MUNNS

MUNNS THE WORD?

Here are a few questions I dug up for Bill Munns, the fired makeup artist from ROTLD who designed the effects such as the skeleton in the graveyard and the headless yellow cadaver and lest we forget the infamous background zombie masks - as you can see not much could be said about the very touchy subject. So we covered a few other interesting things he's been doing since.

What was the best time you ever had working on a movie?
Probably "Savage Harvest", filmed in Brazil (pretending to be Africa). Bad movie but great experience, good people, nice opportunity to travel, and lots of work with animals such as lions.

What happened to your paleo art (prehistoric wildlife) pursuits?
I still love the subject, but it just wasn't profitable enough to sustain as a business.

How did you get into the movie biz?
College filmmaking classes got me started.

What made you leave the movie biz?
The physical side of the effects/creature business was being overtaken by the computer/digital process. It was go to computers to survive.

How did you get into digital art?
Once I started digital work, I found I had both a love and aptitude for visual artwork such as archaeological visualizations, so I've done a lot of that.

Did you keep anything from Return of the Living Dead?
No. I have no fond memories of that project.

What piece are you most proud of?
My Gigantopithecus model, the only full scale reconstruction of this great pre-historic ape.

Who was the most difficult person you've ever dealt with in Hollywood?
Dan O'Bannon gets the prize.

When does your site go up finally?
It's up at www.billmunnsgallery.com

Do you receive fan mail?
Occasionally, yes. It does surprise me sometimes what people do remember about my eclectic career.

What are your current projects?
My main focus now is an illustrated book on the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the most mysterious of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World.