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After six weeks of shooting in the jungles of Palenque, Mexico, the production had to shut down so that Winston could make a new Predator. The design did not work in the jungle locations. According to former Boss Films make-up supervisor Steve Johnson, the makeup failed because of an impractical design by McTiernan that included 12-inch length extensions that gave the Predator a backward bent satyr-leg. However, problems filming the alien in Mexico resulted in the makeup effects responsibilities being given to Stan Winston. Originally, the studio contracted the makeup effects for the alien from Richard Edlund's Boss Film Creature Shop. This design was abandoned when it became apparent that the jungle locations would make shooting the complex design too difficult. The Predator was originally designed with a long neck, a dog-like head and a single eye. Arnold Schwarzenegger recommended Winston after his experience working on The Terminator. They were hired after attempts to create a convincing monster (including Jean-Claude Van Damme wearing a much different body suit) had failed. Stan Winston's studio created all of the physical effects for Predator and Predator 2, creating the body suit for actor Kevin Peter Hall and the mechanical facial effects. Winston then included them in his designs. Cameron saw what he was drawing and said, "I always wanted to see something with mandibles". While flying to Japan with Aliens director James Cameron, Winston, who had been hired to design the Predator, was doing concept art on the flight.
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The Predator design is credited to special effects artist Stan Winston. Predator: Requiem (2007)Įarly Predator design concepts by Stan Winston.
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