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Tom Jung

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Tom Jung
Born
Thomas Jung

Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Alma materSchool of the Museum of Fine Arts
Known forArt direction, graphic design, illustrator, storyboard artist
Notable workDoctor Zhivago
Gone with the Wind (re-issue)
Papillon
The Man Who Would Be King
The Omen
Star Wars
The Lord of the Rings
The Deer Hunter
The Empire Strikes Back
Raging Bull
Once Upon a Time in America
AwardsKey Art Award 1978, 1980
The International Society of Science Fiction Award, 1978

Thomas Jung is an American art director, graphic designer, illustrator, and storyboard artist.[1][2] He is known for his movie poster art.

Biography

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Early life and career

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Jung, a Chinese American, was raised and educated in Boston, Massachusetts. After finishing high school, he attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts.[when?] During his second year he was drafted into the Army. While stationed at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina, Jung contributed to the newspaper Fort Jackson Leader as an editorial cartoonist, designing and illustrating primarily public service communications.[3]

Following his discharge, he worked as a freelance illustrator and art director with a number of well known advertising agencies in New York.

In 1958 Jung was hired full-time to redesign advertisement campaigns of foreign films to suit American audiences (theatrical redistribution) for Ben Adler Advertising Services Inc.[4] Jung created pressbooks (exhibitor's campaign manuals)[5][6] and one sheets for distribution to independently owned movie theaters throughout the country, including La Strada[4] and And God Created Woman.

Jung's early work is typified by caricature art for movies such as Confessions of Felix Krull, The Captain from Köpenick, The Golden Age of Comedy and Murder Ahoy. His one-sheet art for the film School for Scoundrels is perhaps the best example of that early style, displaying caricatures in shades of black and gray on a white background with distinctive handlettering. The look recalls Jung's own early aspirations of becoming a Mad Magazine cartoonist in the style of such artists as Jack Davis, Mort Drucker and Jack Rickard.

Plan 9 from Outer Space, 1959

Jung's early successes led eventually to his role as freelance art director in 1963 at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where he designed posters for roadshow or "hard-ticket"[7] movies such as Dr. Zhivago, Grand Prix, Far from the Madding Crowd, Ice Station Zebra, and The Shoes of the Fisherman. The design process at MGM involved developing multiple poster concepts, carefully rendered in pencil or charcoal with or without copy lines and credits in position. These "layouts" were then presented to and scrutinized by ad manager Bill O'Hare and marketing vice president Dan Terrell for approval as the films' key art. Once selected, this concept would be the one to appear in newspapers, magazines and in-house stationery, PR communications, all interior and outdoor posting material for distribution in the United States.

Upon final review by MGM chief executive officer Robert O'Brien, the concept was turned over to their advertising agency account executive, Lloyd McKean, to manage implementation. Art Director Burt Kleeger would task the agreed-upon illustrator to prepare a full color painting of the approved image as well as to design various needed parts of the campaign. The advertising agency art department would then prepare "mechanicals" to precise dimensions for the engravers and plate makers for newspaper, magazine and poster printers.

Gone with the Wind (re-release), 1967

Jung selected Howard Terpning to illustrate his concept art for the 1967 re-release of Gone with the Wind.[8] Taking a cue from the original movie poster art, Jung's iconic pose is often imitated, most notably in the style A poster for The Empire Strikes Back. "I see the results of my design all over," he said. "Gone with the Wind was really notable for its schmaltziness."[8]

In 1968, Jung was engaged by Bill O'Hare, now a marketing executive at CBS television network's theatrical film division Cinema Center Films, to handle the art direction for their entire release schedule of nearly 30 films. Some of the films Jung designed and illustrated, with the help of able staffer and artist Vincent Marrone, were A Man Called Horse, Little Big Man, Prime Cut, and Le Mans, starring Steve McQueen.

Later career

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In 1973, Jung's work on the movie Papillon "was the first major break that pushed him into the big-bracket category". "It was obvious that Dustin Hoffman and Steve McQueen had unique roles in Papillon," he recalled. "Steve represented, at that time, a gut of defiance that any person would identify with ... defiance against oppression and authority. The poster made with this theme merged perfectly with the mood of the film."[9] An auction profile for the original art gives a synopsis of Jung's concept: "Accomplished in acrylic on a leaf of 17 x 18 ¼ in. artist's illustration board it features the defiant, squinting profiles of Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. Jung commented that although he was a trained illustrator, for 20 years he had acted as art director for ad campaigns and concepts, and not practicing his painting. The present concept study was his first effort to establish a style and was approved by Marketing VP Ed Seigenfeld (Allied Artists, 1973)."[10]

During this time Jung was known to film studios as a one stop shop for advertising. He was handed a project and given full discretion to develop the concept, design and illustration including copy lines and title logos. Jung worked for Allied Artists, United Artists, Columbia Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures and Lucasfilm Ltd. designing key art concepts and illustrating movie posters for films including The Man Who Would Be King, The Deer Hunter, Dr. Zhivago, and Apocalypse Now.

Jung often collaborated with Nelson Lyon, a former Saturday Night Live writer and the creator of the 1971 movie The Telephone Book, to develop copy lines. Jung's unique title logos for movies such as The Sand Pebbles, Super Fly, Gold and The Omen tie-in key elements that distill down the essence of the films into key art.

Star Wars, Style A, 1977

As a freelance illustrator in 1977 working for the motion picture advertising boutique of Smolen, Smith and Connolly, Jung was chosen to work on Star Wars. He was given the theme of "Good Over Evil," and provided with a wealth of photos taken by unit photographers in color and black & white, as well as 2.25-inch stills on contact sheets taken from the original 35mm print of the film. Jung's work was used as the one sheet "style A" theatrical poster for the film's advertising campaign. According to Jung, the unlikely "cross" formed by Luke Skywalker's saber sword set against the ghosted background image of Darth Vader seemed to him like a good solution to the "good" versus "evil" theme.[11][12] The poster also featured a notable title logo from Jung, mimicking the film's famed opening crawl.

A stylistic progression in Jung's art is clear from his 1978 work on The Lord of the Rings. One of two concepts submitted, the one sheet depicting Gandalf and the Hobbits Frodo and Sam is rendered in a style markedly different from Jung's other works. In his own words: "There's probably a lot of posters I've done that people aren't aware of: Papillon, The Man Who Would Be King, and ... for Lord of the Rings."[8] Jung's poster won first prize for Best Graphic Award in 1978 from the International Society of Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy, and has been called "truly the most well-remembered image" from the film.[13]

Regarding his 1980 work on The Empire Strikes Back, Jung recalled: "I used various martial arts attitudes in my working studies, trying to come up with the perfect look. I was searching for the image 'bi-coastal' (as they used to say) of Darth Vader, which could be the centerpiece for The Empire Strikes Back. I made the presentation to Sid Ganis at Lucasfilm's new offices in North Hollywood, near Universal Studios. In the large airy reception area sitting on couches, with my presentation spread on a coffee table, we attracted a small crowd of onlookers. Steven Spielberg peered in and chimed, 'I like that' and strolled away. It was the drawing of Darth Vader in profile, a powerful outstretched arm holding his saber."[11]

In 1981 Jung was contacted by Sid Ganis, vice president of marketing at Lucasfilm, to develop concept sketches for Raiders of the Lost Ark. At the same time the production company, Paramount Pictures along with advertising agency Diener/Hauser/Bates, were working with another illustrator, Richard Amsel, to also develop a marketing campaign. Jung created sixteen concept sketches for the one-sheet, one of which was approved to go to color.[14] Borrowing from his original Papillon artwork, Jung used a "brown sauce" palette and a unique concept to create the iconic character Indiana Jones for his interpretation of the movie's key art.[14]

After many months of back and forth between competing concepts it was decided that Richard Amsel's would be used as the one-sheet for the campaign. The decision was partly based on the view that the character Indiana Jones should not be shown with a gun. In Jung's art, a gun and a whip were both prominently held by Indiana Jones. Jung's concept, though not used during the film's advertising campaign, is preserved in the Lucasfilm archives.[15]

Starting in 1997 with the Disney film Jungle 2 Jungle, Jung began working on the production side of the business as a storyboard artist.[16] His ability to draw without the use of visual aids, in a manner similar to that of a comic book artist, made his transition to storyboard art unproblematic. Jung's films as a storyboard artist include The Perfect Storm, The Salton Sea, and Disturbia.

Creative process

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An interview on the design and illustration of the 1974 poster The Man with the Golden Gun, Jung elaborated on his creative process: "The actual painting is done on 20x30 double-weight illustration board, half of a standard 30×40 board. I used acrylics, I can use it transparently or opaquely; it dries quickly and is permanent and can be reworked. I'd use airbrushing for large areas of background, color pencils, and inks and dyes and tempera and whatever else I think that may give me the desired result. Sandpaper. Brillo. A single-edge razor blade. Whatever works."[17] Jung often used family members as models. For the Star Wars poster design, with Frank Frazetta in mind as his final illustrator, Jung posed his son Jeff as Luke Skywalker and his wife Kay as Princess Leia.[8] After discussions with Don Smolen of Smolen, Smith and Connolly, it was decided that Jung would execute the illustration.

Jung has said he believes he does not have a recognizable technique: "I adjust my technique to the problem at hand, because being an art director in advertising it's really the end result that I'm after ... anything to get the printed poster and the printed ad, which is the primary goal".[8]

Select illustrations and graphic design

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Date Project[18] Notes
1954 La Strada[4] US release, Pressbook including one-sheet
1955 Death of a Cyclist US release (Age of Infidelity), Pressbook including one-sheet
1956 Liane, Jungle Goddess US release, Hand lettering design and illustration
1956 The Captain from Koepenick US release, Pressbook including one-sheet
1956 The Sword and the Cross US release, Pressbook including one-sheet
1957 And God Created Woman US release, Key Art
1957 Confessions of Felix Krull [de] US release, Pressbook including one-sheet
1957 Monpti[19] US release (Mon Petit), Pressbook including one-sheet
1957 The Golden Age of Comedy Eileen Schutz Artist
1957 The Prince and the Showgirl[19] Key Art
1958 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
1958 Yankee Doodle Dandy Re-Release, Pressbook including one-sheet
1959 Go, Johnny Go! Pressbook including one-sheet
1958 Hippodrome Pressbook including one-sheet
1959 Plan 9 from Outer Space Pressbook including one-sheet, David Lewis Artist
1959 Room at the Top Pressbook including one-sheet
1960 Day of the Painter Promotional Marketing Campaign
1960 School for Scoundrels
1961 Anna's Sin
1963 Murder at the Gallop [19]
1963 The Day and the Hour US Release
1963 The Wheeler Dealers[19] Key Art
1964 Murder Ahoy
1964 Murder Most Foul
1964 The Big Parade of Comedy [19]
1964 The Outrage Sanford Kossin Artist
1964 The Unsinkable Molly Brown Promotional Record Album
1964 The Young Lovers
1965 Lady L Robert McGinnis Artist
1965 Doctor Zhivago Howard Terpning Artist
1966 Grand Prix Howard Terpning Artist
1966 Hotel Paradiso Frank Frazetta Artist
1966 The Sand Pebbles[9] Graphics design one-sheet, Original Soundtrack and opening credits [20][21]
1967 Far from the Madding Crowd Howard Terpning Artist
1967 Gone with the Wind (re-release)[19] One-sheet, Original Soundtrack. Howard Terpning Artist
1967 The Venetian Affair Frank McCarthy Artist
1967 Tony Rome Teaser Poster
1968 Ice Station Zebra Howard Terpning Artist
1968 Mayerling
1968 The Shoes of the Fisherman Howard Terpning Artist
1969 The Royal Hunt of the Sun Howard Rogers Artist
1970 A Man Called Horse Vincent Marrone Artist
1970 Scrooge Joseph Bowler Artist
1970 Kelly's Heroes Jack Davis Artist
1971 Le Mans
1972 Prime Cut
1972 Super Fly One-sheet, Original Soundtrack
1972 The Little Ark Arthur Lidov Artist
1972 The Revengers
1973 Papillon[19] One-sheet, Original Soundtrack
1973 White Lightning
1974 Gold
1974 Huckleberry Finn David Blossom Artist
1974 The Day of the Dolphin
1974 The Man with the Golden Gun[22]
1974 The Spikes Gang
1974 The Towering Inferno
1975 Bite The Bullet Style A and B
1975 Brannigan Robert McGinnis Artist
1975 Lucky Lady
1975 Report to the Commissioner
1975 The Man Who Would Be King[19] One-sheet, Original Soundtrack
1975 The Old Gun
1975 Smile[19] Key Art
1976 Bound for Glory Style A and B, Original Soundtrack
1976 Burnt Offerings
1976 Shout at the Devil
1976 The Omen Teaser, Co-designer Murray Smith. Style F and Original Soundtrack
1977 March or Die
1977 Star Wars[19] Style A poster designer (later adapted as Style B by Brothers Hildebrandt), Half-sheet, Re-releases 1979, 1981, 1982, 1997 Trilogy designer, Original Soundtrack back cover and promotional poster.
1978 F.I.S.T.[19] Key Art
1978 The History of Country Music[23] Commercial use, Distributed to radio stations. Poster and album cover.
1978 The History of Rock & Roll[23] Commercial use, Distributed to radio stations. Poster and album cover.
1978 King of the Gypsies Style A and B, Sanford Kossin Artist Style B
1978 The Deer Hunter Saul Cooper Initial Concept
1978 The Great Train Robbery
1978 The Greek Tycoon David Blossom Artist
1978 The Lord of the Rings Style A and B
1978 Who'll Stop the Rain
1979 Apocalypse Now[19] Co-designer, Bob Peak Artist
1980 Heaven's Gate
1980 Raging Bull Style B, Co-artists Kunio Hagio and Paul Gross
1980 The Dogs of War[19]
1980 The Empire Strikes Back[19] Style B and re-releases 1981, 1982
1980 The Formula One-sheet, Original Soundtrack
1981 Raiders of the Lost Ark Key Art
1981 Whose Life Is It Anyway[19]
1983 Return Of The Jedi Re-release 1985, One sheet with Death Star exploding
1983 Scarface[24] Key Art
1983 The Right Stuff One-sheet, Original Soundtrack
1984 Dune[24] Designer
1984 Once Upon a Time in America Artist Syle A, B and C. U.S. and foreign advertising campaigns
1984 The Buddy System
1984 The Razor's Edge
1985 Sylvester
1985 Weird Science Duane Meltzer Artist
1986 Clockwise Duane Meltzer Artist
1986 Heat[19] Key Art
1987 Flowers in the Attic Co-designer Nelson Lyon
1988 Pass the Ammo Co-designer Ken Goodman
1989 Moontrap
1989 The Iron Triangle
1991 Star Trek 25th Anniversary
1991–1993 The Thrawn Trilogy Book Cover Art – Heir to the Empire,[19] Dark Force Rising, The Last Command,[19] Promotional Poster
2012 Wallenda Shawn Hull Artist

Select storyboard artwork

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The key skill: "One thing a storyboard artist needs to be able to do is be able to draw out of his head. There are many illustrators who have to rely on photographs, but unless you can draw out of your head like comic book artists, I don't think you can do it. ... Normally, a storyboard artist is only called in when they are looking for special effects or action shots. But sometimes you have a guy like Alfred Hitchcock, he wouldn't even trust the camera and he would visualize every single shot."

Tom Jung in the Los Angeles Times, 2007[25]
Date Project[24]
1977 The Baron
1996 Mrs. Santa Claus (Trailers)
1996 Ransom (Trailers)
1997 Jungle 2 Jungle
1997 The Relic (Trailers)
1998 Chairman of the Board (Trailers)
1998 Doctor Dolittle
1999 My Favorite Martian
1999 Stuart Little
2000 The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle
2000 Nutty Professor II: The Klumps
2000 The Perfect Storm
2001 Hannibal (Trailers)
2002 Collateral Damage
2002 Frank McKlusky, C.I.
2002 Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story
2002 Slackers
2002 Star Trek: Nemesis
2002 Stuart Little 2
2002 The Salton Sea
2003 The Haunted Mansion
2003 Looney Tunes: Back in Action
2003 Hulk
2003 Holes
2003 Just Married
2004 First Daughter
2004 Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed
2004 Starsky & Hutch
2005 Herbie: Fully Loaded
2005 Two for the Money
2005 Underclassman
2006 Zoom
2007 Disturbia
2007 Blades of Glory
2012 Wallenda[26][27]

Awards

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  • The International Society of Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy, "Best Graphic Award", 1979, Lord of the Rings
  • Key Art Award, Tom Jung, designer, illustrator, "El Francotirador": (The Deer Hunter) Latin America, Third Place, 1980
  • Key Art Award, Creating and illustrating The Golden Years of Country, 1978[23]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ The Star Wars Poster Book, Stephen J. Sansweet, Chronicle Books (October 13, 2005)
  2. ^ The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film, J. W. Rinzler, LucasBooks (April 24, 2007)
  3. ^ Fort Jackson Leader newspaper December 31, 1953, U.S. Army Basic Combat Training Museum archives, Columbia, South Carolina
  4. ^ a b c CineFiles, University of California, Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive http://www.mip.berkeley.edu/cinefiles/DocDetail?docId=37613
  5. ^ MovieArt.net
  6. ^ AllMovieReplicas.com
  7. ^ Movie Roadshows: A History and Filmography of Reserved-Seat Limited Showings, 1911-1973, Page 4, Kim R. Holston, McFarland (December 18, 2012)
  8. ^ a b c d e Star Wars, Selling The Force by Lawrence French, CINEFANTASTIQUE, Issue #124 - Vol 28 #7, 1997
  9. ^ a b Visiting artist draws the movies by David Prabu, Athens NEWS contributor - courtesy of Daniel Saez, Athens (Ohio) News - Spring 1987
  10. ^ Profiles in History auction, Lot 588 (April 30, 2009) http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/6321305
  11. ^ a b Profiles In History auction (March 31, 2006)
  12. ^ TheForce.net review of Star Wars Style A poster http://www.theforce.net/collecting/posters/anh/style-a.asp
  13. ^ Profiles in History auction, Lot 639 (December 15, 2006)
  14. ^ a b The Complete Making of Indiana Jones: The Definitive Story Behind All Four Films, Page 123, J.W. Rinzler, Del Rey (May 20, 2008)
  15. ^ Profiles in History auction, Lot 360 (July 28, 2006)
  16. ^ The Internet Movie Database, Tom Jung https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2200560/
  17. ^ Illustrated007, Peter Lorenz, 2010 http://illustrated007.blogspot.com/2010/04/exclusive-with-tom-jung.html
  18. ^ Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Margaret Herrick Library Catalog, Tom Jung [1]
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Margaret Herrick Library Production Art Database, Tom Jung [2]
  20. ^ Video of opening credits with Tom Jung's graphic design of American gunboat superimposed over a Chinese junk for the motion picture The Sand Pebbles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2MvjJ-XpK0
  21. ^ Video of promotional preview with Tom Jung's graphic design of American gunboat superimposed over a Chinese junk for the motion picture The Sand Pebbles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jjjvfk-d_w
  22. ^ Illustrated 007, Man With The Golden Gun - Concept Art http://illustrated007.blogspot.com/2009/10/man-with-golden-gun-concept-art.html
  23. ^ a b c Drake-Chenault radio syndication company http://www.drakechenault.org/special.html
  24. ^ a b c Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Margaret Herrick Library Catalog, Tom Jung Papers [3]
  25. ^ Sketching out the action, he loves making a scene - Los Angeles Times, Susan King - May 20, 2007 https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-may-20-ca-working20-story.html
  26. ^ Rareform Pictures, Wallenda production http://rareformpictures.com/production.html
  27. ^ Rareform Pictures, Tom Jung Wallenda storyboards https://www.flickr.com/photos/rareformpictures/6839575067/in/photostream

Interviews

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