About a famous 1980s movie's Production Design and the great power of analog special effects.
Every generation has its own iconic motion pictures, bigger or smaller, which have a certain pop-cultural influence. These can be movies for an adult audience, teenagers or children, simple action or adventure features, philosophical works of art, musicals, or something between all of them. As I already wrote about in some of my previous posts and introductions to the Production Design issue, there are several films that had a very basic influence on my creative work and thoughts.
One of them was the adaptation of german writer Michael Ende's "The Neverending Story" in 1984. A german-american co-production, directed by Wolfgang Petersen.
For me, this movie is another essential example of extraordinary Production Design and it especially shows the advantages of analog, "hand-made" special effects. I've also chosen this one because you can feel again the filmmakers' great ambition to achieve technical brilliance and create a perfect illusion, based on Ende's book which is already an exceptional piece of fictional inspiration and fantasy literature.
Michael Ende (1929-1995) himself was never satisfied with the theatrical version.
Every generation has its own iconic motion pictures, bigger or smaller, which have a certain pop-cultural influence. These can be movies for an adult audience, teenagers or children, simple action or adventure features, philosophical works of art, musicals, or something between all of them. As I already wrote about in some of my previous posts and introductions to the Production Design issue, there are several films that had a very basic influence on my creative work and thoughts.
One of them was the adaptation of german writer Michael Ende's "The Neverending Story" in 1984. A german-american co-production, directed by Wolfgang Petersen.
For me, this movie is another essential example of extraordinary Production Design and it especially shows the advantages of analog, "hand-made" special effects. I've also chosen this one because you can feel again the filmmakers' great ambition to achieve technical brilliance and create a perfect illusion, based on Ende's book which is already an exceptional piece of fictional inspiration and fantasy literature.
Michael Ende (1929-1995) himself was never satisfied with the theatrical version.
He criticized the director's aesthetical interpretations and was upset about it, as he stated in several interviews before his death in 1995. Of course, such statements always "separate" the film from it's literary origins. Nevertheless, the film became a cult phenomenon and was critically acclaimed.
Until now, everytime when I work on a landscape model or a drawing, some details and notions from this film's Production Design and Art Direction still inspire me.
This is the story of Bastian Bux, a young boy who lives with his father. His mother died some time ago. He's a loner and an avid reader who frequently escapes into his own fantasy worlds. One day, he discovers a book called "The Neverending Story" in a mysterious book store and "borrows" it, by running away with it.
He learns about "Fantasia", a realm, based on human fantasies which is comprehensively described on the hundreds of pages, and follows the adventures of Atreyu, the main protagonist of the book's story, who's commissioned to find a cure against a mighty, mysterious force which is destroying Fantasia. Atreyu is a young (obviously light-skinned) indian boy, riding a horse called Atax, who acts and fights like an adult warrior. Bastian becomes more and more obsessed by the book and finally he discovers that Atreyu is a kind of fictional mirror image of himself, shortly before Fantasia is definitely about to get erased.
Until now, everytime when I work on a landscape model or a drawing, some details and notions from this film's Production Design and Art Direction still inspire me.
This is the story of Bastian Bux, a young boy who lives with his father. His mother died some time ago. He's a loner and an avid reader who frequently escapes into his own fantasy worlds. One day, he discovers a book called "The Neverending Story" in a mysterious book store and "borrows" it, by running away with it.
He learns about "Fantasia", a realm, based on human fantasies which is comprehensively described on the hundreds of pages, and follows the adventures of Atreyu, the main protagonist of the book's story, who's commissioned to find a cure against a mighty, mysterious force which is destroying Fantasia. Atreyu is a young (obviously light-skinned) indian boy, riding a horse called Atax, who acts and fights like an adult warrior. Bastian becomes more and more obsessed by the book and finally he discovers that Atreyu is a kind of fictional mirror image of himself, shortly before Fantasia is definitely about to get erased.
The real world
Mainly, Bastian's real world consists of a big modern city, his home and the attic of his school building, where he starts to read the book.
The casual look of his everyday life is authentic, urban and bright lighted.
Mainly, Bastian's real world consists of a big modern city, his home and the attic of his school building, where he starts to read the book.
The casual look of his everyday life is authentic, urban and bright lighted.
Even when Bastian is chased by some bullies and gets thrown into a trash container, some daylight is always visible and nothing seems quiet surrealistic. When his father has a serious talk with him about finally growing up, facing the "real" problems of life, the kitchen interior truly supports this issue in a subtle and at the same time very simple way. The ambient, orchestral music of the opening credits already seems forgotten and Bastian (very well casted as the sensitive, shy boy: Barret Oliver) has no other choice than agreeing with his business-suited father who rarely talks to him in general.
When Bastian escapes from the bullies, he enters an old book store by incident and gets confronted with its grumpy, almost frightening owner. But the old man can't prevent him from taking "The Neverending Story" with him. The book store is an archetypical version of it. Hundreds of piled books, old papers and the smoke of the owner's pipe give you a first glimpse at the mood of another world which Bastian is about to discover soon.
When Bastian escapes from the bullies, he enters an old book store by incident and gets confronted with its grumpy, almost frightening owner. But the old man can't prevent him from taking "The Neverending Story" with him. The book store is an archetypical version of it. Hundreds of piled books, old papers and the smoke of the owner's pipe give you a first glimpse at the mood of another world which Bastian is about to discover soon.
I personally would've loved to step into such a book store, when I was a kid. It seems to be a true paradise of stored knowledge and mysteries, hidden in a dark corner of the modern, bright world.
Bastian's school and its attic remind me a lot of my own primary school back then. It was a 90-year old school building, renovated during several decades and the attic was as big, dusty and creepy as the one in the movie. Although the skeletons and padded animal bodies (combined with strong lightning in some scenes) are a bit over the top, the design of the attic is well done and authentic. Until today, I can remember the dust, lying on old gym equipment, kept in my old school's attic - Bastian uses one of the same gym pads to sit on it in the movie.
Bastian's school and its attic remind me a lot of my own primary school back then. It was a 90-year old school building, renovated during several decades and the attic was as big, dusty and creepy as the one in the movie. Although the skeletons and padded animal bodies (combined with strong lightning in some scenes) are a bit over the top, the design of the attic is well done and authentic. Until today, I can remember the dust, lying on old gym equipment, kept in my old school's attic - Bastian uses one of the same gym pads to sit on it in the movie.
Creatures in the woods
The first scene which Bastian reads about in the book introduces four inhabitants of Fantasia, resting in the middle of some mysterious woods (its original german name: "Haulewald"). The fifth one, called "Stonebiter" just arrives.
The first scene which Bastian reads about in the book introduces four inhabitants of Fantasia, resting in the middle of some mysterious woods (its original german name: "Haulewald"). The fifth one, called "Stonebiter" just arrives.
The woods and these animal- and human-like characters give you an impressive, first glimpse at the visual mood and the characteristics of the movie. Real actors, combined with animatronic technique, puppeteers, and a lot of traditional painting, crafting and carpenters' work create this place in the middle of massive trees, grass and deep darkness. The textures of the environment and the creatures' bodies, including the giant Stonebiter, fit perfectly.
In my opinion, it's an ideal combination of techniques, camera perspectives and the very rare use of music in that scene. Every further scene of the movie consists of these methods and styles of creating a strange, but authentic world, just like that first one.
Many great things are yet to come.
To be continued ... ;-)
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