See Green With Hensleigh's Lost 'Hulk' Concept Art

Hulk was in development for years before Ang Lee's version, and some concept art for the unproduced film for Jonathan Hensleigh's film are online thanks to concept artist Kerry Gammill (Virus, Species 2, Phantoms)


In April 1997, Joe Johnston was directing with the film's title as The Incredible Hulk. Hensleigh was asked to write the script since he worked with Johnston on Jumanji. In 1997, Johnston dropped out of directing and Hensleigh stepped in for his directing debut. Hensleigh wrote a script featuring Bruce Banner experimenting with gamma-irradiated insect DNA on three convicts before becoming the Hulk. This transforms the convicts into murderous mutant "insect men." Lynn "Red" Williams, a former American Gladiator was cast as one of the three "insect men." He transforms into a combination of human, ant and beetle.
Kerry Gammill describes the art this way.

These designs were for an unproduced movie version of "Hulk" which was cancelled in pre-production a few years before the Ang Lee version went into production with a new script.

Check out more illustrations from Kerry Gammill at http://gammillustrations.bizland.com/monsterart/hulk.htm

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Interview: Artist Benton Jew Tells Use What It's Like To Work On 'Star Wars,' 'Pirates 4' And 'Unemployed Man'

Benton Jew is an Asian-American professional illustrator/storyboard artist/comic artist living in Los Angeles, CA. Starting out drawing comics and making short films he worked for the special effects powerhouse "Industrial Light and Magic" (ILM) for thirteen years before branching out working on blockbuster films like The Incredible Hulk, Green Lantern, and Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides.

Stick around at the end of the interview for a series of storyboards from the mermaid sequence for Pirates 4!

When people ask you what a storyboard artist does what do you tell them?A storyboard artist helps the director take that first pass of translating script words into script images. The storyboard helps translate the directors vision into a format that everyone on the crew can understand and use as a tool to plan, budget and shoot a film.

Tell us about some of the recent films you've worked on?

Image: Storyboard from The Thing (2011)
A lot of films I worked on over the past couple of years came out in 2011. I did storyboards on Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides; a bit of costume illustration on Thor; some concept art on Cowboys and Aliens; some post-production storyboards on Green Lantern and some storyboards on The Thing.

Every once in a while, you get on a show that gives you an opportunity to travel. This year, I got to spend several months in New Orleans on [G.I. JOE 2: THE COBRA STRIKES]. I actually think this will be better than the first one with it's stronger emphasis on action.

Is there one scene in a film that stands out?
Image: Storyboard for Star Wars - Episode 1:The Phantom Menace
If you mean in my entire career, probably the thing I'm best known for storyboard-wise is the final battle with Darth Maul in [Star Wars - Episode I:The Phantom Menace]. It was fun for me as it allowed me to put to use my knowledge of Hong Kong martial arts films. More recently, I helped do the mermaid sequence in the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie. It was fun. I love drawing sexy girls so it was a perfect sequence for me.
They gave me and Giacomo Ghiazza (who also helped board the sequence) a lot of creative leeway. We got to contribute a lot of our own ideas in that one.


While everything you have done is rewarding, is there one project that you're proud of the most?
Some of the best boards I've done were done for a film that never got made.

A few years ago, director Dean Deblois (half of the directing team that brought you Lilo and Stitch and How To Train Your Dragon) was working on his live-action debut at Disney. It was called The Banshee, and it was one of the best family oriented fantasy scripts I'd ever read. I boarded on that film for nearly nine months till Disney decided they didn't want to do it. There was some really nice fantasy/horror visuals in that one, mixed with a lot of heart.

I also did some boards that I liked on McG's sci-fi flavored version of Captain Nemo. Another show that didn't get made. There was some really great artwork generated by the art dept. for that show. Would have made a great "Art of" book if the project had gotten the go-ahead.

What's your background as artist?
I've been drawing since I was 5 years old. I was always drawing my own little comics.

When I was in junior college, I was an award-winning editorial cartoonist. I went to the Academy of Art College (now called the Academy of Art University) to study illustration. I had many good teachers like Barbara Bradley, Chuck Pyle, Thomas Blackshear, Drew Struzan. I did small bits and pieces of things for some magazines and small comics publishers.

I was a visual effects art director at ILM for 13 years, working on The Mask, Men in Black, Mummy. ILM loaned me out to Lucasfilms to storyboard The Phantom Menace.

I struck out on my own and moved to Los Angeles on 9/11. Worked on Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Chronicles of Riddick, The Day After Tomorrow, The Incredible Hulk, Green Lantern,  and Pirates 4.

Still keep my fingers in comics a bit. A couple of years ago I worked on a couple of short projects for Marvel. Also did some work on other small press projects like "Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology" and "The Adventures of Unemployed Man"

How did you decide to become a storyboard artist versus other types of art?

As a kid, I originally wanted to become a comic book artist, but I also was interested in filmmaking and made short little super-8 films with my twin brother Anson (who is also a storyboard artist). So both film and comics were a big influence on me growing up. Storyboarding was a natural extension of those two interests.

So the road was kind of set for me. While I was still an art student, an illustrator named Stan Fleming came to give a talk at the school. Stan was an amazing storyboard artist who was incredibly fast. He boarded Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom among other things. Afterwards, I showed him my portfolio and some comic book work I did (I remember he was impressed with a comic story I had done for the Oakland A's magazine).

At some point Stan had been asked to work on a project called Body Wars at ILM but wasn't available, so he recommended me through the the school. I interviewed at ILM and got the job. Once the show wrapped a few months later, ILM called me and said they were putting together their permanent art department and invited me aboard. The money was better than if I was doing comics. My interest in special effects helped, and it was a more stable form of employment than magazine illustration. Everything seemed to click. It was my first job out of art school, and I stayed there for 13 years.

What are the three biggest influences in your art and why?

Alex Toth and Bruce Lee were two people who influenced my life very much. Although those two are very different, the message I got from them was the same: simplify, discard anything that is not absolutely necessary, and be direct and to the point.

I'm also inspired by the great illustrators of the "Golden Age" of illustration. Dean Cornwell, Noel Sickles, Albert Dorne, Robert Fawcett. These guys really new how to DRAW! I really appreciate good draughtsmanship. The artists of that time really knew what they were doing. Ditto for comic strip artists of that time, and later: comic book artists during the "silver-age".

I guess you can also throw in most of the European comic artists over the past 30 years. I really love good solid drawing. And good classic films, those are always an inspiration! Hey that's more than three! Oh, well...

Can you name the strangest place your inspiration has come from?
Nothing really strange. If I'm working on a project, I try and immerse myself in that world as much as I can. Imagine what it's like to live in that world, sleep there, eat there. I do my research, read stuff, look at photo reference. If you just immerse yourself in the world, the ideas will flow more freely.

Inspiration can really come from anywhere. There was something written a while back that said I got the inspiration for the character Oppo Rancisis (from the Phantom Menace) based on a photo of an old Chinese man on a calendar. That's a misquote. Actually, I said it was based on a drawing (of the Chinese god of longevity) on a calendar. He has a strange shaped head with a big lump on it. Unfortunately, the folks who made the model interpreted it (the weird head lump) as some kind of bouffant hairdo! So you never know what your inspiration can evolve into!



Tell us about your book project "Babes in Space."

"Babes in Space" was a self-published comics anthology I did many years ago (2004?), along with several other talented artists. We are always doodling girls and sci-fi stuff outside of regular work. After working on other people's projects all day, many artists like to have an outlet for their own creativity. These small, vanity press projects are one way of doing that. 
Since "Babes in Space", I've done several self-published little projects, and try to have something new at my Artists Alley table at San Diego Comic-Con every year.

Where will we see your work next?
A short EC style comic book story that I wrote and drew will appear in "Bela Lugosi's Tales From The Grave #3" It's scheduled to come out early next year. I also did some artwork that should appear on the TV comedy series, "Parks and Recreation" in early December.

Thanks for the outstanding interview Benton! Since I loved his storyboards so much, I decided just to put them all up for you to enjoy.

You can find out more about Benton on his IMDb page and check out his superb blog at http://bentonjewart.blogspot.com/.

Plus, buy his book "Babes in Space" today!
What do you think of Benton Jew's work? Any favorites?

Veteran Artist Tim Burgard Shares A Quick Word on Storyboarding

From the sunshine state of California, U.S.A. Tim Burgard started out doing traditional animation before working on blockbusters like X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), The Incredible Hulk (2008).

Working mainly by hand, Burgard's pen and ink drawings help the director and others visualize key scenes in the film. This 25-year veteran of film agreed to take time out of his busy schedule to do a quick email interview about the film Rise of the Planet of the Apes and other work.

Q: When someone asks you "what does a storyboard artist do?" what do you tell them?
A storyboard is a visual blueprint of how a film is going to be seen on screen, drawn almost like a comic strip.


Q: You most recently worked on Rise of the Planet of the Apes. What was it like storyboarding the film?
Working on a project this unusual was very exciting. I enjoy drawing animals and apes, having been a Tarzan fan all my life..

Q: Was a particular scene you looked forward to seeing come to life in the film?
Absolutely the Golden Gate sequence.

Q: How did it feel helping to reboot one of the most successful franchises in movie history: Planet of the Apes?
I didn't feel any nostalgia at the time because this project is so different from the Ape movies I saw as a kid.

Q: For those who don't know, what led to you becoming a storyboard artist?
A progression from drawing comic books to animation merging into boarding commercials and finally feature films. Occasionally games and other stuff.

Q: What's the most surprising way that working on comic books has helped you draw storyboards?
Nothing surprising. I just applied basic storytelling from print media when I learned  to work in film.

Q: You've worked on fourteen theme parks. What's the connection between storyboarding, comic books and theme parks?
Drawing skill.

Q: Tim Burton is known for drawing many illustrations and concept drawings before beginning a film. How much of his work ended up in the illustrations for Mars Attacks?
When I drew a prop (a pin ball game) for the film I was handed one of his sketches for an element of the design. That's all the contact I had but others may have had more.

Q: Who inspires your artwork every day?
(Image: "Flare in the Bayou")
Not one person. I'm inspired by any artist I like and sometimes artists I don't. I'm also inspired by nature and my libido.

I may produce some passion project for myself one day, but right now I'm just a working stiff.



Make sure you check out his IMDb page or the hundreds of images he has on his site timburgardart.com.

To see a list of all the exclusive interviews with other great artists on my blog go here.

What do you think of Tim Burgard's work?

THE JOKER From Dark Knight Batman Movie ( Heath Ledger ) Life-Size Paper-Mache Sculpture

On a personal level I really love ART in just about all of it's forms, especially artwork made by children. It just has a very nice charm about it. Well, a friend to the Bat-Blog, named Adrian, recently went to an exhibit of "Little Kid's Superhero Art" & he got some amazing photos to share. Adrian wrote, "I went to a local mall last night to see some 3-dimensional life-size paper-mache sculptures. They were created by some 7th & 8th grade students of the Holten-Richmond Middle School of Danvers, MA. My girlfriend's cousins, who are in the 8th grade class, helped on a sculpture." WOW! These HUGE sculptures are really super-great! Because the Bat-Blog is ALL about Batman I am sort of showcasing the one of the Joker. It's the Heath Ledger version from the Dark Knight Batman movie ( which is kinda weird for little kids to be making, ha ha ) but they did a wonderful job on this figure! He looks awesome! There were also some pieces, equally as great, that focused on Marvel Comic Book characters. They made Spiderman, The Incredible Hulk, Ironman, & Dr. Octopus! All the artwork here is really special & I wanna congratulate all the children on a job very well done! Also, I wanna thank Adrian for the use of these pics. Thank you, they're very cool!

Confessions of a Superhero - Video Documentary Movie

Recently there was a Documentary Film I wanted to see but it had very limited distribution & I missed it. Well, I'm pretty happy to say that now it is on the Hulu website & you can watch it for free. It's about an 1 1/2 hours long & is pretty fun to watch. The basic story is about these 4 real-life people who make their living working as superheros on Hollywood Boulevard. I thought I should post it here because, besides being a very interesting movie, it has Batman as one of the characters. The four "actors" portray Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, & The Incredible Hulk. I should also add that Ghost Rider, Margot Kidder ( Lois Lane ), & Chewbacca make brief appearances. Here's a link button to check it out, enjoy. Oh yeah, I guess I should mention that since it has a slightly adult theme to it you will have to register with Hulu but it's not a big deal, you can do that in just 5 minutes.

Video: "The Greatest Fan Film of All Time" Comic Book Superhero Animated Movie

"The Greatest Fan Film of All Time" is a sequel to "Batman's Gonna Get Shot in the Face". The primary filmmakers are Jacob Drake, who animates the projects, and Larry Longstreth, who does everything from writing to producing the recording sessions and casting the roles. The film stars PAUL MOLNAR as THE JOKER, VINCE BRUNO as BATMAN, LARRY LONGSTRETH as SUPERMAN, AARON LONGSTRETH as THE HULK, and tons more. The story is really good & there are many different moments in the film that are edited, or done, extremely well. I like the "Nightwing on the rooftops" sequence & when The Joker uses his hand to "walk on top of Gotham City buildings" is pretty clever. The fan-film even makes a few references to the classic 1970's Superman Movies that you'll see right away. Also, there's a ton of superhero characters here both from DC & Marvel Comics. I guess I gotta mention that there are TV Cartoon characters as well. It seems like hundreds, ha ha! Overall, if you're a comic book fan, then you'll love it!


THE GREATEST FAN FILM OF ALL TIME

Video Hulk and Batman : Hi, I'm a Marvel...and I'm a DC

In this new video Batman and The Incredible Hulk square off in a discussion about their respective movie franchises in this Mac/PC Parody.