Gargantua (1981)
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Gargantua Promo on YouTube
It seems strange today, with digital movie equipment allowing amateurs to create all kinds of
visual effects at the push of a button but there was a time, at Cinekyd, when everything was
recorded and edited on motion picture film. In the summer of 1981, our student filmmakers
were challenged by two goals: first, to create their premier science fiction adventure and second,
to record the entire production in fully synchronized sound.
Cinekyd's first international award for feature production honored the western created a year
earlier in 1980, Whiplash. We were still working with cinema equipment and Gargantua, like its
predecessors, was shot entirely on Super 8mm motion picture film. Lights had to
burn brighter for indoor scenes. Interior sets had to be constructed on both floors of the growing
campus. Many of those behind-the-scenes production efforts are chronicled in the Westminster
Press textbook, Behind the Filmmaking Scene, by Virginia Phelps Clemens.
Moreover, the science-fiction element of this fanciful tale, challenged the Cinekyd filmmakers to
emulate techniques of the stop-frame animation pioneer, Ray Harryhausen. The hero of this
summer feature was a giant teddy bear, whose massive size and ability to move about were the
result of a scientific experiment gone awry. In the story, it’s “Formula X” – one of three potent
chemicals developed by a pharmaceutical company and stolen by the minions of the lead villain,
the evil scientist, Dr. Cedric Rattmann.
In addition to constructing an assortment of interior sets, the visual effects crew built a number of
scale models of houses and commercial buildings based on actual sites. This miniature town
provided Gargantua with a place to walk – one frame at a time – for the various ‘intercuts’
throughout the film. Location filming again took the Cinekyd students to the Pocono Mountains,
where they filmed some impressive sequences at Magic Mountain Amusement Park - which,
sadly, is long gone.
BEHIND THE SCENES:
In addition to a restored version of the 1981 feature, the archive DVD includes rare footage
discovered only recently. Using the first Toshiba betacam Cinekyd ever acquired, our
‘videographers’ taped shots of the ‘kyds’ blocking scenes on the grounds adjacent to the
Stroudsburg Holiday Inn, rehearsing after dinner in the motel dining room, and filming dynamic
sequences of the cast and crew on location at the Pocono amusement park. These are
awesome Cinekyd home movies, which bring back lots of happy memories.
THE CAST:
Dave Trachtenberg, Mark Weaver, Jill Degenhardt, Robin Mechlowitz, George Gakoumis, Joe
Klusman, Steve King, Bonnie Loev, Karen Henderson, Michael K. May, Ed Klebes, Peggy
Rastiello, Mark Salfi, Dave Frick, Eric Kurland, Scott Loev, John Petersen, Jean Settembrino, Bob
Sliwinski, Rodney Bancroft, Tim Berkoff, Todd Erwin, Ken Klinger, Lee Anne White, Scott Wolfson,
Ashley Barlow, Keith Parrish, Paul Salfi, Denise White, Brian Baker, Scott Randolph, Renee
Pennypacker, Murray Newman, Stan Skalski, Robin Degenhardt, Chris Wilson, Frank Smith, Jay
Kushwara, Mark Miller, Jon Severn, Debbie Nemiroff, James McGough, Scott St. Angel, Aaron
Nemiroff, Jeremy Fayette, Daniel Dunn, Bruce Winsko. Special appearances: Joe Celano
(Mayor of Hatboro), Scott Long (program director Comcast), Robin Mackintosh (KYW-TV News
reporter).
THE CREW:
Steve Kessler, David Kessler, Steve Keane, Lewis Gerr, Michael Hoffman, David Brock, Daryl
Hirsch, Erin Kelly, Tom McCormick, Preston Marx, Anne Palumbo, Tony Palumbo, Lisa Walker,
Paul Simonetta, Tami Charney, Julie Bechtel, Mike Wilson, Philip Chirogene, Marty Wilson, Harley
Kelly, Karen Augustine, Rita Augustine, Teddy Hall, Marge King, Harriet Wilson, Arlene Kushwara,
Beverly Bride, Jean Weaver, Ralph Abbott, Lawrence Harty, Jeff Worthington, Jeff Stein, Gwen
Fine, Dan Ochsenreither, Wendy Worthington. Editors Mark Weaver and Chris Wilson.
Writer/Director Robert J. Clark, Jr.
Be sure to check out the gallery. Thankfully, hundreds of still pictures and color slides were taken
that summer. As we locate and restore those images, they are added to the archive collection.
It seems strange today, with digital movie equipment allowing amateurs to create all kinds of
visual effects at the push of a button but there was a time, at Cinekyd, when everything was
recorded and edited on motion picture film. In the summer of 1981, our student filmmakers
were challenged by two goals: first, to create their premier science fiction adventure and second,
to record the entire production in fully synchronized sound.
Cinekyd's first international award for feature production honored the western created a year
earlier in 1980, Whiplash. We were still working with cinema equipment and Gargantua, like its
predecessors, was shot entirely on Super 8mm motion picture film. Lights had to
burn brighter for indoor scenes. Interior sets had to be constructed on both floors of the growing
campus. Many of those behind-the-scenes production efforts are chronicled in the Westminster
Press textbook, Behind the Filmmaking Scene, by Virginia Phelps Clemens.
Moreover, the science-fiction element of this fanciful tale, challenged the Cinekyd filmmakers to
emulate techniques of the stop-frame animation pioneer, Ray Harryhausen. The hero of this
summer feature was a giant teddy bear, whose massive size and ability to move about were the
result of a scientific experiment gone awry. In the story, it’s “Formula X” – one of three potent
chemicals developed by a pharmaceutical company and stolen by the minions of the lead villain,
the evil scientist, Dr. Cedric Rattmann.
In addition to constructing an assortment of interior sets, the visual effects crew built a number of
scale models of houses and commercial buildings based on actual sites. This miniature town
provided Gargantua with a place to walk – one frame at a time – for the various ‘intercuts’
throughout the film. Location filming again took the Cinekyd students to the Pocono Mountains,
where they filmed some impressive sequences at Magic Mountain Amusement Park - which,
sadly, is long gone.
BEHIND THE SCENES:
In addition to a restored version of the 1981 feature, the archive DVD includes rare footage
discovered only recently. Using the first Toshiba betacam Cinekyd ever acquired, our
‘videographers’ taped shots of the ‘kyds’ blocking scenes on the grounds adjacent to the
Stroudsburg Holiday Inn, rehearsing after dinner in the motel dining room, and filming dynamic
sequences of the cast and crew on location at the Pocono amusement park. These are
awesome Cinekyd home movies, which bring back lots of happy memories.
THE CAST:
Dave Trachtenberg, Mark Weaver, Jill Degenhardt, Robin Mechlowitz, George Gakoumis, Joe
Klusman, Steve King, Bonnie Loev, Karen Henderson, Michael K. May, Ed Klebes, Peggy
Rastiello, Mark Salfi, Dave Frick, Eric Kurland, Scott Loev, John Petersen, Jean Settembrino, Bob
Sliwinski, Rodney Bancroft, Tim Berkoff, Todd Erwin, Ken Klinger, Lee Anne White, Scott Wolfson,
Ashley Barlow, Keith Parrish, Paul Salfi, Denise White, Brian Baker, Scott Randolph, Renee
Pennypacker, Murray Newman, Stan Skalski, Robin Degenhardt, Chris Wilson, Frank Smith, Jay
Kushwara, Mark Miller, Jon Severn, Debbie Nemiroff, James McGough, Scott St. Angel, Aaron
Nemiroff, Jeremy Fayette, Daniel Dunn, Bruce Winsko. Special appearances: Joe Celano
(Mayor of Hatboro), Scott Long (program director Comcast), Robin Mackintosh (KYW-TV News
reporter).
THE CREW:
Steve Kessler, David Kessler, Steve Keane, Lewis Gerr, Michael Hoffman, David Brock, Daryl
Hirsch, Erin Kelly, Tom McCormick, Preston Marx, Anne Palumbo, Tony Palumbo, Lisa Walker,
Paul Simonetta, Tami Charney, Julie Bechtel, Mike Wilson, Philip Chirogene, Marty Wilson, Harley
Kelly, Karen Augustine, Rita Augustine, Teddy Hall, Marge King, Harriet Wilson, Arlene Kushwara,
Beverly Bride, Jean Weaver, Ralph Abbott, Lawrence Harty, Jeff Worthington, Jeff Stein, Gwen
Fine, Dan Ochsenreither, Wendy Worthington. Editors Mark Weaver and Chris Wilson.
Writer/Director Robert J. Clark, Jr.
Be sure to check out the gallery. Thankfully, hundreds of still pictures and color slides were taken
that summer. As we locate and restore those images, they are added to the archive collection.