Event

One on One With Tom Savini

Savini is primarily known for his groundbreaking work in the field of special makeup effects. He got his breakthrough working with Pittsburgh filmmaker George A. Romero, providing a typical if rudimentary wrist slashing effect in the opening scenes of Martin (1977). The following year, working with an expanded budget on Dawn of the Dead, Savini created his signature palate of severed limbs and bite-marks. The gore effects in Dawn have been widely imitated but never bettered for sheer visceral impact, with the possible exception of Savini's own work in the (otherwise less successful) Day of the Dead (1985). Savini has also worked on films by Dario Argento and Tobe Hooper. His signature realism livens otherwise plodding genre films such as Maniac (1980), which incidentally contains the infamous "shotgun" scene. Perhaps Savini's most noteworthy special effects occurred in the first installment of Friday the 13th. Savini has noted that most of the characters he has played are bikers. He did play a relatively straight, innocuous character in Martin (1977), but played menacing biker 'Blades' in Dawn of the Dead (1978), a role he reprised with a cameo appearance in the 2005 continuation of the series, Land of the Dead. He also had a cameo as a sheriff in the 2004 remake of Dawn (In which the original "Dawn" series creator George A. Romero had no part.) Savini did have a much more prominent role as biker/Renaissance fair participant Morgan in George Romero's Knightriders(1981), and had a small role as a biker in The Boy Who Loved Trolls in (1984). He also played the whip-wielding, vampire-fighting biker 'Sex Machine' in the 1996 Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez film From Dusk Till Dawn. Tom Savini runs the Special Effects Make-Up Program at the Douglas Education Center in Monessen, Pennsylvania. Savini is an associate of Dick Smith, who incorporates an advanced professional make-up seminar into the last semester of the program. Smith is best known for his groundbreaking work in The Exorcist