As a child, Rolf te Booij was already fascinated by films such as Star Wars. Now he is a successful maker of masks and dolls from especially aliens and monsters for films and series. At the Festival The Art of the Department in the Klokgebouw in Eindhoven, lovers of films, animation and games can get acquainted with his creations that bring the imagination to life.
“I have the nickname the Flying Dutchman Because I can work so quickly, “says Rolf with a smile. In the Klokgebouw he shows how he makes his creations with clay.” I give a demonstration of how I normally make concept designs for films and series in my studio in Haarlem. For years I practiced in the barn with my parents and later I did an internship at companies in Europe that make these kinds of creations. “
In his studio in Haarlem, Rolf works for Dutch, German and Belgian films and for clients such as Netflix and Amazone. What is striking: all his masks and dolls look alien and horror-like: “I always say romantic films and comedies do not need our work so we focus on scary things.”
The dolls, masks and animals that make Rolf look so real that people sometimes be shocked: “Yes, we do have moments when there is something in our studio – for example a human body – which makes people afraid. For us that is a daily activity, but once a postman came in and who thought it was a real body that is really.
“We are so busy that we are almost short of space. In December we made a moving dinosaur for Museum Naturalis in Leiden and then there are of course the international clients.” Rolf calls making lifelike masks and dolls ‘pretty difficult’. According to him, there are only a few people who can do it in the Netherlands.
The festival in the Klokgebouw wants to introduce people to the makers of masks and dolls that ensure that we are taken into a story in a film or series. This Thursday it is very busy at the Rolf stand. Two ladies who work in the game industry take an attempt to make something with clay. “But it will stay with an attempt,” they say laughing, because it is not easy. A young man from Lithuania, who is studying in Rotterdam, looks full of admiration: “It’s amazing (ed. It’s great).“
“People find it fascinating,” says Rolf. “We are in an era in which AI (Artificial Intelligence – ed. Artificial intelligence) hits the clock, but luckily there is still room for manual craftsmanship. “According to him, it is very important that it stays that way:” In the meantime everyone can enter something in the computer and then have something made, but I think you will miss the emotion in the final creations. ” Flying Dutchman That he is not yet superfluous.