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creator Stan Winston to complete some of the designs, primarily the Dog-Thing.
[52] [65] With insufficient time to create a sophisticated mechanical
creature, Winston opted to create a hand puppet . A cast was made of makeup
artist Lance Anderson 's arm and head, around which the Dog-Thing was sculpted
in oil-based clay. The final foam-latex puppet, worn by Anderson, featured
radio-controlled eyes and cable-controlled legs, [67] and was operated from
below a raised set on which the kennel was built. [67] [25] Slime from the
puppet would leak onto Anderson during the two days it took to film the scene,
and he had to wear a helmet to protect himself from the explosive squibs
simulating gunfire. Anderson pulled the tentacles into the Dog-Thing and
reverse motion was used to create the effect of them slithering from its body.
[67] Winston refused to be credited for his work, insisting that Bottin
deserved sole credit; Winston was given a "thank you" in the credits instead.
[52] [65] The Norris-Thing. False arms were attached to a double amputee,
allowing them to be "bitten off" by the chest mouth. In the "chest chomp"
scene, Dr. Copper attempts to revive Norris with a defibrillator. Revealing
himself as the Thing, Norris-Thing's chest transforms into a large mouth that
severs Copper's arms. Bottin accomplished this scene by recruiting a double
amputee and fitting him with prosthetic arms filled with wax bones, rubber
veins and Jell-O. The arms were then placed into the practical "stomach mouth"
where the mechanical jaws clamped down on them, at which point the actor
pulled away, severing the false arms. [52] The effect of the Norris-Thing's
head detaching from the body to save itself took many months of testing before
Bottin was satisfied enough to film it. The scene involved a fire effect, but
the crew were unaware that fumes from the rubber foam chemicals inside the
puppet were flammable. The fire ignited the fumes, creating a large fireball
that engulfed the puppet. It suffered only minimal damage after the fire had
been put out, and the crew successfully filmed the scene. [44] [68] Stop-
motion expert Randall William Cook developed a sequence for the end of the
film where MacReady is confronted by the gigantic Blair-Thing. Cook created a
miniature model of the set and filmed wide-angle shots of the monster in stop
motion, but Carpenter was not convinced by the effect and used only a few
seconds of it. [52] It took fifty people to operate the actual Blair-Thing
puppet. [14] The production intended to use a camera centrifuge – a rotating
drum with a fixed camera platform – for the Palmer-Thing scene, allowing him
to seem to run straight up the wall and across the ceiling. Again, the cost
was too high and the idea abandoned for a stuntman falling into frame onto a
floor made to look like the outpost's ceiling. [69] Stuntman Anthony Cecere
stood in for the Palmer-Thing after MacReady sets it on fire and it crashes
through the outpost wall. [70] Visuals and lighting [ edit ] Cundey worked
with Bottin to determine the appropriate lighting for each creature. He wanted
to show off Bottin's work because of its details, but he was conscious that
showing too much would reveal its artificial nature, breaking the illusion.
Each encounter with the creature was planned for areas where they could
justify using a series of small lights to highlight the particular creature-
model's surface and textures. Cundey would illuminate the area behind the
creature to detail its overall shape. He worked with Panavision and a few
other companies to develop a camera capable of automatically adjusting light
exposure at different film speeds. He wanted to try filming the creature at
fast and slow speeds thinking this would create a more interesting visual
effect, but they were unable to accomplish this at the time. For the rest of
the set, Cundey created a contrast by lighting the interiors with warmer
lights hung overhead in conical shades so that they could still control the
lighting and have darkened areas on set. The outside was constantly bathed in
a cold, blue light that Cundey had discovered being used on airport runways.
The reflective surface of the snow and the blue light helped create the
impression of coldness. [25] The team also made use of the flamethrowers and
magenta-hued flares used by the actors to create dynamic lighting. [25] The
team originally wanted to shoot the film in black-and-white , but Universal
was reluctant as it could affect their ability to sell the television rights
for the film. Instead, Cundey suggested muting the colors as much as possible.
The inside of the sets were painted in neutral colors such as gray, and many
of the props were also painted gray, while the costumes were a mix of somber
browns, blues, and grays. They relied on the lighting to add color. [49]
Albert Whitlock provided matte -painted backdrops, including the scene in
which the Americans discover the giant alien spaceship buried in the ice. [25]
A scene where MacReady walks up to a hole in the ice where the alien had been
buried was filmed at Universal, while the surrounding area, including the
alien spaceship, helicopter, and snow, were all painted. [14] Carpenter's
friend John Wash, who developed the opening computer simulation for Escape
from New York , designed the computer program showing how the Thing
assimilates other organisms. [14] Model maker Susan Turner built the alien
ship approaching Earth in the pre-credits sequence, which featured 144
strobing lights . [71] Drew Struzan designed the film's poster. He completed
it in 24 hours, based only on a briefing, knowing little about the film. [72]
Release [ edit ] Marketing [ edit ] See also: 1982 in film A special opening
premiere of The Thing was held at the Hollywood Pacific Theatre , hosted by
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark . The lack of information about the film's
special effects drew the attention of film exhibitors in early 1982. They
wanted reassurance that The Thing was a first-rate production capable of
attracting audiences. Cohen and Foster, with a specially employed editor and
Universal's archive of music, put together a 20-minute showreel emphasizing
action and suspense. They used available footage, including alternate and
extended scenes not in the finished film, but avoided revealing the special
effects as much as possible. The reaction from the exclusively male exhibitors
was generally positive, and Universal executive Robert Rehme told Cohen that
the studio was counting on The Thing ' s success, as they expected E.T. the
Extra-Terrestrial to appeal only to children. [73] While finalizing the film,
Universal sent Carpenter a demographic study showing that the audience appeal
of horror films had declined by seventy percent over the previous six months.
Carpenter considered this a suggestion that he lower his expectations of the
film's performance. [28] After one market research screening, Carpenter
queried the audience on their thoughts, and one audience member asked, "Well
what happened in the very end? Which one was the Thing ...?" When Carpenter
responded that it was up to their imagination, the audience member responded,
"Oh, God. I hate that." [23] After returning from a screening of E.T. the
Extra-Terrestrial , the audience's silence at a The Thing trailer caused
Foster to remark, "We're dead". [74] The response to public pre-screenings of
The Thing resulted in the studio changing the somber, black-and-white
advertising approved by the producers to a color image of a person with a

creator Stan Winston to complete some of the designs, primarily the Dog-Thing.

[52] [65] With insufficient time to create a sophisticated mechanical

creature, Winston opted to create a hand puppet . A cast was made of makeup

artist Lance Anderson 's arm and head, around which the Dog-Thing was sculpted

in oil-based clay. The final foam-latex puppet, worn by Anderson, featured

radio-controlled eyes and cable-controlled legs, [67] and was operated from

below a raised set on which the kennel was built. [67] [25] Slime from the

puppet would leak onto Anderson during the two days it took to film the scene,

and he had to wear a helmet to protect himself from the explosive squibs

simulating gunfire. Anderson pulled the tentacles into the Dog-Thing and

reverse motion was used to create the effect of them slithering from its body.

[67] Winston refused to be credited for his work, insisting that Bottin

deserved sole credit; Winston was given a "thank you" in the credits instead.

[52] [65] The Norris-Thing. False arms were attached to a double amputee,

allowing them to be "bitten off" by the chest mouth. In the "chest chomp"

scene, Dr. Copper attempts to revive Norris with a defibrillator. Revealing

himself as the Thing, Norris-Thing's chest transforms into a large mouth that

severs Copper's arms. Bottin accomplished this scene by recruiting a double

amputee and fitting him with prosthetic arms filled with wax bones, rubber

veins and Jell-O. The arms were then placed into the practical "stomach mouth"

where the mechanical jaws clamped down on them, at which point the actor

pulled away, severing the false arms. [52] The effect of the Norris-Thing's

head detaching from the body to save itself took many months of testing before

Bottin was satisfied enough to film it. The scene involved a fire effect, but

the crew were unaware that fumes from the rubber foam chemicals inside the

puppet were flammable. The fire ignited the fumes, creating a large fireball

that engulfed the puppet. It suffered only minimal damage after the fire had

been put out, and the crew successfully filmed the scene. [44] [68] Stop-

motion expert Randall William Cook developed a sequence for the end of the

film where MacReady is confronted by the gigantic Blair-Thing. Cook created a

miniature model of the set and filmed wide-angle shots of the monster in stop

motion, but Carpenter was not convinced by the effect and used only a few

seconds of it. [52] It took fifty people to operate the actual Blair-Thing

puppet. [14] The production intended to use a camera centrifuge – a rotating

drum with a fixed camera platform – for the Palmer-Thing scene, allowing him

to seem to run straight up the wall and across the ceiling. Again, the cost

was too high and the idea abandoned for a stuntman falling into frame onto a

floor made to look like the outpost's ceiling. [69] Stuntman Anthony Cecere

stood in for the Palmer-Thing after MacReady sets it on fire and it crashes

through the outpost wall. [70] Visuals and lighting [ edit ] Cundey worked

with Bottin to determine the appropriate lighting for each creature. He wanted

to show off Bottin's work because of its details, but he was conscious that

showing too much would reveal its artificial nature, breaking the illusion.

Each encounter with the creature was planned for areas where they could

justify using a series of small lights to highlight the particular creature-

model's surface and textures. Cundey would illuminate the area behind the

creature to detail its overall shape. He worked with Panavision and a few

other companies to develop a camera capable of automatically adjusting light

exposure at different film speeds. He wanted to try filming the creature at

fast and slow speeds thinking this would create a more interesting visual

effect, but they were unable to accomplish this at the time. For the rest of

the set, Cundey created a contrast by lighting the interiors with warmer

lights hung overhead in conical shades so that they could still control the

lighting and have darkened areas on set. The outside was constantly bathed in

a cold, blue light that Cundey had discovered being used on airport runways.

The reflective surface of the snow and the blue light helped create the

impression of coldness. [25] The team also made use of the flamethrowers and

magenta-hued flares used by the actors to create dynamic lighting. [25] The

team originally wanted to shoot the film in black-and-white , but Universal

was reluctant as it could affect their ability to sell the television rights

for the film. Instead, Cundey suggested muting the colors as much as possible.

The inside of the sets were painted in neutral colors such as gray, and many

of the props were also painted gray, while the costumes were a mix of somber

browns, blues, and grays. They relied on the lighting to add color. [49]

Albert Whitlock provided matte -painted backdrops, including the scene in

which the Americans discover the giant alien spaceship buried in the ice. [25]

A scene where MacReady walks up to a hole in the ice where the alien had been

buried was filmed at Universal, while the surrounding area, including the

alien spaceship, helicopter, and snow, were all painted. [14] Carpenter's

friend John Wash, who developed the opening computer simulation for Escape

from New York , designed the computer program showing how the Thing

assimilates other organisms. [14] Model maker Susan Turner built the alien

ship approaching Earth in the pre-credits sequence, which featured 144

strobing lights . [71] Drew Struzan designed the film's poster. He completed

it in 24 hours, based only on a briefing, knowing little about the film. [72]

Release [ edit ] Marketing [ edit ] See also: 1982 in film A special opening

premiere of The Thing was held at the Hollywood Pacific Theatre , hosted by

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark . The lack of information about the film's

special effects drew the attention of film exhibitors in early 1982. They

wanted reassurance that The Thing was a first-rate production capable of

attracting audiences. Cohen and Foster, with a specially employed editor and

Universal's archive of music, put together a 20-minute showreel emphasizing

action and suspense. They used available footage, including alternate and

extended scenes not in the finished film, but avoided revealing the special

effects as much as possible. The reaction from the exclusively male exhibitors

was generally positive, and Universal executive Robert Rehme told Cohen that

the studio was counting on The Thing ' s success, as they expected E.T. the

Extra-Terrestrial to appeal only to children. [73] While finalizing the film,

Universal sent Carpenter a demographic study showing that the audience appeal

of horror films had declined by seventy percent over the previous six months.

Carpenter considered this a suggestion that he lower his expectations of the

film's performance. [28] After one market research screening, Carpenter

queried the audience on their thoughts, and one audience member asked, "Well

what happened in the very end? Which one was the Thing ...?" When Carpenter

responded that it was up to their imagination, the audience member responded,

"Oh, God. I hate that." [23] After returning from a screening of E.T. the

Extra-Terrestrial , the audience's silence at a The Thing trailer caused

Foster to remark, "We're dead". [74] The response to public pre-screenings of

The Thing resulted in the studio changing the somber, black-and-white

advertising approved by the producers to a color image of a person with a