Page 65 - Star Wars Insider #182

INTERVIEW: DOUG CHIANG
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He has created this thing that’s 05 Supervising
really broad and different, but the detailing
of a life-sized
where everything makes sense battle droid
and all fits together. There’s a prop.
lot of homework that goes into
06 Chiang on the
that, which people sometimes miniature
overlook. To take the ordinary podracer
hangar set.
and turn it into something so
extraordinary. That’s a talent
SWI182_062-067_FEAT_DougChiangPT2-LFLapproved.indd
SWI182_062-067_FEAT_DougChiangPT2-LFLapproved.indd
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that I really admire, and I still
try to emulate it today.” (2005). Then, in 2007, he joined
In 2002, Chiang left Lucasfi lm
to launch his own venture, the
boutique design fi rm IceBlink
Studios, which contributed pioneering motion-capture
to blockbuster movies such movies Mars Needs Moms (2011)
as Robert Zemeckis’ The Polar
Express (2004) and Steven At the same time, he was also
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HEROES
“I always looked up to Ralph
McQuarrie and Joe Johnston,”
says Chiang. “They were always
at the pinnacle of who I aspired
to be in terms of an artistic
fi lm designer. During my fi rst
year at ILM, Joe Johnston was
working with Spielberg on
Always (1989) and he was often
in his offi ce doing storyboards.
I was afraid to bug him, but I
would sneak in when he wasn’t
there and look at all of his
storyboards, which he would
always pin up on the wall. It was
just great to see him work. I
was too afraid to really engage
in any serious conversation with
him, but it was great!
“When I started working
on Star Wars in 1995, I fi nally
got to meet Ralph McQuarrie,
and that was really amazing.
I actually got to know him
pretty well, and spent quite
a bit of time with him, really
picking his brain. He was such a
nurturing, mentoring artist, and
so generous with his time. It
was so great to hear his stories
about how he started out,
how he started working with
George, and how he designed
certain things. Through that,
my admiration for him grew
even further. For me, he is
the Star Wars aesthetic. And
to really get to know him—to
understand how he thought
and how he approached
design—was really incredible.
“Ralph’s thumbnail sketches
were most impressive for me,
because there is an economy
of design that is so effi cient. He
could convey so much with so
little. That’s something that I
think is lost on a lot of younger
artists now. At fi rst glance you
can say, ‘Oh, that’s easy.’ But,
fi nding that clarity is so hard.
He just makes it look simple. It’s
something that I keep chasing,
even today. So much of what
he did, including non-Star Wars
projects, is just so strong.”
Spielberg’s War of the Worlds
Zemeckis’ new joint venture
with Disney, ImageMovers
Digital, and worked on the
and A Christmas Carol (2009).
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07/06/2018 10:54