367. Hero screen-used "Wrath of God" ghost puppet from Raiders of the Lost Ark. (Paramount, 1981) This is the actual filming hero ghost puppet that depicts the Wrath of God. It is seen in the climatic end sequence when the Ark of the Covenant is opened by Nazi Soldiers and Belloq, Indy's French nemesis. This hero silk ghost appears in four consecutive shots. It is first swirled around the Nazi officer, Colonel Dietrich, from left to right. In the next shot, it then flies camera right to left and turns its head to look at camera. In the third shot, it flies behind Toht, the Nazi SS officer, from camera right to left and its face can be seen. In the final shot it flies upstage from the middle of the screen where this hero ghost puppet is seen clearly during its approach towards camera. This iconic piece is from the private collection of Academy Award Nominee and Visual Effects Model maker Steve Gawley. For this film project, Gawley developed an organic and other worldly performance technique using a silk ghost puppet, measuring approx. 33 in. long, he built from fine silk cloth, styrene, aluminum and a brass and steel rod. The face was vacuum formed styrene painted white with black airbrushed eye sockets and the head is articulated and can be moved from side to side. The silk ghost was puppeteered in a large glass-walled tank of water called a "cloud" tank. Gawley was positioned off camera and above the tank in order to create the ghost performances. The combination of these materials, silk and water, created the exact look that the filmmakers were looking for. A handful of smaller and different performing silk ghost puppets were built for use as background film elements. During the next four weeks, his many ghost performances were photographed through the glass walls of the large "cloud" tank by Academy Award-winning Visual Effects wizard, Richard Edlund. The end result is spectacular. The film received an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. Comes with a black velvet-lined wooden display crate built to mimic the "Top Secret Army Intel" crates seen in the government warehouse sequence at the end of the film. Comes with a letter of authenticity from Steve Gawley. $12,000 - $15,000