May 2000 (#125)
Source: Mad Movies
The Lord of the Rings: Chronicle of a foretold Masterpiece
Peter Jackson's adaptation of Tolkien's
work was an event a long time before the first
scene was shot. Now that some shots of the Lord of the Rings are
totally achieved
(and are totally sublime), here is explained the long pre-production
of the movie, time
where all is decided … and drawn.
John Howe, the visual concept.
It's not surprising to see the names of
John Howe and Alan Lee in the visual
conception of Peter Jackson's movie. Those 2 illustrators share
between them indeed
the paternity of the most *official* pictures of the universe
of the Lord of the Rings, and
perhaps also the more living, the more concrete. John Howe recently
was a member
of the jury of the Festival of Fantastic Movies held by his adoptive-city
of Neuchâtel [in
Switzerland], for which he drew the poster, of course. We asked
him to share with us
some of his memories of working on a project that make us vibrate
from impatience.
He very kindly agreed to unveil part of it, in the limits of his
discretion duty.
Interview by Rafik Djoumi.
What is your upbringing?
A more or less steady and straight one,
Art schools, then work. I grown up in Canada,
then I studied in France, in Strasbourg, and I now live in Switzerland.
When I was
young, I liked Heroic Fantasy. I was feeding on it. But art was
not a premeditated
choice. I've always drawn, I've never stopped it, and I've just
searched a job in which I
could do it. I began with children books, as it's where you find
the biggest demand. I've
chased after Tolkien's editor for a long time. I went as far as
Frankfurt, in pictures
exhibitions, to show my work, only to be told every time that
I should come back the
next year. At last, I published something in a calendar in 1987.
Then, I got a first
request for the cover of The Hobbit in paperback. That went on
until the end of Middle
Earth's history, some 20 covers later. Alan Lee and myself, we
were very closely
associated to these books. The Gandalf that everybody knows became
a picture that
cannot be dissociated from the novel. Which causes me to worry
about its use.
How did Peter Jackson hire you?
We got a phone call from him at 3AM, due
to time lag. My wife and myself were
delighted. Of course, there's always a *Wait, I will think about
this* on principle, but we
were consenting. After that, we couldn't sleep during the whole
night. Later, my wife
our child and myself went to New Zealand. It was 2 years ago.
We did 2 stays of 6
months there.
What was your timetable there?
We were constantly meeting with Peter Jackson
and his wife. During the time where
he re-wrote the script, we saw him less often, but otherwise we
saw him every day.
Whatever, there was little chance we could progress in the dark
on a matter he
wouldn't have studied before. He keeps an eye on everything and
has a good
memory. For every meeting, every set and scenery, we were sketching
all the day. We
were making daily 5 to 10 big drawings. The purpose was to submit
ideas. So, the
drawing itself wasn't important, even if it needed some finishing
touches: the idea
was of prime importance. Then Jackson came back and we showed
him the
sketches. We discussed them, reviewed all, and remained in this
environment as
long as we hadn't found something that suited him. Jackson is
a rather amazing
person. He always likes to be surprised, delighted. Despite his
preconceived ideas,
he doesn't come with a definite idea, which we have to conform
to. He wants that
people go really deep inside themselves; it's very stimulating.
Sometimes, we didn't
find at all what Jackson was looking for. For instance, the Uruk
Hai took time; but we
weren't alone on the job. There was also a team of 6/7 designers
who took care of the
creatures, the armours, and the weapons; and we took part at the
collaboration with
them. When Jackson already had in mind a picture that existed,
it was rather short.
But when he wanted something original, we had to really rack our
brains. It went this
way for a long time, before he began the realisation of scale
models and this kind of
things. Then, we worked on the models and the sets.
Had you read the script?
Yes. But I personally cannot judge what
makes a good script. However, I realised that
the less interesting things of the book had a whole new life when
they were put into
dialogue.
Did you work on the 3 movies?
Alan lee and myself divided this universe
between us. As his children are adults, he
remained in New Zealand. We roughed out the whole together. I
designed the inside
and outside of Bag End, and especially Barad Dur, Minas Morgul
and all this kind of
places. But there wasn't any exclusive right. If we had an idea
to submit, nothing
prevented us to do it. We were meddling with everything, nearly
everything, as the
costumes have been designed later. When the various scenarios
were more defined,
we had more often to go into other departments to give our opinion.
Near the end, we
passed perhaps some 2-3 hours drawing, and the rest of the day
we went to see
what was going on next door. Everybody was working in the same
building, a kind of
huge maze-warehouse rebuilt, filled with designers, sculptors,
prosthetics-makers,
model-makers… A real creative bath. There wasn't any closed
department. Everything
goes from one room to the other, and you're only some steps ahead
of the computer
room. Peter Jackson really made there an astounding installation.
He invested in a lot
of things to build his big studio. He went to work cycling 15
years ago; now, he's
bought all. He always refused proposals to go in the US. He wants
to do things at
home, in Wellington. And it's there that's he's the toughest.
He makes people come to
him. What he managed to do is very impressive.
How did you manage the fans' expectation?
I think Jackson doesn't really care about
it. He's a creator, a director. He says himself
that one doesn't need to burn the books when one goes buy the
ticket at the theatre.
He is very modest about it. He doesn't claim to make a definitive
version of the book.
He makes his own movie. I know I do the same when I draw, otherwise,
one would
work upside down. On one hand, Jackson obeys to his producers,
because they give
the money, but on the other hand he has his own conviction about
many subjects. But
I think he should restrain himself a bit, because they want that
a young audience
could see the film too. And you know Pete's movies… Though,
he's able to film
people, human beings, in a very sensible way, and I believe that,
if he gets what he
wants, it will be very spectacular.