Film props like these really can be described as iconic. Even if you’ve never seen Jason and the Argonauts, the chances are you’ll recognise these stop-motion characters with their Medusa and octopus shields. They were made by Ray Harryhausen, the prolific model maker and stop motion animator for Hollywood movies and were due to appear in an exhibition of his work at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, opening this week.

Ray Harryhausen : Titan of Cinema is intended to bring together his collection with newly restored and previously unseen material from his archive. The gallery is closed at the moment, of course, but intends to open in the exhibition at some point in the future. In the meantime, you can play with a nifty little interpretive device on their website – a timeline of his life with video trailers imported from YouTube. And once it’s open, do go along and see the real skeletons in the flesh – or lack thereof.

Image © The Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation
Collection: The Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation (Charity No. SC001419)