Starting a New Project: Editorial Illustration

This week I received my new brief entitled Editorial Illustration. Used in books, magazines, newspapers and websites, this form of illustration is designed to better communicate ideas from text or creatively express a theme the article is trying to convey. Through the project briefing, I found out about Little White Lies, a film magazine publication with predominantly hand-rendered graphics. It has grown to be recognised internationally with each issue being a showcase of art, pop culture, music and film inspiring a new generation of creatives to delve into the world of cinematography. I was unfamiliar with this publication but am planning to get a few issues as its very different compared to other magazines such as Juxtapoz, with creative compositions and distinctive use of graphic design it is unlike anything else in today's market. 

For my final piece, I have to create the cover and accompanying illustrations for a magazine issue based on a choice of three films chosen by my tutors. These were: Tetsuo Iron Man, The Birds and The Grand Budapest Hotel. Since finding out about them I've been watching, reviewing and responding, trying to figure out which one I like best and what will provide to best content visually. Tetsuo Iron Man, a 1980s black and white Japanese horror movie was ruled out as its not an area of illustration I want to go into so didn't think it would be beneficial- it was also a very disturbing watch! Next, I watched Alfred Hitchcock's, 'The Birds', a 1960's horror movie following chaos in the form of birds attacking a small coastal town in California called Bodega Bay. This was one of the first technicolour films so the scenes are full of vibrant colours with bright blue skies framing the retro American shopfronts. Visually, the film is very diverse, with characters and locations that would translate well into single illustrations. However, I thought with the overall horror genre, it would need to focus on that aspect rather than the backgrounds so I decided it would be better to focus on The Grand Budapest Hotel. 

The Grand Budapest Hotel is a comedy film written and directed by the highly regarded American filmmaker, Wes Anderson in 2014. Known for his eccentric approach to filmmaking, this film follows M. Gustave, a hotel concierge who befriends and lobby boy, taking him under his wing on a whirlwind adventure around Zubrowka as he's on the run after being framed for murder. The film explores themes of romance, friendship, war, tragedy and loyalty among many others. I enjoyed this film as it has a lot of themes, storylines and characters to focus on. Each shot feels like a piece of art, with the symmetrical camera angles and warm colours. While watching the film, I sketched some of the scenes seen below.

Sketches while watching 'The Grand Budapest Hotel'

Since deciding to move forward with this film, I've written a summary of the plot and review inspired by the layout and themes in a Little White Lies film review. This was beneficial moving forward as I had a good understanding of the narrative, characters, themes and colour scheme, creating links and getting an understanding of what I want to achieve through the project. Here are some mood boards I've created looking at thematic links, focusing on one colour per board. 

I used Pinterest and Google to source imagery, as well as magazine cuttings using a cello tape technique to eliminate the background, making it a transparent image good for layering. This technique was used for the car in the red mood board and gold jewellery, representing Madame D and the grand elements in the hotel/character visuals. This week I'm planning to start media testing, experimenting with different ways to approach a portrait as it's something I struggle with. I'm hoping through doing this project, I'll be more confident with choosing colour schemes and portraiture.