Rob Bottin!

Rob was a tremendous talent, and a huge inspiration on my career. It is definitely unfortunate he left the industry..

We've had so many advancements since 2002, I'd love to see what Rob could do with today's techniques and methodologies.
 
Have to agree with others - very sorry he left the FX industry. Great talented artist who's work we'll not be able to see anymore
Guess we'll always remember him for "The Thing" but also for other fantastic works (Legend. The Howling, Total Recall, Robocop, etc)
 
I cant speak for the whole industry - But I was in the generation (Im 36) that wanted to become VFX aritst because we watched THE MAKING OF RETURN OF THE JEDI, etc... and was amazed by the awesome puppets.... then but the time I GOT to the industry (When I was 23) it was all digital (save a few shops)

I dont imagine there were many kids in the 80s watching the Rancor thinking "When I grow up, I want to sit in a dark room in front of a computer for 10 hours a day making movies."

We have a friend who wanted me to submit a demo reel to ILM going on for 15 years ago now
(He is a studio insider - not for ILM - but others) I thought about it, saw the burnout from long
hours (and other issues which arose from the hours) and said thanks but no thanks, I'll
keep the spfx thing as a hobby....

Don't blame Rob for cutting out, it sounds like he nearly did himself in from overwork
on the Thing. Would imagine he worked pretty hard on his other projects as well.
 
For those who commented that much of Robs sculpting was done by others like Henry Alvarez, I would beg to differ. Rob was a good friend and I spent a lot of time in his shop (rather, his garage in El Monte) during the late 70's and 80's. I watched him draw and sculpt and I have never seen that kind of talent before or since. His concept sketches would appear on the page fully realized, like the material was already in his mind in every detail. Same with his sculpting. Henry was very talented but never reached the level of genius in Robs work. He was no director or administrator, his talent was evident in everything he created.

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Not even partially true.

Hi ronburt4157, my name is Denise I am married to Rick Cranford. I don't know if you two know each other, but he wanted me to comment on this post. He said you are totally correct about Rob Bottin doing his own work. My husband also hung out in his garage in El Monte around the same years you did. He would watch Rob make mask for hours. Rick said, Rob would skip school and sit in the garage for hours perfecting his talent. My husband and his cousin JC, also helped Rob with the first Haunted house he ever did in El Monte and Rick said it was so unbelievable the talent he had for being so young. He said that haunted house looked like it was made by professionals for a movie. He knew then, that Rob was a genius and was going to make it big. He hasn't seen Rob since he was about 20 years old, but we would follow his career over the years. Rick said, if you still talk to him to please tell him hello and good luck with whatever he is doing these days. He also said he would love to talk to him sometime, so if you could private message me, I will give you my husbands number. Take Care, Denise
 
Hi Denise!

I'm sure I hung out with Rick. I spent every day at the haunted house and was either in costume or guiding groups through. I spent a few nights in a big green lizard suit sweating in the closet with Chris Walas (The Fly, Gremlins, Enemy Mine) until I lost so much weight from sweating I had to get out and become a bouncer. I spent a lot of time at Robs place in El Monte. During the time I hung out there Rob was working on Rock and Roll High School, The Twilight Zone, The Howling, and we even shot a scene for Humanoids From The Deep one day in his garage. I haven't been in contact with Rob for many years now. He really just fell off the map. I think he endured a lot of stress working on The Thing. I recently heard that he did some work on Game Of Thrones, it would sure be great to see him back into it again. He was such a genius the industry needs people like him, even if he was just involved in the development of characters. I'm not sure how to PM on this forum, but you can contact me at ronburt4157@Gmail.com. Say hello to Rick for me!
 
Hi ronburt4157,
in order to pm to DeniseC, you can click on her name on the upper left of her post"bar"
A window will open in which you can see several options,.."send message" is one of them.
If you click on "send message" a new window will open where you can write your text.
On the bottom of that same window you can click on send message .
I hope this helps

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Hi Denise!

I'm sure I hung out with Rick. I spent every day at the haunted house and was either in costume or guiding groups through. I spent a few nights in a big green lizard suit sweating in the closet with Chris Walas (The Fly, Gremlins, Enemy Mine) until I lost so much weight from sweating I had to get out and become a bouncer. I spent a lot of time at Robs place in El Monte. During the time I hung out there Rob was working on Rock and Roll High School, The Twilight Zone, The Howling, and we even shot a scene for Humanoids From The Deep one day in his garage. I haven't been in contact with Rob for many years now. He really just fell off the map. I think he endured a lot of stress working on The Thing. I recently heard that he did some work on Game Of Thrones, it would sure be great to see him back into it again. He was such a genius the industry needs people like him, even if he was just involved in the development of characters. I'm not sure how to PM on this forum, but you can contact me at ronburt4157@Gmail.com. Say hello to Rick for me!


Sounds like a great time back then.
 
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can kinda see why he came out of the industry . . I recently watched a doc on the making of the thing. . it nearly killed him . . practically had a nervous break down . . but when you see what he did on that movie. . shattering! ABS

It seems he worked way too much on movie projects, as he was exhausted on RoboCop to the point he and Verhoeven couldn´t talk after all the work with the suit.

To me, he´s one of my favourites. His work on "The Thing" is unbelievable, for example. And I agree with you guys in this topic; even a not-so-good practical effect beats CGI because, well, it´s here. The over-use of computer graphics destroys the illusion, in my opinion.
 
I worked on the FX Crew with Rob Bottin on "DeepRising" years ago (1996 I believe...) and its an experience I'll Never forget... to say Rob Bottin is a Genius is an understatement!
He's a perfectionist, he knows design, and really knows how to assemble a great crew!
He had many of the best Sculptors & Moldmakers there & I agree with everyone, its really a Shame he's Not still doing Special Make-up Effects! (Many of the Greats are retiring or changing careers...)
Dick Smith, Rick Baker & Rob Bottin, are the main reasons I was Really inspired me to get into FX in the First place!!
 
I was lucky enough to work with Rob back in 96 on Mimic. He was hired on to re-design the creatures. One hell of a nice guy. Wish I could have worked more with him.

Sent from my SD4930UR using Tapatalk
 
I hate to necro an old thread, but Rob Bottin was one of the(if not the main reason) I got into special effects, anyone know if there have been any sightings or rumblings of those that are in the industry? I cant even find any information on him doing real estate, aside from what people have said here. I would love to know what he is up to, and pick his brain haha.
 
Most of my heroes are retired or dead. Savini, Steve Johnson, Kevin Yahger (haven't seen his name in a credit list for years), Bottin, Rick Baker all retired. Greg Nicotero and Steve Wang are the only ones I can think of who are still active. They were the 'Rock Stars' of their day. Today's sfx artists are just unknowns doing a job.
 
Most of my heroes are retired or dead. Savini, Steve Johnson, Kevin Yahger (haven't seen his name in a credit list for years), Bottin, Rick Baker all retired. Greg Nicotero and Steve Wang are the only ones I can think of who are still active. They were the 'Rock Stars' of their day. Today's sfx artists are just unknowns doing a job.
I just found out the other day that Rick Baker retired in 2015, I didnt even know! I was really bummed, especially considering I got a picture with him at Monsterpalooza. I wish I would of had the guts to talk to him. I chickened out though. The Legacy effects guys are still at it, Bill Corso is too, Bruce Spaulding Fuller is a favorite of mine. But yeah, a lot of the icons are dead or retired. After reading about why Rick Baker retired, it bummed me out.
 
Yea apparently he got fed up of his work not being used. It's still an active industry. One of my friends works in London and is consistently busy working on blockbusters. But there are no ground breakers left. No one becomes famous for it anymore. The golden era was the 80's.
 
Yea apparently he got fed up of his work not being used. It's still an active industry. One of my friends works in London and is consistently busy working on blockbusters. But there are no ground breakers left. No one becomes famous for it anymore. The golden era was the 80's.
While I agree with that somehwat, that the golden era was the 80's, with the advent of social media, and tv shows, a lot of these FX people are becoming celebrities, in not just people that want to, or are in the industry. Take my sister for example, she watches face off, and thinks Ve Neill is the bees knees. We saw her at IMATS and my sister was star struck, and she doesnt even want to get into the field, just admired her work.
 
While I agree with that somehwat, that the golden era was the 80's, with the advent of social media, and tv shows, a lot of these FX people are becoming celebrities, in not just people that want to, or are in the industry. Take my sister for example, she watches face off, and thinks Ve Neill is the bees knees. We saw her at IMATS and my sister was star struck, and she doesnt even want to get into the field, just admired her work.

Mmm. Maybe, Im old school I admired all the iconic artists, I'm 41 now and not in the loop.
My local university teaches it as a degree course, I see all the young kids hanging out in the local bar, I say to them who's your favourite effects guy? They're like, "...dunno?" And I say why do you wanna do sfx, who inspired you? "...dunno" Name a famous fx artist? "...dunno?" I'm appalled! They should be able to rhyme them all off one after another no problem. It's really sad, I'd have loved the opportunity they have when I was 20.
 

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