Still from 1993 movie classic “Groundhog Day” starring Bill Murray.
Love the Hollywood classic movie Groundhog Day? Its the one where Bill Murray plays weatherman Phil Connors who is trapped in a time loop covering the annual groundhog day event in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.
Deborah Ruzinsky, superstar caster.
At last year’s seminar on kiln casting techniques, Washington Glass School lecturer & artist Deborah Ruzinsky, while talking of her storied past life making models for the US film industry told us of her contribution to the 1993 movie.
Deborah Ruzinsky in the studio ca. 1990
Back in the early ’90’s Deborah was a project leader for Cinnabar, a Los Angeles fabricator of sets and scenic elements for film, museums and entertainment institutions. Deb’s background of mold-making, casting, CNC machining, Plastic vacuforming and fabrication, foam carving, sculpting, scale model building, and organic prop construction had her making props and models for an impressive roster of films, commercials and music videos. 
Filming the giant scale model clock.
One of her projects was the creation of the digital flip clock used for the “Groundhog Day” movie closeups; the “real” clock would not give the kind of definition wanted by the directors – as the camera size was large, a larger-than-life scale was needed to show the detail.
Photos taken by Deborah Ruzinsky of the filming process.
Deb also worked on Michael Jackson’s video “Smooth Criminal” – part of his anthology film “Moonwalker”. In the film, Michael Jackson plays a ’30’s era gangster who avenges kidnapped children and transforms into a giant robot. In the video, Michael Jackson performs a seemingly impossible forward lean.
Deb Ruzinsky sets up the Michael Jackson robot armature.
Deborah continued to use and broaden her skills in mold making; she later became a University level educator and was the Visiting Asst. Professor of Glass at RIT for 2008-2009.
Besides teaching glass art and history, Debra is currently the creative director of MNCPPC’s design and fabrication studio.
Model of Michael Jackson-bot during film shoot.