Aughra

One of the sculptors working on the final sculpt of Aughra's face. From this master, the clay model will be molded, and then cast in latex. After painting, it will be ready for a life-like performance.

The urSkeks

One of the sculptors creating the bust used for the urSkeks

The Skeksis

Here we see the fiberglass skull of the Skeksis Ritual-Master with all of its internal mechanisms. We also get to see the latex skin (unpainted) that will be stretched over this for the finished puppet.

Putting the finishing touches on the Castle of the Skeksis miniature model prior to filming.

The Gelflings

One of the technicians fine tunes the hand mechanism for Jen.

The Mystics

The finished molds of the Mystics' feet. Cast in latex and ready for trimming.

The testing of a Mystic's facial mechanisms. You can see the hand in the back that manipulates the wires and air bladders that created the Mystics' expressions

One of the performers being put into a complete Mystic Rig. This was not the film used version, but an earlier prototype to test fit and performance.

One of the performers being directed by Frank Oz on the set.

The Landstriders

The idea for the Landstriders was written in after it was discovered that one of the performers (Robbie Barnett)was a circus artist with stiltwalking experience.

One of the performers practices getting around in a partially completed rig for one of the Landstriders. Experiments were done to see how practical it was for performers to "gallop".

On the set of the Dark Crystal, a performer in complete landstrider rig with Jen onboard, preparing to film the encounter with the Garthim outside the Skeksis' Castle

The Garthim

Like other characters the Garthim went through many stages of development. The final version weighed seventy pounds, but the main bulk of the armor floated on the performers back and shoulders using a specially designed harness.

Each Garthim costume consisted of fifty-nine separate pieces.

At one stage experiments were made with a two-man rig-but , except for certain closeups- in the end each Garthim used in the movie was operated by a single performer.

Text from The Making of the Dark Crystal by Christopher Finch,
Henson Organization Publishing/Alfred A. Knopf, New York 1982
OUT-OF-PRINT

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