THE THING

THE THING
From right to left : John, Myself, Production Manager Robert Brown, Associate Producer Larry Franco. The Juneau Ice Field. Location Scout April, 1981

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

THE SHADOW ON THE WALL

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                      ... was intended to be Palmer. At the time of filming  David Clennon's silhouette was considered too distinct, a dead giveaway. Cinematographer Dean Cundey tried to soften the edges to diffuse the image, but in the end John used stunt coordinator Dick Warlock to throw everyone off the scent...


                    The scene as originally written ended with the shadow figure uttering a barely decipherable "Hello, Boy" and the door slamming shut from the inside. Additionally, this is the last piece of an originally much longer sequence that had the dog weaving its way through the radio room, storeroom, kitchen and hallway, methodically surveying the scene. Beautifully shot by John, as seen in one piece it had the effect of establishing the camp geography from a dogs eye point of view. Great stuff, but John felt it slowed the story up and cut it down, with only small pieces used ( The brush against Bennings underneath the rec room table, for instance )...









10 comments:

  1. Haha knew it had to be Palmer. The dog walked into his dorm room which you see Palmer come out of in the wake up scene when Dogtown goes crazy.
    Lots of naysayers believed that was meant to be Norris.

    Wow, the questions you could answer...

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  2. I knew it! So many said it was Norris.
    Great Blog Stuart!

    -evilroboknee

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  3. The SHADOW looks like Norris. Interesting.

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  4. I thought Palmer or Fuchs. No one with a big beard or double chins. Since it was Palmer, we now know that the Thing liked a big blunt every now and then. I don't know why, but that struck me that the Thing, hell bent on survival, would dull its senses. Maybe it had no receptors.... Thanks for this blog! I love the movie. It is a touchstone to my younger days and a fertile source for musing.

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  5. I knew it was Palmer. But the question I have is what happened to the Thing that escaped through the ceiling of the dog kennel. Childs only torched the divided creature.

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  6. I have to voice my passion for your kindness giving support to those people that should have guidance on this important matter.
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  7. Another give away if someone has just been assimilated by the thing is that when ASKED a question, the person does NOT respond with words.
    Palmer...Dr Blair... all at a certain point act "dull"or "nodd"....

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  8. I think we might all be wrong. Believe me I thought the same thing when everyone is awakened by the fire alarm but they actually threw us off again. Watch the shadow scene once more and then the fire alarm dog kennel scene. A stack of boxes can be seen next to the room of the shadow victim. When we watch the fire alarm kennel scene they actually flip the hallway. The stacks of boxes can be seen stacked next to NORRIS' ROOM!

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  9. .....That shadow looks nothing like Palmer, Palmer has little hair, that shadow has lots, go look. Looks so much like Norris!

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