Born in 1962, Jenson Ho trained in art after finishing school and joined the sculpture section of Shaw Brothers' art department in early 1979, where his notable props included the flying-head curse and the ancient corpse in Gu (1981). When Shaw set up a special-effects unit in the early 1980s he worked under department head Gordon Chan on Star Dumb (1983), chiefly building the spaceship models. In 1983 he followed his mentor Wong Kei-hung to Cinema City, continuing to design and make special props, among them the diamond music box and the falling-building model in Esprit d'Amour (1983), the multi-function robot in Aces Go Places II (1983) and the yacht model in Cupid One (1985). Such pieces were mostly hand-sculpted and cast, and before computer effects became common they were the main means by which Hong Kong films staged spectacles. Other films on which he worked on effects models include Aces Go Places III (1984), Kung Hei Fat Choy (1985), Devil's Vendetta (1991) and Forbidden City Cop (1996). He also took up special-effects make-up, heading the effects department of Film Workshop and making props and effects make-up for its films and for Cinema City; in 1989 he founded his own effects company making three-dimensional physical figures for film and other media. His make-up credits include the aged Twelve Young Master in Rouge (1988), Comic Hero (1990), Happy Ghost IV (1990), Silent Lover (1994), Those Were the Days 2 (1997), the horror films Charcoal-burn Curse and Vampire Zoom (both 2000) and The Victim (2002), and in I Love Family (2006) he created the fat suit and ageing make-up for Alan Tam. After stepping back from production he turned to children's art education.
Jenson Ho is a behind-the-scenes craftsman of Hong Kong's physical effects and effects make-up, having made the spaceship of Star Dumb and the robot of Aces Go Places II while at Shaw and Cinema City; after founding his own company in 1989 he designed effects make-up for films such as Rouge, sustaining Hong Kong cinema's spectacles in the years before computer effects took hold, and later turned to children's art education.
Achievements
- 1979 · Joined the sculpture section of Shaw Brothers' art department.
- 1983 · Followed his mentor Wong Kei-hung to Cinema City, making effects props for films such as Esprit d'Amour and Aces Go Places II.
- 1989 · Founded his own effects company making three-dimensional physical figures for film and other media.