Page 68 - Star Wars Insider #181

INTERVIEW: DOUG CHIANG 03

school, is of being known as the 01
class artist. At that time, I never
really thought of it as a career. It
was just a way for me to express
myself, because I didn’t have
many friends and I didn’t go out
that much. But I remember being
enamored by the idea of creating
characters and worlds. So, a lot of
my drawings were about creating
stories and illustrating them.”
Chiang continued drawing
into his teens, but never took
02
formal lessons or considered it an
intended vocation until a fateful
trip to a Michigan movie theater
changed everything. “I was 15
when I saw Star Wars in 1977,”
Chiang says with a smile in his
voice. “A New Hope was pivotal
for me, because during that time
I was really starting to be exposed
to cinema. Things like Star Wars
and the stop-motion animation
of Ray Harryhausen started to
open my eyes, because they were
inventing worlds—doing things
that I was kind of doing on my
own, with my illustrations.” 01 An acrylic documentary, which further
Trips to the library introduced painting of a opened his eyes. “I saw people
futuristic car
the young Chiang to the specifi cs concept by doing things that I wanted to
of Harryhausen’s technique, and Chiang do, and it really made me realize,
(1990).
inspired him to devise and make ‘OK, this could be a possible
his own movies with his Super-8 03 Young Doug career path. This is something
film camera. “That became the Chiang that I really want to pursue.’”

animating
foundation of my education as I Already an avid reader, Chiang
stop-motion
started to make little short fi lms,” puppets for became devoted to the science-
he explains. “I spent a lot of my a short film fi ction fi lm magazine, Starlog.
(1978).
weekends during the summer “That magazine became my bible

animating them and discovering 03 A concept for filmmaking,” he recalls. “It
sketch for

how to tell stories. They involved helped me to figure out that there
The Phantom
various disciplines, because I had Menace, are people I could follow who
to storyboard, design sets, build made using were doing things like that.”
gray markers
them, and light and fi lm them.” One of those people was
and pen,
The year after he saw A Chiang’s illustrator and concept artist,
New Hope, Chiang watched signature Ralph McQuarrie, whom Chiang
style (1997).
The Making of Star Wars TV still speaks of with awe. “I saw
his artwork in the Making of
books, the Art of books, his
“I remember being enamored Star Wars portfolio,” he says.
“I started to learn how to
by the idea of creating paint and design by studying
characters and worlds. So, McQuarrie’s paintings, and then
learned how to draw and sketch
a lot of my drawings were with markers by looking at Joe
Johnston’s drawings. Copying
about creating stories and their technique really gave me
illustrating them.” an avenue to pursue what I really
wanted to do.”

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