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CGAA UNIT 2 SPACE PROJECT ESSAY

Analyse Critically the Production Design and Visual Concepts of The Dark Crystal (1982)
Emma Foster

Introduction The Dark Crystal released in 1982 by The Jim Henson Company and directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz is a film with an amalgamation of visual styles; whether it is the binary oppositions of good and evil or the whimsy quality. This essay investigates thematically the importance of the production design and visual concepts in order to tell the story. Main sources of importance are The Dark Crystal (1982), The World of The Dark Crystal (2009), Brian Frouds The World of The Dark Crystal (2003), Kenneth Kidds Wild Things: Childrens culture and ecocriticism (2004) and Christopher Finchs Jim Henson: The Works- The Art, the magic, the imagination (1993). The assignment begins by defining the key ideas of production design and visual concepts, then explores the ways in which these aspects played key roles in the narrative of The Dark Crystal. In conclusion, the discussion will seek to summarise the thematic importance of concept and production design and how they shaped interpretation Production design is the overall look of a film that illustrates the setting and visual style of the story (Eicar-International, Unknown) but requires background research especially if the film demands a particular historical setting, or design features unique to the genre or story. (Koenig, Unknown) A visual concept does not rely on words or sound but is everything about what a piece is saying visually and emotionally--solely through appearance. (Crossley, Unknown)

Main Body The most enthralling feature of the film The Dark Crystal is its visual imagery which is established from puppeteer and director Jim Hensons creative vision to create a film which did not rely as heavily as most films on the verbal narrative to tell the story. Henson himself felt that music and image work on one level, and the spoken word and dialogue work on another, much shallower one I think that if youre working with images and music, youre really doing a much more interesting thing, and youre talking to people on more of a gut level. (Finch, 1993) The Dark Crystal does exactly that. The attention to detail of artist Brian Frouds concepts brought to screen draws the audience in and the actual sets and creature design and allows Henson to guide them along through his ideas and beliefs in a deeper way. The production design and visual concept proved especially useful for applying Hensons interest in ecology. The planet Thra is full of strange and unusual creatures and plant forms each individually modelled and fitted together to create the fantasy environment of the film. Instead of creating the film around the storyboards and script it was Hensons aim to create a film whose story was built around the history and visual knowledge of the setting and its inhabitants itself. A key example of this is the multitude of Frouds creature concept art (Fig. 1)
Figure 1 Un-featured creatures

viewable within the book The World of The Dark Crystal co-wrote by J.J Llewellyn and Froud himself which doesnt actually feature as part of the film itself. Instead they act as

visual concepts that need to exist in order to support those concepts that do appear and to help create an understanding of Thra. The ecology of the sets and creature design is so unique that the audience is presented with a vibrant living world full of fascinating creatures and life forms which were it to exist in our own reality it would not face questions on its place in existence. This world is full of binary opposition design that explores The Dark Crystals philosophy of good and evil so well that the script and sound seems to take a back seat. When the film cuts between shots of the Skeksis and the urRu it is not the script that fully portrays
Figure 3 The Skeksis deadly sin traits

the idea of balance of harmony but the contrasting costume design and alterations and similarities in Frouds design of the Skeksis and urRu characters themselves where evil and its deadly sins clash against the wise sage yet somehow still connect. Writer Kenneth Kidd said of The Dark Crystals ecology it is particularly telling that Henson and Froud developed the ecology of the world of the
Figure 2 urDu 'tribe'

Dark Crystal so that the conflict between its

ruling beings is based in the political (and magical) agenda of how the worlds resources should be used. (Kidd, 2004) This character design choice acts as a plot device where the audience understands the idea of a world not being able to exist without a balance of harmony better with this visual imagery rather than trying to decyphier the film from the script alone.

The design of the planet Thra itself adds a sort of antiqueness to the film wherein the story of The Dark Crystal doesnt feel as if it stops when the film ends. The carvings and patterns on the walls and floors connote the deep history of the setting where it feels somewhat mythological and the realism the audience has taken from the films production makes us feel as if this world could have actually existed in our own world, in a time way before us. The fact that these patterns are continued onto the character design just heightens the feeling of this world being accepted as part of our own and the audience can identify with this because there seems a similarity with us and our own symbolic patterns. Every visual element imparted information of this particular worlds past, its ideas, and its destiny. It had always been our intention to create a tale with the weight of myth; a story that felt as though it had been told many times before in another land, another age, another world. (Froud, 2003) The film is so full of contextual messages beneath the set design that the film feels as if it ends too quickly and that the we have yet to find enough about this mystic world. The same can be said for when the camera slowly pans over the environments then suddenly stops; the want to

Figure 4 Chopped off environments

crain your neck to see beyond the edge of the camera just shows how much the production impacts on the films narrative, heightening the understanding of the plot however, at the same time making the audience feel as if the film is not complete. The character design also heightens the understanding of the plot with the wide range of personalites conveyed. There seems like there is a whole community within The

Dark Crystal with a mixture of good and evil characters yet they have similarities; each type of character seems to have a doppleganger of themselves, the urDu and the Skeksis and the Garthim and the Landstriders except the main Gelflings. The production of the character movements just adds to their personalities whether its the slow strides of the urDu or the acrobatic leaps of the Landstriders and this alone is enough to let the audience know where each character fits into the plot. There is also the jerky movemnts and mistakes made while moving the characters during production. If it wasnt for this the characters may have seemed less realistic because they would move with perfection and this wasnt what the creators of The Dark Crystal wanted to convey. We
Figure 5 The Landstriders

wanted to make these characters alive, to exist in their

own world, not just for the very short time that we see them in the movie. (Froud, 2009) However, sometimes the character production seems too realistic boardering on terrifying for what is supposed to be a childrens film. The Skeksis are an example of this where the design and movements put together seem just too much and this may just be one of the reasons the film was unsuccessful. The central Gelflins are another example where character production wasnt as successful in conveying the plot. Jen and Kira are proberly the weakest designed characters of the whole film boardering on some sort of hybrid of human and elf; the creators made it known they wanted them to feel human to allow engagement from the audience however, compared to the movements and scale of the other characters they are another production element of the film that just seems unfinished.

The Dark Crystal was made during a time when puppeteering and animatronics were becoming extremely popular within filmmaking and this had a major impact in how the film was received. Unlike some CG production design today The Dark Crystal felt as though it had been made with so much care to attention and love and this really spoke to the audience because it added a sense of rustic realism to it. If it had the glossy perfection of films today it would probably be received differently, perhaps it fail to hook the audience into the world so well and alongside its basic narrative would fail to be successful.

Conclusion The film The Dark Crystal is an important example in film history of a film which was created with the idea of the visual hook in mind. This hook allowed the film creators to build the film around the visual concept in order for everything to compliment. The film feels like the world of The Dark Crystal is delved deeply into however, the vast amount of effort spent on the production design actually takes away some of its spark. It seems unfinished and rushed in terms of the plot and some of the character portrayals and this is probably due to the want to fill the film with as much visual imagery of the production as possible yet it cannot go unforgotten the emersion of the audience that the films created world results in. List of Illustrations Figure 1. Un-featured creatures (2003) From: The World of The Dark Crystal. By Brian Froud and J.J Llewellyn (Accessed 20/11/11) Figure 2. The Skeksis deadly sin traits (1982) From: The Dark Crystal. Directed by: Jim Henson and Frank Oz. On myexistenz.com http://www.myexistenz.com/article2/article10/dark2.jpg (Accessed 20/11/11) Figure 3. urDu tribe (1982) From: The Dark Crystal. Directed by: Jim Henson and Frank Oz. On thedarkcrystalmovie.com http://www.darkcrystalmovie.com/images/urrumarch/PDVD_811.jpg (Accessed 20/11/11) Figure 4. Chopped off environments (1982) From: The Dark Crystal. Directed by: Jim Henson and Frank Oz. On designsponge.com http://www.designsponge.com/wpcontent/uploads/2010/09/Still-1.jpg (Accessed 20/11/11)

Figure 5. The Landstriders (1982) From: The World of The Dark Crystal. By Brian Froud and J.J Llewellyn (Accessed 20/11/11) Bibliography Crossley, L. (Unknown). eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/facts_5873013_visualdesign_.html (Accessed 20/11/11) EICAR. (Unknown). eicar-international.com http://www.eicar-international.com/definitionproduction-design.html (Accessed 20/11/11) Koenig, D. (Unknown). eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/facts_6779402_meaningproduction-design_.html (Accessed 20/11/11)
Finch, C. (1993) Jim Henson: The Works- The Art, the magic, the imagination. U.S.A: Random House.

(Accessed 20/11/11)
Froud, B. (2003) The World of The Dark Crystal. U.S.A: Jim Henson Co. (Accessed 20/11/11) Kidd, K,B (2004) Wild Things: Childrens culture and ecocriticism. U.S.A: Wayne State

University Press (Accessed 20/11/11)

The Dark Crystal. (1986) Directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. U.S.A. The Jim Henson Company.

(Accessed 20/11/11)
The World of The Dark Crystal. From: The Dark Crystal. (2009) Directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. [Blu-Ray] USA: The Jim Henson Company. (Accessed 20/11/11)