John Schoonraad (born 2 October 1952) is a
life-cast and
special effects artist and has created more than 2000 lifecasts.
[ Telegraph Accessed 2016-1-25 (slow loading)]
Early work
Schoonraad’s debut came in 1981 with ''
Green Ice'' starring
Ryan O’Neil; followed by ''
Return of the Jedi'', ''
Indiana Jones
''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise based on the adventures of Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., a fictional professor of archaeology, that began in 1981 with the film '' Raiders of the Lost Ark''. In 1984, a prequel, '' Th ...
'', ''
Gladiator
A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...
,'' ''
Saving Private Ryan'' and ''
Troy'', involving work with
Russell Crowe
Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor. He was born in New Zealand, spent ten years of his childhood in Australia, and moved there permanently at age twenty one. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maxi ...
,
Tom Hanks, and
Orlando Bloom
Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Copeland Bloom (born 13 January 1977) is an English actor. He made his breakthrough as the character Legolas in ''The Lord of the Rings'' film series ''The Fellowship of the Ring'' (2001), ''The Two Towers'' (2002), a ...
among others. In 2001, he worked on the film ''
Black Hawk Down'' as a prosthetics supervisor.
He also made a life cast of
Kristin Scott Thomas
Dame Kristin Ann Scott Thomas (born 24 May 1960) is a British actress who also holds French citizenship. A five-time British Academy Film Awards, BAFTA Award and Laurence Olivier Award, Olivier Award nominee, she won the BAFTA Award for Best ...
for ''
The English Patient'' and endless casts for ''
The Clash of The Titans'' and ''
Casino Royale'' when he supervised the cutting in half of a
Boeing 727.
[
][
]
Later Work
Schoonraad was part of the Oscar-winning creature crew for ''The Wolfman
In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely o ...
'' with Rick Baker and Dave Elsey.The 2011 Oscar was awarded for "Best Make-up".
Schoonraad is known for his life-like creations such as creating a fake head for ''The English Patient,'' or more spectacular life casts in the sci-fi and fantasy genres that include films like ''Star Wars Return of the Jedi'' to ''28 Days Later''. He is currently the creative director of his own company called Lifecast Ltd based at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood.[Cooper, Sarah ''John Schoonraad'' Screen International, June 17th 2010]
Music World
Schoonraad gained more popularity after Robbie Williams requested his help for "Rock DJ
"Rock DJ" is a song by English singer and songwriter Robbie Williams, featured on his third studio album, ''Sing When You're Winning'' (2000). The song was released on 31 July 2000 as the lead single from the album. It samples Barry White's so ...
", while Grace Jones
Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a model, singer and actress. Born in Jamaica, she and her family moved to Syracuse, New York, when she was a teenager. Jones began her modelling career in New York state, then in Paris, working for ...
asked for her head to be cast in chocolate, courtesy of Thornton’s chocolate factory, for her tenth studio album, '' Hurricane''. Schoonraad also transformed Darkness singer Justin Hawkins into a devil for the video “One Way Ticket To Hell and Back” which won the Australian MTV Video awards for Best Rock Video. His video career lead to work with Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...
on her track " The Hunter" plus Paul McCartney, David Bowie and Pete Docherty.
Family
Schoonraad has often worked with his sons Tristan and Robin on various projects. They joined his company as technicians and mold makers.[ Tristan has showcased his work at notable art ‘ car-boot’ sales including ]Brick Lane
Brick Lane (Bengali: ব্রিক লেন) is a street in the East End of London, in the borough of Tower Hamlets. It runs from Swanfield Street in Bethnal Green in the north, crosses the Bethnal Green Road before reaching the busiest ...
, the Big Chill, Mutate Britain “One foot in the Grove”, Tate the Biscuit, and the Urban Art Show in Tokyo. He had his own exhibition of Boy Soldiers in London and has worked with Art Below involved in exhibiting in Parliament Square on the Plinth of Peace. Robin has been a key figure in the moulding of many of the creatures for ''Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire
''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling and the fourth novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series. It follows Harry Potter, a wizard in his fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and W ...
'' as well as special effects in '' The Last Samurai''.
References
External links
lifecast.co.uk
* at IMDb
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schoonraad, John
1952 births
Living people
Special effects people
People from Harrow, London