Adrian Samuels(I)
- Visual Effects
Adrian realised early in life that he wanted to work in special
effects. In the early 80s he was asked to create a visual concept for a
"serious" portrayal of atomic destruction, but of course within a BBC
budget. The Producers wanted to follow a group of people who survive an
atomic attack on the UK and we see how they battle against life and
death to get to the end of their journey. Adrian felt that "they should
all die" so what is now regarded as probably the grimest film to have
ever been made burst into life under Adrian's up beat gaze and
"Threads" was born. No one quite realised how popular Threads would
become, fans contacted the BBC in their droves and Adrian enjoyed the
praise that was heaped upon him. In fact he has long since admitted
that he still watched the film at least once a day with a glass of red
wine, "one of my vices" he admits. Adrian moved onto other low budget
special effects after this, mainly in the corporate arena, but still
came back into the popular domain from time to time, while Threads 2
was under pre-production he cropped up to offer a guiding hand to the
now much hated Tyne TV series "Radiation Mcgee" which involved a young
boy who after an atomic attack finds himself blessed with super powers.
Threads 2 never happened so he joined Cinesite in the UK and worked on
films such as Lost in Space and Event Horizon before being head hunted
by Weta to work on the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.