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This is an interpretation of film-tie-in edition of the movie Midnight In Paris, 2011 through illustration. © 2011-2012 by the author of this book. The book author retains sole copyright to his or her contributions to this book. Book Jacket Design by Cheri Loh Copyright © Sony Pictures Classic. MIDNIGHT IN PARIS and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © Sony Pictures Classic. SONY :™ & © Sony Pictures Entertainment. This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people or real locales are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to any events, locales or people, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any inquiries should be addressed to "Attention: Permissions Coordinator" at the following address: Stephen Tenenbaum MBST Entertainment 345 North Maple Drive Suite 200 Beverly Hills, CA 90210 Phone: 310-385-1820
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Introduction Midnight In Paris is a 2011 film written and directed by Woody Allen, a once aspiring comedian from Brooklyn who went on to become one of Hollywood's most revered filmmakers today. His films are drawn hugely from philosophy, culture, history, as well as jazz music, which serves as a heavy influence for his music choices in his movies. Midnight In Paris is a melting pot of all the above, and Allen's remarkable touch in spinning the extraordinary from something simple is evident in his latest masterpiece. In such, he has made history, a seemingly dry subject into something accessible and relatable to his viewers. Midnight In Paris opened at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2011 to positive reviews as well as becoming Allen's highest grossing movie in the United States. It occurred to me to choose this film as my picture book adaptation as I myself am drawn towards the lure of history, literature and the ultimate city of culture and romance, Paris. It is a lighthearted film with traces of thoughtinvoking themes that encourages one to stop and think. But just like the lead protagonist of the story, Gil Pender, I too, find myself attracted to the mysteries and flair of the 1920's, and it was a great experience to have explored the movie visually in this project.
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What You Will Find Inside This Book
This book is a walk-through of my process in creating a tie-in picture book based on the film. Here, my compilations of research and various sketches will be documented as I go on a journey of discovery in illustration. My initial aim for my picture book was to educate young readers on history as well as encourage an interest toward independent films, which have always been considered underdogs at the Academy Awards. I eventually shifted the target audience towards appreciators of Allen's work.
I hope that through this project, I'll emerge with a stronger understanding of the difference between a film and a book-while two vastly different media, they are both capable of conveying powerful imagery. And I aspire to achieve just that through Midnight In Paris. While I still aim to find my own visual style through this journey, my visual interpretation of Midnight In Paris became something of a personal project, where focus mainly upon my original aim, which is to translate Midnight In Paris into my own series of illustrations.
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Before Paris
Midnight In Paris originally began
as a small seed of an idea in my head-I wanted to make a movie-tie-in picture book, a book that details the film with illustrations to accompany the text. I decided that it would be geared towards the younger generation in the hopes that while reading about the film in a story format, it would instil interest about history as well as encourage more people to take notice in independent films-a film genre that Woody Allen's name is synonymous with. I settled on this subject to work on, as a picture book gives me the opportunity to capture moments in time and immortalize it on paper. I would compare it to a photo album where treasured memories are kept. While a movie captures the atmosphere complete with sound, moving image and emotion, drawings in a picture book draws attention to a particular scene, and preserves it with a personal, artistic flair. Compared to a screenshot or a production still from the film, an illustration of a movie setting will take on a different angle, even showcasing the scene through the artist's perspective. In short, they make the scenes 'pop', and perhaps generate more interest and respect towards the original film it is taken from. Hence, apart from aiming to develop my visual language, I aspire to capture Midnight In Paris through my own eyes, in the form of illustrations.
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Experiments - Comparative Studies
Before starting on this project, I considered the style and the road I will take. The first impression I got from the film was the romantic setting. Woody Allen shot the film through a digital intermediate, which gave Midnight In Paris it’s unique, sepia-like mood throughout the film. So the main question for me was: how do I take this movie and transform it into engaging illustrations of my own? It certainly sounds daunting-as the following pages will show you, I was about to discover the many ups and downs in my journey of self-discovery.
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Tony DiTerlizzi The Field Guide
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I explored hugely with inking as well with the use of watercolor. The initial challenge for me was to effectively convey the different settings of Paris in the present and Paris in the past in my drawings as unlike moving image, requires a stronger impact. With the reference of illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi, I did some comparison studies of his style with mine. As I thought of something ethereal and classic, I looked to watercolor first. The application of salt lends a fantasy-like appearance to watercolor; in this case (see work) I scattered salt around to mimic the effect of stars. On left: The Field Guide, by Tony DiTerlizzi
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Charcoal, Pencils & Watercolor The exploration of charcoal and watercolor yielded more satisfying results pertaining to the theme and mood of Paris circa 1920’s. At this stage I was familiarizing myself with the characters in the story, as well as the medium. On the next page would be a full spread illustration done in the same way. I explored this approach further, mostly on the 1920’s. It was at this point that got me wondering on how I should illustrate this story-through only single-paged illustrations or accompanied by small illustrations on pages of text.
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As I worked, it became evident that I was taking a literal approach towards this project. I needed something else that will breathe life into Midnight In Paris on the pages of the story. On this page: A charcoal, watercolor and pencil study of the Fontaine Place de la Concorde.
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Intermission: An Epiphany
My original plan was to illustrate out the film from the beginning to the conclusion, but it was decided that I direct my focus entirely on one small chapter of the film instead, as there was the imbalanced amount of text against pictures and the target audience to be considered, which will now be changed towards appreciators of Woody Allen’s work. The scene that I will be working on would be Gil’s first foray into Paris in the 20’s. It is a fairly humorous and enjoyable scene as Gil meets the people of the past, and we are introduced to the main characters of the 1920’s for the first time.
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Abigail Larson Framing studies Abigail Larson’s work (left) incorporates the usage of borders and framing. In the process of discovering a suitable look for my characters and the book layout, I applied that in my analysis so that it looks something akin to a chapter page. (flip over for more experimental pieces)
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From top left: ‘Merope’ by A. Larson. From middle to right: The results of my experimentations. The middle piece was a doodle of my would-be book cover, while the other design was an additional border design meant for the back cover.
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Scene capture with text
The next attempt was to illustrate the scenes from the film into framed drawings with texts accompanied side by side. Shown on the top right corner are the outlines in pencil before being scanned and colored digitally in Photoshop. Top left: example piece from Abigail Larson.
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Ono Natsume takes traditional-based stories and gives them a fresh spin with her unique style of drawing-there is a modern, almost pop-like appearance to the illustrations she does. It is a comfortable fusion between history and modern art, which somewhat mirrors the storyline of Midnight In Paris.
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Digital media
Ono Natsume
In the search for a bolder and more ‘chic’ style as Paris in the 20’s was all about partying and its iconic fashion, Ono Natsume’s style was executed entirely in digital format, with overlaying of texture. Her work, either monotone or a simple tone of color coupled with detailed outlines, lends an Art Nouveau-esque appearance to the characters.
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The usage of typography comes into play again as I toy with the possibilities of using it in my design. It was here that I considered including typography again as part of the illustration in such to give a ‘design’ quality to the pictures instead of just serving as a tie-in illustration.
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A spread done with reference to Tony DiTerlizzi’s The Search For WondLa. (see above for example from book)
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Tony DiTerlizzi Layout Once again I look to Tony DiTerlizzi’s work for reference. In The Search For WondLa, he explores a fairly different layout style in comparison to Spiderwick. They are sleeker and more fluid, with full illustrations on every chapter page. (continued on next page)
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Some layout trial runs I did, to familiarize myself with the story's sequence, as well as determining which drawings will make their way into the finished piece. This is the 'Director Biography page' that I intend to include with the story as to pay homage to the director.
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An excerpt from my story with the illustration placed side by side to see how the result would appear as in a real printed book.
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A tryout of the opening chapter based on Tony DiTerlizzi's The Search For WondLa. In this scene, Gil Pender sits on the steps after finally admitting to being lost.
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Posy Simmonds Layout with text &
sequential images
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Posy illustrates her stories in a layout that seems to be a merge of both graphic novel and picture book. There are panels of images coupled with some text on the same page. It was a distinct and powerful way of telling the story as it keeps the reader engaged with pictures as well as help to steer the story along.
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I referenced Posy Simmonds' layout ideas, particularly her paneling style which I felt could work for the movie in a sequential way. I used a style similar to Ono Natsume for this tryout.
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More explorations on sequential illustrations as per the story. But I felt that it still portrayed the film in a literal manner as it was starting to resemble a graphic novel more than a picture book. I decided to switch from panels to the original idea which was a single illustration per page.
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Back To Single Page Illustrations
The 1920's was a roaring evolution of partying and fashion. Among one of the iconic images that still remain today is the flapper dress. I did an illustration of a flapper girl with lyrics from Cole Porter in the background to hint at the history of Paris at that time. As indicated, the color that I initially applied appeared dull and incredibly muted; the final piece (furthest to right) is more showy and likely to resemble a party mood from the 20’s.
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I assembled newspaper cuttings like a montage and glued them around my illustration. To achieve a more authentic stain on the paper surface, I immersed the cuttings in coffee before painting over them. This is a depiction of Ernest Hemingway's words to Scott Fitzgerald, on how Zelda will ultimately destroy him with her wild persona that resulted in her own mental breakdown. (continued on next page)
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(continued from this page is the process of completing the charcoal, coffee montage. The masking fluid effect eventually lent a gloomy and foreboding aspect to the drawing.) Having a bigger space to work on enabled more experimentation to be carried out, in comparison to the sequential paneling. It was around this time that I decided to switch from a yellowed background to a white surface instead. The final piece is shown on the next page.
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Research on typography
I love words. So needless to say, I would love to include typography into my work. Apart from telling a story, words, beautifully designed can be a part of an illustration. And as shown in these examples here, they can take centrestage as the main design itself.
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Some sketches for the cover done with a heavy emphasis on typography. I was contemplating how will the usage of text affect the design of the entire cover, and the message it will relay.
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With the use of masking fluid, I dabbled a little with the headline of the opening chapter. I was going for a ‘starry night’ look, with the sky and the city below. Watercolor and charcoal is applied for color and texture. (next page: the final piece with text added)
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Isabelle Arsenault Isabelle Arsenault evokes an ethereal, haunting quality through her work. I was immediately intrigued by her style, thinking that it may serve Midnight In Paris well in an abstract manner.
On right page Scott and Zelda are the main characters of this chapter. I drew inspiration from Isabelle Arsenault's work, using the dark colors and bold strokes of color to convey emotion. I scratched out textures in the paint with a toothpick.
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An abstract take on Zelda Fitzgerald's mental breakdown . Scott and Zelda became bitter rivals instead of companions, constantly trying to outdo each other in their writing. The newspapers that make up her dress represents her work, her last grip on reality as she spirals out of control. On right page The finished piece complete with text. There is a bloody and angry aspect to this painting. The etched lines from the toothpick markings almost symbolizes rage or an underlying emotion.
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This experimentation was more toward bolder colors to fall in line with Paris' 1920 era. I combined the newspaper with Isabelle's style and approach. The result was that it appeared slightly modern without losing the classic feel.
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While there were no words added to this piece, I wanted it to bring a strong message to the viewers, without the usage of text. As the plight of the Fitzgeralds were never touched upon in film, this was something of a foreshadowing. Upon the dried surface, acrylic and charcoal are applied for the vintage, silent era look.
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The heavy black tones will draw attention toward the quarreling couple-in an ironic manner. As John Rocco explains (above) how he normally goes about in his progress, I realize that I was already following these steps. (see right page) My many illustrations of Scott and Zelda shows them in varied situations; it gives me a few choices to dwell upon and experiment with.
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These three illustrations are depicting the same subject-Ernest Hemingway's warning to Scott Fitzgerald that his wife, Zelda Fitzgerald will ultimately destroy him and his career in writing. While his prophecy eventually becomes a reality, the majority of today's generation have probably never heard of the Fitzgeralds or their backstory. So it was fun to add some teasers in the illustrations, although this never happened in the film. It was something else that appealed to me while working on a film-to-picture book: I can slip in symbolisms and side stories to my paintings that are absent in the original.
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There is probably too much traffic going on in the mind of Gil Pender, who is attracted towards the magical era of the 20's in Paris, where his literary idols thrived during that period. He refers to himself as a 'Hollywood hack who never gave real literature a shot'. This illustration was meant to represent the inner workings of his mind. Again, I used newspaper clippings to add to the classical setting as well as to depict his train of thought.
Gil Pender is far from moody and pensive, so I used fairly lighter colors here-although they retain the feel of the past. The white silhouettes walking into his form are 'people' of another era, the lure and the wonders of Paris that he so wants to be.
The yellow surface of the paper (middle image) was edited to white-while I originally wanted a yellowed and aged appearance, I decided that a white surface would suit my visual language best.
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Gil feels trapped in the modern day and believes that he is more carefree when he steps into the 1920's. He wants freedom, freedom to do whatever he fancied. The birds flying away represent his burning desire, while his confused expression shows that he is befuddled and unsure where he belongs. I drew lines over the watercolor to give it a sketchy appearance, before applying another layer of darker colors. The final product is shown on the bottom left.
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I explored Isabelle’s work further in the contextual manner. This is a spin on Gil Pender’s rendezvous in the streets of Paris at night. From top: an example from Isabelle’s work. Below: Work in progresss of my piece. Right page: The finished work.
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The stormy relationship of Scott and Zelda was a fun topic to explore. Here is another piece of them in a symbolic game of chess. On left: I. Arsenault’s work from My Letter To The World. On right page: The complete work.
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This piece was partially inspired from this page of Isabelle Arsenault’s work (left side). I used the geometrical shapes and incoporated them into my own experimental piece. This drawing of mine depicts Adriana saying goodbye to Gil as she walks out from his life forever, away from the past and present. I achieved the blank areas in Gil Pender’s square by attaching masking tape before peeling them off after the ink around it has dried. Indian ink proved much difficult to control than watercolor but it has the wispy, untamable feel that I wanted.
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An attempt in visualizing a caged Adriana, who yearns for Paris’ Golden Era, the La Belle Epoque while she is really in the 20s. She believes that she will have a better life in the past, rather in the present, where she is in. The darkness around her represents the confusion and ruminations of her mind, while the vague silhouette of people standing around the cage symbolizes the world beyond hers.
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A boost in colors, and more typography I noticed that my recent pieces dictate a darker mood that did not convey the atmosphere of Midnight In Paris-romantic, light-hearted and classical. Further research down Isabelle Arsenault’s portfolio showed that she has produced vibrant and more uplifting works. (examples below)
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The selected typography that I inked in watercolor before including it digitally. They are quotes from the characters, some of them written individually by me. Attached above are the initial sketches for the type which will be used, and the final one is shown below.
This new breakthrough in my exploration brought back more ideas and color. It felt as if the previous dark pieces I created had painted a dim stupor upon myself and discovering this new vibrant direction had somewhat inspired me again.
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Final pieces with work progress My first piece was mostly on brown ink and watercolor, with color pencils for some hatching detail. I still wanted to retain the presence of typography in my work. Isabelle Arsenault’s influence is still present in my experimentation here but it is noticeably taking a back seat now as I slowly began developing a whole new visual language unique to myself.
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The second attempt was to do a dreamy portrayal of Paris. I used watercolor pencils for the intricate detailing.
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A monologue in Gil’s mind, illustrated out. One thing about monologues is that they are entirely open to interpret, and they are free for anyone to guess their meaning. I gave Gil Pender’s rumination a loose take on the scene where he and Inez kisses on a bridge in a lush, green garden. 61
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Scott Fitzgerald was someone special to Zelda. He rose above the sea of people and captivated her with his charm and talent. Both of them picked each other out from the world, but it was the same gift and emotion that blossomed into jealousy, hate and eventually death. I used the forest as a metaphor of the world, and two people who saw each other differently.
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Adriana wrote in her diary that she was in love with Gil. She knew of his pior marriage to Inez, and she spoke of her own predicaments. One line that stood out from her diary was that she dreamed Gil came to her, and professed his love. He also brought her a gift in the form of earrings. The word ‘dream’ alone is a fairly open word to interpret, and I drew it in the form of a bird soaring through the air, with a letter meant for Adriana.
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Interviews
An Inte�v�ew Wi� J��n R��co
Foreword: I have contacted John with interview questions of my own. He did reply, but apologized in kind that he was unable to answer them due to his current work schedule. He did however, linked me to a thorough interview session that he did earlier on. Interviewed by Julie (Jules) Danielson Jules: Are you an illustrator or author/illustrator? John: I still can’t believe that I have actually authored several books and someone would not be mistaken to introduce me as “the author, John Rocco.” I am an illustrator first and foremost. I became an author somewhat out of necessity. The second book I was contracted to illustrate was the Aesop fable, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, and to be completely honest I really didn’t like the kid in that story, so rather than say no to the possible book contract, I wrote my own version. Through that process, I discovered that I really enjoy writing. Jules: Can you list your books-to-date? John: Alice by Whoopi Goldberg and illustrated by me; 1992, Bantam Doubleday Del Wolf! Wolf!, written and illustrated by me; 2007, Disney-Hyperion Moonpowder, written and illustrated by me; 2008, Disney-Hyperion Fu Finds the Way, written and illustrated by me; 2009, Disney-Hyperion The Lightning Thief: Deluxe Illustrated Edition by Rick Riordan and illustrated by me; 2009, Disney-Hyperion Blackout, written and illustrated by me; 2011, Disney-Hyperion The Flint Heart by John and Katherine Paterson and illustrated by me; 2011, Candlewick Jules: What is your usual medium, or––if you use a variety—your preferred one? John: I like to use Berol Turquoise pencils on Strathmore Bristol paper (cold press) to do a tonal drawing, and then I scan it into my Mac and use Photoshop to apply the layers of color. Sometimes I will find or create textures to layer in as well. For example in my book Fu Finds the Way, I stained Bristol board with tea and then scanned it in (after it dried, of course!) and used those stains to give the images the aged look I was…er…looking for.
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Jules: If you have illustrated for various age ranges (such as, both picture books and early reader books OR, say, picture books and chapter books), can you briefly discuss the differences, if any, in illustrating for one age group to another? John: The majority of the work I do is either picture book illustration or middle grade fantasy fiction. When I am illustrating a picture book, I usually end up spending a lot of time doodling the characters or particular scenes, and eventually my hand begins to tell me what kind of look the book is calling for. You can see those differences clearly when you look at the more cartoony illustrations for Blackout and the more rendered, realistic images in Fu Finds the Way. You will also notice that in Blackout the page is more of a stage, like in theatre, where the characters come and go and we are the stationary audience. In my other books, like Fu Finds the Way and Moonpowder, the images are more cinematic, with dramatic angles and a variety of views. I think these types of images are easier for older children to engage with. When I create artwork for middle grade fiction, I usually let the manuscript dictate the type of imagery. Usually after reading the manuscript, images start to float to the surface for me. Very rarely are those images scenes from the book, but rather something that represents the forces at work in the book. For instance, for my very first cover, Rick Riordan’s The Lightning Thief, I was intrigued by the boy who was somewhat “stuck” between the forces of Zeus and Poseidon. Since the boy, Percy, was the Son of Poseidon, I chose to illustrate him standing in the raging water with the thunderclouds of Zeus looming above him, both forces of nature pressing in on the lone boy. I think many kids that age probably feel like that. I know I did. Jules: I see you do school visits. Tell me what they’re like. John: I really enjoy school visits, because those kids can really keep you on your toes! The questions they ask usually range from “Do you really know Rick Riordan?” to “Do you wanna see my scab?” My talks usually consist of a brief background: where I grew up, what my parents are like, and how discovered I liked drawing. Then I discuss all the different jobs I had before I started making books full-time. It is usually then that they discover I was an art director on Shrek and I designed theme park rides for Disney. (That’s when I have ‘em hooked!) The main ideas I try to get across in my talk is that my work doesn’t start off looking anything like the finished product. In fact, the drawings are downright horrible at first. So is the writing. But … if I keep re-working it and do it again and again and again … eventually I am able to create something that I am pleased with. I think too many children get frustrated if a drawing doesn’t come out the way they want it to on the first go, so they give up or they don’t draw at all. I try to show that, like them, I don’t get it right the first time either. I don’t get it right on the second time, or the third, or fourth. But each time I get a little closer and the more I do it, the better it gets. For the full interview, visit http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings/?p=2143
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An Inte�v�ew Wi� T��y DiTerlizzi
Foreword: Because Tony was busy with his next project, he was only able to answer a few of my questions. His assistant Ashley and Tony himself both put answers together for the Q&A I prepared. 1. Upon following your art blog, I have stumbled across some step-by-step process of your work for the Spiderwick Chronicles in photos. Could you describe briefly your work progress, from the initial idea to the final piece? The idea for Spiderwick was not new to Tony. He created a field guide to fantastical creatures when he was twelve, called “Gondawanaland”. When Tony first started to think about making it into a book he was not confident in his artistic technical ability and he put the project on hold until he strengthened his drawing and painting skills. During this time, he took a lot of life-drawing classes and frequented the Museum of Natural History where he copied many of the mounted animal specimens. It was here that he began to seriously think about goblins and fairies viewed through the eye of a naturalist as his next big book (Spiderwick). At last he had the opportunity to create a field guide with the help of my good friend, Holly. On top of the Arthur Spiderwick myth, they told the story of Jared, Simon and Mallory Grace – and how dangerous the real world of faeries can be. They then brought the idea to Simon & Schuster where Tony's editor helped figure how to present the tale. The plan turned out to be that the field guide would be released after the Story of Mallory, Jared & Simon was told through the 5 book series of The Spiderwick Chronicles. 2. The Search For WondLa takes a fairly different route from your fantasy roots. You have described it yourself as it being rather Star Wars-esque. Your art style in WondLa also differs greatly from The Spiderwick Chronicles. Would this be a style that you would explore further in your future works? Tony plans to use the artistic style found in WondLa for the rest of the series. He is unsure what or where his artwork will take off from after the series comes to a close. His experience creating the artwork for WondLa is an interested process to observe. He is currently working on the artwork for the 2nd book in the series. It involves a back and forth process involving pencil drawings and Photoshop.
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3. In 2008, you and Holly Black saw The Spiderwick Chronicles being adapted into a full-length feature film. Were you both involved in the filming process? How does it feel to have your creations being translated into a life action movie? Holly and Tony were both involved with the filming process of the Spiderwick Movie. Tony has mentioned quite a few times how fun and exciting the experience was for both him & Holly. Tony worked with some and met many of the Producers from Nickelodeon Movies & Paramount Pictures, as well as Chase Palmer (screenwriter) and Director Mark Waters. Tony and his wife Angela were both invited to check out the sets and film in progress. He loved the experience and is excited to get another whirl at it when The Search for WondLa movie takes off with Paramount Pictures.
Art by T. DiTerlizzi
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Notes & References DiTerlizzi, Tony. The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Completely Fantastical Edition. Simon & Schuster, 2009. DiTerlizzi, Tony. The Search For WondLa. Simon & Schuster, 2010. DiTerlizzi, Tony. Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide To The Fantastical World Around You. Simon & Schuster, 2005. Dickinson, Emily. Visions In Poetry: My Letters To The World and Other Stories, with Illustrations by Isabelle Arsenault. KCP Poetry, 2008. Colombani, Florence. Masters of Cinema: Woody Allen. Cahiers Du Cinema, 2010. Danielson, Julie. Seven Questions Over Breakfast with John Rocco. 31 May 2011. http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings/?p=2143 Larson, Abigail. http://www.abigaillarson.com/ Arsenault, Isabelle. http://www.isabellearsenault.com/ Natsume, Ono. http://www.sigikki.com/creators/natsumeono/index.shtml
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