Practical/Digital Modeller and Puppeteer Mark Siegel (Industrial Light & Magic) | CGI Fridays - Episode 1

CGI Fridays – A Visual Effects Interview Podcast (Season 2 Coming Soon)

Siegel was teaching junior high in his hometown of Minneapolis before turning his back on dispensing education, in favor of receiving it as one of the 1,700 students to pratfall through the doors of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College between 1968 and 1997, earning a spot in their touring show.

There he was fortunate enough to study under the late, great Verne Langdon who “besides teaching us clown makeup and helping develop our characters. He taught us basic prosthetics – he had recently been on the original Planet of the Apes [1968] with John Chambers. I learned how to take the casting of my nose, do sculptures and molds and make my own rubber clown nose. Verne liked my work. And I enjoyed doing it. And we stayed in touch."

Mark Siegel's full IMDb profile reads:

Lucy (digital artist)

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (digital artist: Industrial Light & Magic)

Noah (digital artist: ILM)

Star Trek Into Darkness (digital artist: Industrial Light & Magic)

Cowboys & Aliens (digital artist: ILM)

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (digital models and simulations: Industrial Light & Magic)

Rango (digital modeler: ILM)

I Am Number Four (digital artist: ILM)

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (digital modeler and simulator: ILM)

Evan Almighty (digital artist: ILM)

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (digital modeler: ILM)

Eragon (digital artist: ILM)

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (digital modeler: ILM)

The Island (digital artist)

War of the Worlds (digital artist)

Son of the Mask (lead modeler)

Van Helsing (digital modeler)

Planet of the Apes (model maker: ILM)

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (model maker: ILM)
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (concept sculptor)

Space Cowboys (model maker)

Galaxy Quest (model maker: ILM)

Men in Black (model maker: saucer crash miniature and blue screen unit)
DragonHeart (creature maker) / (puppeteer)

The Meteor Man (action property performer)
Fire in the Sky (sculptor)
Memoirs of an Invisible Man (action property performer)

Death Becomes Her (model maker: ILM)
Naked Lunch (creature maker)

Back to the Future Part III (model maker)

Joe Versus the Volcano (chief model maker)

Back to the Future Part II (model maker: ILM)

Look Who's Talking (project supervisor: San Francisco, Magic Vista Studios, Inc.)
Ghostbusters II (sculptor: ILM)
The Blob (creature maker) / (puppeteer)

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (creature maker) / (puppeteer)
Big Trouble in Little China (creature maker) / (puppeteer)

Poltergeist II: The Other Side (creature crew: Boss Film Corporation)
The Goonies (creature maker - uncredited) / (puppeteer - uncredited)
Dune (creature maker - uncredited) / (puppeteer - uncredited)

Ghostbusters (creature maker - uncredited) / (puppeteer - uncredited)

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (model and creature maker: ILM - special version)

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (model and creature maker: ILM - 1997 special version)

Music: Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio