Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/916056
88 P E R S P E C T I V E | J A N UA RY / F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 8 Once the conceptual work was done, Bill and I had to take it back to Disney and tell them a story. Happily, they loved what we had done and were very supportive of this visual journey. Now we just had to deliver this whole world we'd dreamt up. From this small beginning grew a mammoth Art Department led by Supervising Art Director Niall Moroney, Senior Art Directors Nick Gottschalk and James Foster, and supported by a crew of hundreds. While devising the look for the characters, I was also creating the look for the whole world of the film. In these early days, I had a great close-knit team of key people to help; Senior Art Director James Foster, assistant Martha Parker and concept artists/illustrators Eva Kuntz, Karl Simon Gustafsson, and Joanna Bush. Key illustrators Eva, Simon and Joanna all had very differing styles and moods to their work that suited the moments that they illustrated really well. Joanna Bush, who was based in LA and I had previously worked with on The Soloist, did all of the "real world," the village, Belle's house and the countryside, where her attention to detail and her sense of colour and light was a perfect match. Eva worked mainly on the woods, castle grounds and the exterior of the castle, and a lot of the action sequences. Her work is full of narrative movement and mood. Simon concentrated on the interiors of the castle, where he expertly captured the essence of the curse. His illustrations were really clear, and a great starting point for the technical work it would take to achieve them. Over ninety final key illustrations were done for the complete picture, along with the design work on all the key characters. The digital effects houses Framestore and ILM were also working on developing the characters, and they came up with some splendid early animations of the household staffers. Katie and I really enjoyed working with all the talented artists and animators that we are usually separated from on a typical production. Rococo, where everything is very exuberant and organic, could illustrate the effect of the enchantment slowly growing as the curse strengthens. A primary inspiration was La Belle et la Bête, the 1946 film by Jean Cocteau, whose influence remained present in the final film. The "lend a hand lights" (as Katie describes them) outside the main entrance that bonk the villagers on the head were pure Cocteau, along with the circular colonnade around the rose garden, which was heavily influenced by the colonnade that Cocteau filmed at Chateau Raray in the Loire. The sculpted animals are based on the original animals along the top of an A. Illustration of the enchanted ballroom by Karl Simon Gustafsson. B. Hand drafted elevation of typical ballroom wall by senior draughtsman Matt Robinson. C. Set photo of a ballroom wall and alcove. D. Illustration of Belle's bedroom by Karl Simon Gustafsson. A