The Art of Illusion E-Book

Terry Ackland-Snow

• Herausgeber: Crowood
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

Film production is a highly creative and collaborative industry, full of multi-skilled artists and craftsmen. The fast-moving pace of technology makes it hard to keep abreast of current practices in production design. However, the ethos and skills behind filmmaking remain the same. In The Art of Illusion, renowned Art Director Terry Ackland-Snow shares his passion and knowledge of traditional film design from over fifty years of industry experience, using real-life case studies from some of the UK's most iconic films, including Batman, Labyrinth, the James Bond franchise and The Deep. Featuring over 100 original sketches, as well as rare behind-the-scenes photographs, storyboards and artwork, this book is exquisitely illustrated throughout, demonstrating the skills and techniques of film design with stunning intricacy.

Leseprobe

THE CROWOOD PRESS

First published in 2017 by

The Crowood Press Ltd

Ramsbury, Marlborough

Wiltshire SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2017

© Terry Ackland-Snow and Wendy Laybourn 2017

All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 78500 344 8

Frontispiece: A miniature cathedral ready for filming with lights, camera and crew in place.

CONTENTS

Foreword

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Preface

Film Crew Breakdown

Introduction

1. The Art Department

2. The Production Office and the Art Budget

3. Construction and Set Dressing

4. Working on Location

5. Camera Angles, Lighting and Perspective

6. Special Physical Effects and Storyboarding

7. Working with Puppetry and Animation

8. Visual Effects

Conclusion

Appendix I: Technical Exercises

Appendix II: Unit List Titles for UK and USA

Useful Websites, Publications and Bibliography

Glossary

Index

FOREWORD

by Chris Kelly, Producer

Invariably, media attention is focused on the stars, for obvious reasons. It’s their faces that appear on posters, their names that, it is assumed, sell films and television programmes. However, for anyone with a genuine love of the business, the real heroes and heroines are the unsung ones; the problem-solvers, the imaginative engine room behind the visual experience. Chief among these are the Production Designers and Art Directors.

For decades, Terry Ackland-Snow has been among the best of British. As a producer, I’ve had the good fortune to work with him on many occasions. Unflappable, resourceful, indefatigable, cheerful and loyal, he has been more than equal to every challenge we’ve thrown at him. Before the ubiquity of CGI, Terry’s inventive skill enabled him to turn the most fanciful or demanding script into plausible visual reality; on time and on budget. Five words that are music to a producer’s ears.

It is typical of his generosity of spirit and love of his craft that, instead of hanging up his drawing board, he is devoting his considerable energies to passing on his secrets to a younger generation, the Oscar-winners of tomorrow. Typical too that despite the industry’s increasing reliance on the computer, Terry continues to stress the fundamental importance of draughtsmanship. No one is better qualified to teach and inspire.

DEDICATION

In memory of my brother, Brian Ackland-Snow, 1940–2013

At the time of his death in 2013, my brother Brian hadn’t worked for fourteen years due to the cruel illness, Alzheimer’s Disease. However, his humour, compassion and generosity still shone through. He was a very unselfish man in the workplace and as a husband and father.

Brian loved drawing, art and modelmaking from an early age, but, at our father’s insistence, he had to complete his carpentry apprenticeship with the family business before he started in design. After this, he joined the Art Department at the Danziger Studio in Elstree as an Art Department Assistant, subsequently working on his first film, The Road to Hong Kong, at Shepperton Studios, under Production Designer Roger K. Furse.

He went on to work on many films and television programmes from 1962 until he retired, having won an Oscar in 1987 for Best Art Direction and a BAFTA for Best Production Design for A Room with a View, and a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Art Direction for the mini-series Scarlett.

Brian’s film and television credits include: Without a Clue; A Room with a View; Superman III; The Dark Crystal; McVicar; Dracula; Death on the Nile; Cross of Iron; The Slipper and the Rose; There’s a Girl in My Soup; Battle of Britain; 2001: A Space Odyssey; The Quiller Memorandum; The Road to Hong Kong; The Magnificent Amersons; Animal Farm; Kidnapped; Scarlett; Cadfael; The Man in the Brown Suit; Hart to Hart.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Within this book we acknowledge all who are sadly no longer with us, but who, through their outstanding innovations from the early days of film design to the present day, have left their legacy for the benefit of all filmmakers.

A very special thank you to Lauren Crockatt, Davina Harbord, Emma James, Miranda Keeble and Ciara Sheridan, whose dedication to the cause, combined with attention to detail, kept us focused throughout all the difficult times!

Special thanks to the following for their contributions: Andrew Proctor – Art Department and Visual Effects; Terry Apsey – Construction Manager; Dominic Ackland-Snow – Construction Manager; Ken Barley – Head of Department Plaster; Adrian Start – Head of Department Paint; Darcey Crownshaw – Set Decorator and Founder of Snow Business; Leigh Took – Special Effects Supervisor and founder of Mattes and Miniatures Visual Effects; David Sproxton – Animator and co-founder of Aardman Animations; Terry Bamber – Production Manager and Assistant Director; Jamie Anderson – Director of Anderson Entertainment; Dayne Cowan – Visual Effects Supervisor; Robin Vidgeon – Director of Photography; John Glen – Director; Chris Kelly – Producer; Peter Young – Set Decorator; Tony Pratt – Production Designer; Peter Murton – Production Designer; Simon Murton – Concept Artist; Harry Lange – Production Designer; Carol Ackland-Snow – Photography and Sketch Department; Bill Stallion – Storyboard Artist, thanks to his family; Keith Ackland-Snow for providing information on the Ackland-Snow family; and Paul Isaacs for providing a selection of story boards included in the book.

Thanks to the following for illustrations: Warner Brothers – Batmobile Photograph; Universal Studios; Henson Productions – Muppet Storyboards; MGM – James Bond Photographs; Disney Art Department – photographs of The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth; EON – photographs of James Bond, The Living Daylights; Columbia Pictures – The Deep; 20th Century Fox – The Rocky Horror Picture Show; Paramount Pictures EMI – Death on the Nile; The Imaginarium.

Preface

By Wendy Laybourn

Wendy Laybourn.

What is illusion? The Collins English Dictionary defines it as a ‘deceptive impression of reality’. Nowhere is this definition so relevant as in film production. In order to transport the audience to wherever the script leads, the Art Department uses illusion to create whatever style is needed to produce the appropriate backdrop for the performers and the rest of the film crew to work with. If you read through the ‘Film Crew Breakdown’ below, you will fully appreciate the number of people involved in any production and will better understand what a critical contribution the Art Department has in the finished film or television programme.

The film crew uses light, colour, sound and movement to transform the script into a drama, a musical, a flight of fantasy, or a blood-curdling horror movie. So never forget, as you become deeply involved in the latest tricks or technologies, that you are an entertainer first and foremost, putting images up on a screen for the enjoyment of an audience and following in the traditions set by the earliest filmmakers.

The creation of film technology was not originally meant for artistic expression, but began simply as a commercial extension of live ‘theatrical’ events, recording them much like the modern documentary. The practitioners soon found that portraying a story on screen was quite different from that of a theatre production. There are major qualities available to filmmakers that are difficult, if not impossible, to achieve on stage. For example, the close-up of faces and objects in order to achieve emphasis was first used by D.W. Griffith in 1907. The ability to use the camera lens to zoom in and out of any particular aspect of a scene gives the Director, Designer and Cinematographer enormous scope to add depth and quality to the action.

The controlled use of sound over action and vice versa was first used in 1926 when it was found possible to link both sound and picture together on celluloid. In addition to giving the Director the ability to emphasize the dialogue, this technology gave rise to sound design and atmospherics, as well as a specifically written and arranged music track that augments the action and creates the style and feel of the film.

When film was in its infancy it was essentially just a series of animated photographs, but then the ‘showmen’ stepped in to work with the photographers and began the process of what is now taken for granted as ‘film production’. However, the essence of filmmaking has not really changed since those early days and it is important to remember that the early filmmakers were working with very basic and unsophisticated equipment and materials. Nonetheless, the creativity of the entire crew and their passion for telling the story is the same as ever, it is just the technology that has grown over the decades so that the tricks and scenic illusions have become more and more exotic, making the seemingly impossible now a practical reality.

The Production Designer and the Art Department are involved with all aspects of the actual sets, either in the studio or on location. Joining together with the Director, Cinematographer (Director of Photography), Construction Manager and all the other Heads of Department, they produce the ‘land of magic and illusion, which the audience sees on the screen.

Production Design is way beyond aesthetics and interior design, with the Production Designer and Art Director being two of the key creators involved in any production. Given the practical and economic framework that governs the whole production, the Art Department has to be able to make the designs work around the physical restrictions of the shooting schedule. This is where the ‘teamwork’ of production comes into play and where the Art Department is expected to produce the best of creative work. Film production is not only highly creative, it is also a business that handles many millions of pounds or dollars, so any production is constricted by time, budget and constant changes of concept and ideas, combined with the sheer physicality of the actual construction process. Only a crew that works together like a well-oiled machine will be able to reach their target and satisfy not only the viewing public but, very importantly, the producer and the investors.

Within this team, the Production Designer, who will almost always have risen through the ranks of the Art Department, is the creative force behind every aspect of the design and is the person who imagines and recreates, in drawings and sketches, exactly what mood, colour palette and style the Director has visualized for the production. In essence, the Production Designer is the link between the Director and the extended Art and Construction Departments.

From the Production Designer’s drawings and sketches, it is the Art Director’s job to turn them into perfect blueprints and technical drawings, which the Construction Crew will use to build and fabricate the actual sets. Not only does the Art Director have to use his or her considerable creative and technical talents as an architect and artist, but also needs a good working knowledge of building materials and methods, as well as a vice-like grip on the finances. The Art Department is responsible for the budget of the entire Construction Crew, which is why this budget is a separate sector of the main production budget and is the largest ‘below the line’ budget on any feature film.

Set construction at the Shepherd’s Bush Studios in the 1920s. At the Debrie camera are Freddie Young (left) and St Aubyn Brown. Freddie Young BSC went on to win three Oscars for his cinematography on Ryan’s Daughter, Doctor Zhivago and Lawrence of Arabia.

Art Directors are artists who can adapt their style to any number of different types of production. They integrate themselves and their team into the mood and feeling of a particular project, whether it is a comedy, a musical, a costume drama or a science fiction extravaganza. The range of materials used and the scope of the design will test their imagination and skills to the utmost. During the pre-production and production periods, they will have constant discussions with the Construction Manager and together they will make decisions about the suitability of the materials and locations involved – as well as incorporating the restraints of time and economics.

In this book, which is aimed at anyone wanting to make a career in film, Terry Ackland-Snow will take you through the processes involved in creating a film set. All of the tips, tricks and techniques described in the book have been used and refined over many decades and, although the technology might have changed, the essence of filmmaking is still the same.

Film sets have developed through time from the canvas backcloths used in theatres through to their present and highly sophisticated form. Each year, the development of technology and visual processes makes film sets more exciting and the Art Director has to be abreast of every innovation. In film production the learning process never ends and the film crew is like a mobile and ever-changing life force, so even the most experienced Production Designer and Art Director will find each new project a challenge!

FILM CREW BREAKDOWN

Production Office including Director

The Producer has overall control of every aspect of the production process, working with the Director, the Scriptwriters, the Director of Photography (Cinematographer), Production Designer, Special Effects Supervisor and Visual Effects Supervisor in a careful planning process to bring the film to the cinema screen.

Art Department including Construction, Props and Set Dressing

The Production Designer, Art Director, Construction Manager, Props and Set Dresser work together to construct and create the style and atmosphere of the sets, both in the studio and on location.

Camera and Lighting including Grips

The Director of Photography, the Camera, Lighting and Grips crews work closely with the Director and Production Designer to maintain the consistent ‘look and feel’ of the film.

Hair and Make-Up including Prosthetics

The Hair and Make-up Designer and team work with the Director, the Production Designer and the Costume Designer to create the look that the Director wants to match to the period and content of the production using prosthetics, wigs and many other tricks and techniques.

Costume Department

The Costume Designer and team are responsible for all items of clothing worn by every performer appearing on screen. The Designer works closely with the Director, the Production Designer and Hair and Make-Up to set the style, character and overall tone of the production.

Production Sound Crew

The Sound Mixer, Boom Operators, Assistants and Technicians are responsible for recording all dialogue and sound effects on set.

Second Unit

The Second Unit (there can be more units on a large or stunt-driven film) is a fully operational and highly specialized shooting crew that looks after the filming of scenes, involving such things as special physical effects, stunts, action and aerial shots, motion capture, mattes and miniatures – in fact, anything out of the ordinary.

Special Physical Effects

The Special Physical Effects Supervisor and crew are highly skilled technicians and will work with the Director and Stunt Co-ordinator during pre-production and production to create the physical effects for the film – pyrotechnics, stunts and action, working models, mechanical and atmospherics.

Visual Effects

The Visual Effects Supervisor is a skilled VFX technician and will work closely with the Director and Art Department throughout pre-production, production and post-production to oversee all visual effects work carried out by the post-production facilities, with their highly skilled and creative teams.

Picture Post-Production including Visual Effects

The Post-Production Supervisor, with a team of Editors, works with the Director, Director of Photography, Sound and Visual Effects Supervisors to bring together all the elements of the film.

Sound Department including Post-Production, Sound Design and Music

The Sound Designer – or Supervising Sound Editor – works with the Post-Production Supervisor, the Director and the Composer to provide the film with its distinctive atmosphere for the complete audience experience.

Cinema Exhibition

This is the final stage for the finished feature film. There is a range of global cinema outlets from independent screens to major cinema chains.

Support Facilities

Throughout the film production world there is a whole range of companies that supply essential Equipment, Stock, Hardware and Software, Facilities and Service, Location Caterers, Location Transport, Freight Shipping and Travel, Specialist Materials and Chemicals. These support companies and their employees are highly skilled in their particular professions, although they are rarely mentioned in the credits.

INTRODUCTION

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

It was fifty years ago when I took my first steps into the film industry at Danziger Studios in Elstree. The first major studio I worked at was MGM, closely followed by Pinewood, which inevitably led to location projects – making the world my studio!

My family has a significant history within the film industry. My father, Frank Ackland-Snow, followed the steps of his older brother, Percy, and joined the film industry as a carpenter at Shepperton Studios. In the mid-1940s, the film industry went into depression due to World War II, so, in 1950, Frank and Percy started a construction company called Ackland-Snow Limited. They worked on many shows, including Doctor Who and . Later on, when Art Director Scott McGregor asked my father if one of his sons could join him on a production, he suggested my brother Brian. Fortunately for me, although Brian went on to be a well-respected Production Designer, he was unable to commit at this time, so I eagerly took the job and began a long and rewarding career in film design. My son Dominic has since followed me into this wonderful industry, working as a Construction Manager on films such as and , and my daughter is now a successful Graphics Artist.