The China Experience – Post 5

I’m back from China.

It is necessary to write a final post about my experience. It is difficult.  I realize now there is no finality to working in a country like China therefore no illuminating conclusions. At best there is an opening of questions.  

The film industry there gave me an insight into China’s hunger for escapism through success.

One young man described China as without hope. He asked if I thought it ironic that China looked to America and saw Hollywood instead of seeing justice or freedom. It surprised me as much as him. Perhaps my surprise was at his own clarity. 

I was interviewed a number of times. I was asked what I thought of Chinese Cinema and how China could be more like Hollywood?  The Chinese took great pride in their status as the 'soon to be' greatest film market in the world and eagerly want the worlds attention. They are worthy of attention. They also desperately want to make films to rival the (American) films they love. How can we do it I was asked?

My thoughts on Chinese film were difficult to address. I am guilty of knowing very little Chinese cinema history. I thought it odd actually. Why? I have found, Italian, French, Japanese, Korean even Indian film so much more accessible. I answered that film was as accessible through story as it was through a lineage of filmmaking. Lineage will take time. The Cultural Revolution left a break in Chinese Cinema lineage. It will take time for artists to build the necessary bridge.  

The above task of course may be difficult when enthusiasm is channeled toward commanding a market place rather than embracing cinema as an artistic discussion.  I found it difficult to answer the question of how does China match Hollywood? Deep down I though it was the wrong question.  The best I could answer was that they were already doing everything they should. Making movies and investing in artists is the only way I know of to improve in making movies.  I hope it's the path toward great movies.

I was able to identify the strengths of their art department and construction as well as their weaknesses around leadership.  I had a great time developing a design language and a creative structure with the artists in my team. The artists were outstanding. A few rivaled anyone in the world. There was no lack of talent and creativity.  Channeling it in the right direction was the key. I hope I instilled confidence in those artists as well as the producers to empower them further.

I suspect the Chinese film industry is more mature than it knows. Like anywhere in the world it is trying to find a balance between art and industry when in reality there is no balance between the two. It is in its nature a conflict, rather than a communion, that bears fruit. At the moment the China Industry is a heavyweight. Soon, I suspect, the world will meet the artists that can match that weight class. I can't wait!

The young man I spoke of earlier had said ‘China is without hope. We can’t trust the air. We can’t trust the food. We can’t live off our earnings.  The only hope we have is getting rich.  That’s what the Hollywood images promises. Wealth.

No wonder there is a hungry market for movies. Escapism is in high demand. But aren't we all guilty of this?  Fortunately in my experience there is a great deal to be hopeful about.  The people I met in that pursuit of success were also hungry to make great work. They wanted to make art and potentially something that China would be proud of.  They want Films the world would take notice of.  In that journey there will be much more to success to discover than just wealth. I learnt a great deal and am honored to have had the experience to develop filmmaking a little further with an outstanding team.

I look forward to the show. I have no doubt it’ll smash records in China. The footage was outstanding.  How they are pulling it off still leaves me in awe. As I said in the beginning this doesn’t feel like an ending. Instead I have had an insight. An involvement in something far too big for me to fathom. The experience will resonant for a long time. The impact will be clearer in time with the benefit of hindsight and hopefully a stack of great Chinese films to watch.

Cool Poster for SyFy's 'Childhoods End'

'The Boy' Teaser Poster and Trailer Released.

Midway through last year I got the chance to do the character design for 'The Boy'. Here he is in the recently released trailer. I can't watch creepy films but pretty fun to contribute to them :). I may just have to bring myself to watch this one. I love this image. So Great! :) And the script was fantastic. this film will be one helluva ride. :) Link the the trailer here too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPxybc_aJWU

Ice Fantasy - First Character Costume Pics Released.

The Kickstarter for Warrior Nun has begun.

Here it is. The Kickstarter for Warrior Nun has begun.  :)

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1921485789/ben-dunns-warrior-nun-areala-is-jumping-onto-the-b/description

The China Experience – Post 4

Jade and Finn went home after a great visit to China. The time went too quick.

The project continues to go well. The shooting crew arrived on a new set today, 'The Doctor's Nation' and it was great to see them so excited by the new playground they had for themselves.  There are three units going at the moment. They’re all on great sets. The rushes are looking good. I was amazed by a promo reel with completed effects. Damn! It looks great! Perhaps a little ‘300’ in its graphic CG approach but certainly stunning.  It was a relief to see the art dept sets working so well within the whole.  All signs are very promising for a great finished product.

The middle of the construction period is an interesting one.  Much resource has been exhausting bringing the quality up. Some sets delayed.  Construction have a much clearer picture now of what is expected…I think the job is all the more daunting for it.  The biggest builds still to come. We’re finding ways to drive forward.

The crew really are doing a brilliant job. It’s a pleasure to see them learning some of the differences in my approach to their own.  Lately I’m preaching the concept of getting things wrong before getting it right.  I can’t help it. It’s the artist in me. I want to embrace the accidents as opportunities rather than problems.  So far I’m proving correct. The best results almost always come from the biggest problems. It’s a credit to the team and their adaptability.

What next?

A massive blossom forest and ice lake is underway. Looking good. The ice lake is a new process so experimenting with approaches.  Ice Nation Square is the size of a football field. Five sound stages are filled with two completed and three works in progress.

Tomorrow I need a badly needed rejuvenation through someone else’s art. So I’m off to Beijing’s art district tomorrow to get some inspiration. Can’t wait! :)

More to come…

The China Experience - Post 3

I’m a few months in now. Changes and improvements are happening all the time. I’ve brought in new art directors and shifted crew around to focus on quality. In NZ we have a scenic department very independent of construction. This makes for easy testing and development. Here though the scenic team is with construction and begin only once build is complete. Their lead-time to develop look and technique is very small. Getting it wrong is part of the process but getting things wrong close to shooting can create some anxiety in the crew I’m looking to avoid. We’re getting by with the system as is but insisting on more testing earlier in the process.

Location Build all going great. Studio work a little slower.  Shooting is going fast but smooth. And VFX and Edit is happening on the run but the results look strong.

I’m becoming increasingly aware of the crews desire to do more work in the future. I was told a Beijing proverb last night. It described the difficulty of spotting someone in a Beijing crowd. If you do find someone it is significant…perhaps karma. Looking at the potential of China filmmaking is like looking for someone in an enormous crowd. I know they’re there but I can’t yet see them. I’m not sure where all this is leading and to be honest I’m also a little nervous.  My home is in NZ but there is such a strong desire here for international connection that I feel I must explore what that connection might be. The next few months will reveal more and I hope my contribution goes some way to building the connections so desired.

For now here's a IMDB Link to the series so you can see some of the great cast involved. And a few pics from the journey :)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5022298/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Warrior Nun is gaining traction!

A little project I started a while back is moving forward and seeking crowd funding. Warrior Nun is gaining traction!

Check out the Link  www.warriornun.com for more of the story, some art from me and others as we'll as a sizzle reel of the film fighting style.

This one is a little crazy and a lotta fun.  Making the art for it was a real pleasure. I was introduced to the team through my connection with Lakeshore entertainment having worked on the design of Underworld 3.  AJ Anilla is as cool a director as they get and I can't wait to see more movies from him. If you haven't already do hunt down 'Sauna'.

Anyway enjoy the link, the art and the concept. Signup for the goodies and if you feel so inclined the crowd funding that begins 30th September, Do it!

The China experience - post 2

I'm becoming increasingly aware of the looming shoot. Major changes afoot. The art department has grown with an additional team of designers draughtsman and construction managers. A team of over 200 builders, sculptors and painters have descended upon one location. On another a forest is  getting covered in snow. A giant tree is proving a difficult concept for sculptors but improves with each additional pass. The directors entourage was in the dozens today. My day is full just making my way from set to set. Fortunately the design process consists of offers from designers that I can direct. On paper the work is great. The challenge is in the realisation. A stunt unit starts shooting in 2 days and main unit on the 15th. In China the impossible may just be possible. 

The cultural experience has been a mix of amazing hospitality combined with a 'lost in translation' otherworldness. The first few weeks consisted of nightly banquets. All delicious. We constantly toast Chinese wine, red wine and whiskey. The theory - we get to know each other quicker if we get a little drunk. Beijing is famous for its Peking duck, bbq trout and whole bbq lamb. I now know why. Mongolian lamb hotpot and bbq is a favourite. We dined at Beijing's most elite restaurant. King crab the like I will never see again, squid ink soup, lobster just a few of the dozen dishes I've experienced. One lunch we sat next to a wedding in progress. The bride and groom rocked out to uptown girl! All the guests smoking and drinking. There was an oddly familiar mix of old and new that made me think of the opening wedding of 'The Godfather'. 

The press conference announcing the show was a series of interviews with web and print media and meetings with stars and author of the book. Surreal at times. People were so excited about the event apparently tickets were being scalped for NZ$3k a ticket. The stars all beautiful and charismatic. 

I spend long days on the road between locations watching the country speed by. Beijing has been hot and dry and there is too much smog. But often there is little, especially now for the commemorative celebrations. Beijings mountains are beautiful when it rains. I'm looking forward to a cool winter. The drive to Mongolia saw a shifting world between mountainous to industrial landscapes of cooling towers and apartment blocks. Construction is happening everywhere. The scale of it stuns me a little. From NZ everything looks comprehensible. From here I wonder at how little I comprehend. With each day though a logic to this place seems to form. Mongolia itself is a familiar landscape. A New Zealander would feel at home here if not for the fact that the Savannah goes on forever. As we neared a lake I realised the ground was covered in grass coloured camouflaged frogs. Perhaps 1 every metre in every direction. The landscape one minute vast and empty became minute and abundant. 

I haven't spent much time in Beijing centre at all. My reality is working at the studio and living in a surreal 5star hotel close by. The staff speak little English but we seem to make do with little connection. The Chinese food is great and the attempts at western food make you all the more homesick for burger fuel.  Fortunately they do a mean banana split. Often the breakfast lounge is full of a massive buffet but I eat alone or I have the gym to myself in the evening. It is at times a ghost town. The surrealness is amplified by the fact that Mike Tyson, stone cold Steve Austin and Steven Segal are shooting at the same studios. So I'm either in the gym alone or with Mike Tyson on the treadmill next to me and Steve Austin doing weights. Everyone seems out of place. Sometimes  Even the staff seem to have no idea how they got here.

What next? I'm endlessly busy and building stronger ties everyday with the crew. I think my role and contribution is clear. My mandarin improves with new words every day. I am always made to feel welcome and there is an eagerness to learn matched by a pride that the Chinese way will amaze me. It does. 

Jade and finn will be joining me soon. We'll move to Beijing and I'll be commuting to the studios. So from here the adventure will continue with lots more new things to take in sharing it with the people I love most.

The China experience - post 1

• For the past month I have been working for Youhug Media from the China Film Group Studios (CFG) just outside of Beijing. The project is titled ‘Ice Fantasy’. It is a Television Series adaptation of the Novel of the same name from Jing Ming Guo China’s most successful author of young adult fiction. 

  
  

  The series will consist of 50 x 40min Episodes. It is no understatement to say that this is an epic undertaking. This will be the largest and most expensive fantasy series produced by a Chinese company. I find myself right in the middle it.

  
  

  This began earlier in the year when Dan Hennah (Production Designer, The Hobbit) was invited to production design for the series. I, along with artist Anthony Allen, joined Dan for 3 months in the production of concept art. That was, for the time, the end of my involvement. 3 months later Dan, alongside the Director and cast, was asked to attend a press conference in Beijing announcing the series. I was asked to join him and to then stay on as Supervising Art Director.  

  
  

  And so here I am entering a project in the middle of pre production. I’ve been charged with the role of delivering set designs and construction of the concept design laid out by Dan. The producer’s aim is to create a series that is unique in appearance. Therefore I am working with the Chinese art directors and art department to create environments unfamiliar to Chinese audiences at a quality of design and finish not before seen in Chinese television. The result will be neither Chinese nor western but rather uniquely ‘Ice Fantasy’.

  
  

  I hit the ground running.  The design was slipping back into something safely Chinese.  Revisions to work already in progress were required quickly and a whole new direction for the designs to follow.  Dan was here for a week as we broke down, with the Director and producers, what was needed. One other New Zealander Juan Robertson, a VFX artist, was with us in the role of set designer.  

  
  

  Already we have four sound stages at CFG with enormous sets underway. We have a back lot with a constructed forest and a wet set of ocean cliffs nearing completion. Off site another 2 stages have equally large and complex sets underway. Additionally 3 major set builds on locations are under development. The first two are within 3hrs drive of Beijing. The final location I visited only yesterday in the beautiful Savannah of Mongolia. The number of builds on this is comparable only to the biggest productions I’ve been involved with.  Over the next 5 months we will be in a constant state of build and turn around for a demanding shooting schedule.

  
  

  The team here is excellent and stepping up to the task of trying new techniques. We’ve quickly improved rock texture through the use of molds and polyurethane to replace carved polystyrene. The sculpting team is full of talent. After working with scenic painters I’ve found they needed minimal input before proving quickly they know how to create very exciting work. Some of the construction methods are surprising to me but the speed of build is unparalleled and the result exactly the framework required. 

  
  

  Generally the approach to art department here is as familiar as anywhere in the world.  Holding it together to a singular vision is as always the challenge.  So far so good. The next 5 months is going be an experience!!

Shadowlands - Work in Progress

Last year while I was in Melbourne working on 'The Moon and the Sun' I wrote a children's Fairy Tale.  It's been bubbling away in my imagination since and here's the first picture.

I'm not sure what the final book will even look like yet. Lots to draw and explore.  And it'll take time in between other work.  But it's a start and hopefully it will reveal itself in due course.

Update on Work

Shanghai Gig has been pushed. So development for now has ended.  Looking to join a scifi project very soon. Waiting on Green light.

Next steps... there's some art I've got a real itch to produce so may be up-dating with some posts on that soon.

Also had some interest from a Producer/distributor team at Cannes in a story concept of mine. Exciting times ahead.

Syfy's Childhood's End HQ | Trailer 2015

Absolutely Anything Trailer

Robin Williams' Last Role: 'Absolutely Anything' Exclusive Clip

Childhood's End 2015 Syfy trailer

Chinese Fantasy - New project

Just this week I've started on a new project. Can't say much yet but it's entering into a massive fantasy world. I Look forward to sharing more about the process as it develops. The production will be based largely out of China, for now though am fortunate to be home working from Wellington.

'The Boy' - Goes into Pre Prod.

'The Boy' from director William Brent Bell has gone into Pre production. 

I was fortunate to do a bit of artwork for this. Excited to see where it all leads. I think this is gonna be freaking cool!

From hollywood reporter: The script, written by Stacey Menear, centers on a nanny  who is tasked with overseeing a lifelike doll by a bizarre couple who treat it as a real child. The couple use the doll as way to cope with the death of their young son, but the nanny becomes increasingly convinced that it is alive.

Bell is posting some great pics on Twitter so follow him to see this one develop.

2:22 Starts shooting

'A man whose life is derailed when an ominous pattern of events repeats 
itself in exactly the same manner every day, ending at precisely 2:22 p.m. 
He falls for a beautiful woman whose life is threatened by these strange 
events, forcing him to solve the mystery of 2:22.'

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/game-of-thrones-star-michiel-huisman-gets-call-for-222-1201419226/

I've been involved with this thriller for some time now. It started shooting at Fox in Sydney this week with a great Director, Cast and Crew. My role is almost complete. Just wrapping up final conceptual work. I had a wonderful experience working with the whole team but especially the previs and animation team. This mini crew was formed from a small unlikely bunch of kiwis doing outstanding work.

Look forward to sharing more details of this project as it comes to light.  For now though I am back in NZ, home in Wellington taking on the next challenges. All went quiet on the blog for a while there. Its been an intense few months delivering what I think will be an outstanding film.

Untitled Large Pencil Drawing - WIP

Here's a large drawing I started last year.  I haven't touched it for a few months as I've been prepping a film that shoots in Sydney very soon.

I'm looking forward to getting back to it.  There's a ton of work left in it. Elements have been taken from Murals of Diego Rivera, Michelangelo's Adam and Eve in the Sistine Chapel, Greek mythology and astrological sign.

I'll discuss the work in more detail as it develops. It's good to share a first piece of work for 2015.