PAPER PROPS - The Magazines Reimagined

[Ectropy]

Just leaving these here.

Please note that a couple of these images are NSFW.













This last image is very NSFW, so you will have to click the link:
BRMagCover-Krotch.jpg

Enjoy!

[Replicant 13]

Ectropy was kind enough to access and adjust these covers and offer to post them here.

FINALLY, a decent view of most of the original cover art, in their entirety - including the elusive DORGON "Fatboy" cover!

Thanks! - R13
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Gosh, you've really got some nice toys here . . .

[joberg]

TFS Ectropy...good to see the originals (even better the complete cover of FASH)

[Bendzhamin1967]

very NICE!!!
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I've had people walk out on me before, but never when i was being so charming

[Replicant 13]

In case anyone here was unaware, Mr. Southwell has joined our ranks. Just wanted to welcome him, since his work has influenced so many of us.

- Replicant 13
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Gosh, you've really got some nice toys here . . .

[joberg]

Yes Dave, that's your chance to get some answers about...a lot of things Part of my New Year's resolutions were to start building props again, but this news is so great that I haven't touched the floor all day

[Tom Southwell]

Replicant13:
Just to start on this a bit, the fat boy from Dorgon was clip art from a book published by Dover publications. This was a very old public domain image that you could use (up to 10 pieces on a project.) They had been created as wood engravings for newspaper advertising around 1900. So it was a bit crazy to use them in 2020. We are not so far away from that now, and you can find these same vintage images being used daily at Trader Joes ( a national grocery chain).
We had a lovely woman in the art department who would use the term "Dorgon" referring to some rude or dim mannered person. I think I also included another term she used: Rami, which was plural for a person who acted as an ignoramus . Well you can see what is going on here, loads of personal, inside jokes to entertain the entire art department...hopefully without offending anyone. Truth is I had to crank these out in a flash and I simply used words and ideas that were floating across the room.
By the way, these covers I see here are as clear as my examples. They don't get much better than that. The prints were cheap color xerox prints, not glossy photo prints. Deckard is intentionally reading a newspaper that is like tissue paper because paper is rare and expensive in Scotts 2019.
The printing of these magazines would also have been done cheaply in 2019...
Even if the prices seem very high (and I don't think I over- did the prices considering today.
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I've seen things you people wouldn't believe...

[Replicant 13]

Thanks, Tom. For the thoughts and input!

What you did for the movie obviously hit the mark, even if it was in the "deep background". Again, interesting to know the tidbits regarding the words and their origins - apparently a common practice back then to lessen the stress and monotony of long hours and short deadlines while building models or making props. And no, you didn't over-do it.

As with the origins of other covers, DORGON became an obsession, but particularly when, after various library/bookstore searches, requests to Dover Publications and other avenues my own efforts resulted in a dead end. Like so many other details of B-R, curiosity was making my cat very ill - always hoping to find that one image with the next page turn. If only to see that original, virgin image.

It may seem amazing that some fixate on such seemingly insignificant details of a 31 year old movie, but like many here, I always find any legitimate back story interesting. Your work and your contributions here continue to inspire.



HAB1! - R13
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Gosh, you've really got some nice toys here . . .

[Tom Southwell]

Rep13:
If I can find the cover of the fat boy book I'll shoot it for you...may have been intended as material for decoupage and found in craft type art stores.

Fash was a real joke because as a fashion magazine I was saying what fashion had become by 2019, and take into account one of our 2 brilliant costume designers did the Monty Python stuff and the other did Bette Midler shows and movies so the gang had a big sense of humor.
So my joke was to put clothes on the model everywhere EXCEPT where it should be! And like your Sebastian creation, these magazines were scattered around his room, though I have never seen one in the film.

Because you and joberg and my friend from years ago are such fans of the print work, I'll share a memory from '81. The first script I got had no blimp in it. Just a series of billboards that Deck would pass in his car. On these billboards were adverts for the Off World. I did many concepts and layouts but Mr Scott was never quite happy. He showed me his book of future life on other planets with a cheesy babe sunning in a chrome bikini. So I did one like that in pencil for approval, which he liked. I spent 2 and a half days at home in my studio doing air brush finish art when David L Snyder called and said Rid wanted me in the office right away. This was a Friday night by then when I propped my 30x40 illustration board on the designers couch so Rid would see it as he walked in. I was nearby in kitchen as he entered and said a loud: F*** Jesus! I thought we would all go to hell for that!
He praised the work: "didn't know we had someone on who could do this level". After discussions with Rid, Ivor Powell, Larry and David a noise was out the window. Sounded a bit like a motor boat...but perhaps above. I said I think I know what it is, and we all went to the windows and looked up. Just coming into view was the tip of the Good Year blimp. The noise stopped and it glided silently toward the Cinerama Dome and all of a sudden it's billboard of lights flashed on with an advert for tires or some other product. Someone said: "there's your billboard", (might have been me). A week later the new script had a blimp.
I think the lesson here is to keep your eyes and mind open to accept the gifts that fall in your lap.
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I've seen things you people wouldn't believe...

[SKIN JOB 66]

[Feuyaer]

Certainly an honour to have you here Tom! Great story, too. Years ago I was trying to produce a full-3D recreation of several blocks of 2019 L.A. and I went nuts going into detail of paper props. You really did amazing work. I'm sitting here with physical prop recreations on my computer desk that have your design - never thought I'd have a chance to talk to the man who made them.

And thanks for sharing Ectropy - a nice definitive set. I wish I had access to these graphics back then.
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[joberg]

Great story Tom...and the sunbathing chrome robot was probably from Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama. I saw his drawings/paintings in the late '70s. Great airbrush artist for sure.

That blimp in BR was genius...Jason, one of our member re-created it half-scale with all the adverts, screens with the geisha, all the lights and sounds bites from the movie.

[Replicant 13]

Tom -

Thanks for your generous offer. I had contacted Dover more than once, only to be told they knew of no such image. I can only assume it was dropped from their current catalog, or the rep simply considered my request too much trouble for the effort.
(I was always curious if the "fatboy" and flowers was a composite, or if that image originated as a single image. Minutia . . . )

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Great to hear the background stories. I'd love to see your 'bikinied babe' sometime . Better ideas do have a way of dropping in "last minute", but too often solid artwork gets shelved or radically changed before the paint even dries, or the stylus drops.

HAB1! - R13
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Gosh, you've really got some nice toys here . . .

[Tom Southwell]

This is the black plate which was turned into a Film positive
(clear where it looks white) and the headlines on a wrinkled
clear sheet that was converted into an opaque white color key
(so the letters were white on a clear B.G.)

The stack of elements was:
red paper on bottom
yellow paper above that
(just under the grid)
a smaller piece of white paper
(just under part of the face)
the film positive
(black MONI, black square, clear lines)
and finally on top the headlines in white
(on another clear sheet)

Once I taped all this down to a board I
took it to a copy house where color xerox prints were made.

You can make sense of this if you have a color copy of the
MONI magazine cover in front of you.
They are all over the web.

I did many pencil drawings of the face
(based on a sculptors model)
for another BR project but simplified this one
and finished it about actual magazine size with
thin drafting tape. You can see some rough edges.
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I've seen things you people wouldn't believe...

[joberg]

Thanks for explaining the process. Lots of work for one cover, but that how it was done in the days...remind me of the work my Father did as a graphic artist for Gestener Brussels.

With the advent of the computer and the photocopying machine, the process became faster for everybody involved...and now with the digital it's even easier to manipulate, transform, print, colour, etc...

[Tom Southwell]

[color=orange]Rep13:
(I was always curious if the "fatboy" and flowers was a composite, or if that image originated as a single image. Minutia . . . ) [/color]

As far as I can remember that was one image. Can't promise though.
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I've seen things you people wouldn't believe...

[joberg]

I think it's a comp. It seems that the style of the flowers are no match for the overall "fat boy" drawing...but that's just me

[Replicant 13]

Tom -

GEEZ! That brings back memories (or perhaps, nightmares!). The things we had to do back in the late '70s and '80s - just to get a simple layout or comp done! Graphic artists today require a whole different 'set of tools', but they seldom realize just how much easier it is now, with the Mac or PC. Albeit the deadlines are just that much hotter.

Studying the MONI cover over the years, much of what you said verifies my suspicions - the layers, the thin drafting tape. I thought perhaps you used color mylars instead of paper, but either was common. Whatever was available or on-hand.

I often wonder how much more might have made it to screen were not the production so restricted. As it was, it stands as quite an accomplishment by all involved.

- - -

To your point Joberg, I might agree, but much of clipart is less than "polished", so . . . That said, the 'fatboy' always reminded me of some of Gilliam's 'Python' constructs back then - intentional fabrications often lacking in visual continuity.

Thanks for sharing, Tom. This is fascinating stuff! - R13
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Gosh, you've really got some nice toys here . . .

[Tom Southwell]

Rep13:
My work off BR had many moments where I used these clip art
wood engravings for the very reason they seemed quaint and
had humor, much like Gilliam and the Python work.
Perhaps I'll dig one out.
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I've seen things you people wouldn't believe...

[Replicant 13]

Cool! I posted this elsewhere, but another member TEMPONAUT was responsible for interpreting and correcting my guesses at the characters that top my version of your FASH cover. If you haven't yet, you can read his comments earlier in this thread. It was interesting, as he noted that the calligraphy was edited a bit, since the sentence structure had been "altered"

I'm pleased that I was able to get so close with my design guesses -



- R13
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Gosh, you've really got some nice toys here . . .