Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Gold Rush.

The next forty (more or less) posts will show some of the work I did for a sequence that was entirely cut from the movie. At this lowest point in our hero's journey, he was to be put to work in a mine, litterally buried alive. Very dramatic. Unfortunately, after many attempts by the story department (including Ronnie del Carmen, Simon Wells and Larry Leker among others) to make it work, it was decided the tone was too dark and the logistics of the necessary escape too contrived... so it was scrapped.


Gouache over Pen Drawing. Copyright Dreamworks.

4 comments:

limbolo said...

Too dark, too dark.... How many times have we heard that one. What a drag it is to be always in search of bland entertainments.
Thanks for posting all this development work on SPIRIT. It's lovely stuff.

This could be Bodie in it's heyday.

Michael said...

It reminds me of Nome, Alaska, but without the snow. Or the seashore.
Otherwise it's remarkably similar.

Luc Desmarchelier said...

Hi Neil,
I think the main misunderstanding with this movie was that it was developped as a Jack London's kind of adventure for boys when it should have been obvious from the beginning that our public was the little girls.
Still, a good story does not shy away from emotional contrast and the more strenuous the journey, the more rewarding the happy ending.

This of course is loosely based on Bodie.

Hi Michael,
I guess nothing looks more like a far west mining town than another far west mining town.

Cheers.

Anonymous said...

i m sure jim Mc clure knows this town.......
very nice tout ceci
je ne suis pas anonyme je gilbert grot@yahoo.fr
ps: grace ou a cause de toi je joue de la drums
take care
gib