In early summer 2006
The Tale of Desperaux was in pre-production in London's Soho. I had read the book & while not so taken by the plot I was fascinated by some of the characters individual stories-particularly Gregory the gaoler. I thought him & his dungeon environment very cinematic & wanted to be involved with the project in some capacity.
I contacted the production office & showed them this painting I had made of Gregory. Apparently there were no more positions in Story so they agreed to give me a try-out in the art dept. I thought I could contribute to character design but the style of the film was very realistic & my more flat style was inappropriate.
Nevertheless I did enjoy researching the Flemish masters & trying to incorporate some of their forms & style into my drawing.
The Production Design dept. was looking for layout artists to design this Brueghel-like world. I brain-stormed a bunch of sketches suggesting what common kitchen items might the mice have appropriated to build their town. However, realistic, correct-perspective drawings were sought but I really wanted to work on the characters -they were much more fun to draw!
In the end Production appreciated my efforts to help but there wasn't a position suitable for me (or vice versa). I went to France instead . . .
I contacted the production office & showed them this painting I had made of Gregory. Apparently there were no more positions in Story so they agreed to give me a try-out in the art dept. I thought I could contribute to character design but the style of the film was very realistic & my more flat style was inappropriate. 
Nevertheless I did enjoy researching the Flemish masters & trying to incorporate some of their forms & style into my drawing.
The Production Design dept. was looking for layout artists to design this Brueghel-like world. I brain-stormed a bunch of sketches suggesting what common kitchen items might the mice have appropriated to build their town. However, realistic, correct-perspective drawings were sought but I really wanted to work on the characters -they were much more fun to draw!
In the end Production appreciated my efforts to help but there wasn't a position suitable for me (or vice versa). I went to France instead . . .
