
– 1995 biography with emphasis on Meddings' work on the Supermarionation TV series {{DEFAULTSORT:Meddings, Derek 1931 births 1995 deaths Special Achievement Academy Award winners BAFTA winners (people) British film designers Deaths from cancer in England Deaths from colorectal cancer Miniature model-makers People from Cookham Businesspeople from London Special effects people 20th-century English businesspeople