Now they could have gotten away with a collage of images for this segment on the Beowulf double disc set, or even have a click-able gallery of production art, but instead we get one last 5 minute documentary focusing on the art developed by Doug Chiang's department for the film. So keep your eyes peeled for a cavalcade of gorgeous paintings and many different interpretations of the characters, monsters and settings of Beowulf. At some points the editing is so quick that you can't tell the moving digital paintings from the finished scenes (and of course the fact that they segue in and out of each other doesn't help either).
Doug Chiang talks about doing historical research for the settings and props and finding out that castles in the fourth century weren't very grand at all, more like large huts. Since the film makes a jump in time somewhere past the half way point, the designers did take the opportunity to expand Beowulf's home, Herot to show how he had enforced the walls and added a handy watchtower. We catch another glimpse at Anthony Hopkins wearing his full Hrothgar costume for reference pictures, but unfortunately none of the other actors are seen that way. Doug also takes pride in showing off the model work. Notice that the model of Grendel's lair is supposed to be a giant dinosaur's skeleton and that Beowulfs subconsciously incorporates the spine and giant ribs into his redesign of the Mead Hall.
Another interesting tidbit from Zemeckis is the revelation of the three lighting schemes used in the film, based on light in 4th century: the gray danish sun in winter, fire and gold. Dougie talks about using the horn as the light source for the cave rather that than equipping it with 'movie lights'. Also, for the first and only time on the DVD, there is talk about the film being released as a 3D feature in theaters. So we get some examples of the more obvious shots where the three dimensional effect was best used, including the spear that is pointed at Beowulf's eye the moment he arrives in Denmark. If you want to take a long good look at your own leisure at what that went into the making of Beowulf, I highly recommend Mark Cotta Vaz & Steve Starkey Chronicles book "The Art of Beowulf".
7 out of 10
Doug Chiang talks about doing historical research for the settings and props and finding out that castles in the fourth century weren't very grand at all, more like large huts. Since the film makes a jump in time somewhere past the half way point, the designers did take the opportunity to expand Beowulf's home, Herot to show how he had enforced the walls and added a handy watchtower. We catch another glimpse at Anthony Hopkins wearing his full Hrothgar costume for reference pictures, but unfortunately none of the other actors are seen that way. Doug also takes pride in showing off the model work. Notice that the model of Grendel's lair is supposed to be a giant dinosaur's skeleton and that Beowulfs subconsciously incorporates the spine and giant ribs into his redesign of the Mead Hall.
Another interesting tidbit from Zemeckis is the revelation of the three lighting schemes used in the film, based on light in 4th century: the gray danish sun in winter, fire and gold. Dougie talks about using the horn as the light source for the cave rather that than equipping it with 'movie lights'. Also, for the first and only time on the DVD, there is talk about the film being released as a 3D feature in theaters. So we get some examples of the more obvious shots where the three dimensional effect was best used, including the spear that is pointed at Beowulf's eye the moment he arrives in Denmark. If you want to take a long good look at your own leisure at what that went into the making of Beowulf, I highly recommend Mark Cotta Vaz & Steve Starkey Chronicles book "The Art of Beowulf".
7 out of 10