Nigel Phelps

Last updated

Nigel Phelps
Born16 March 1962 (1962-03-16) (age 62)
Alma mater Royal College of Art
Occupation(s) Production designer, draftsman
Years active1984–present

Nigel Phelps (born 16 March 1962) is an English production designer, set designer and conceptual illustrator. Phelps is best known creating the drawings of Gotham City as art director on Tim Burton's Batman (1989), for which the film's art department was honored with an Academy Award. [1] [2] Phelps is also a three time MTV Video Music Award for Best Art Direction nominee.

Contents

Life and career

Born in London, England, he trained at the Royal College of Art, London. [3]

Phelps originally intended to be a painter. When his grant ran out at art college he had to take a job to put himself through school. During this time he met screenwriter Paul Mayersberg, who was intending to direct his first feature, Captive . Mayersberg hired Phelps as a storyboard artist and mentored Phelps on editing, camera angles and lighting by showing him films like Touch of Evil and The Lady from Shanghai . Mayersberg introduced him to Anton Furst, who hired him as a draftsman/set designer for Neil Jordan's The Company of Wolves (1984). This is where his long partnership with Furst was established, as his lead draftsman Phelps would create the set drawings for Furst to sometimes later add details and accents to. [4] Phelps went on to create numerous drawings for Stanley Kubrick's approval during the long production of Full Metal Jacket . Tim Burton was a fan of Phelps' drawings from Company of Wolves and was unable to attain his involvement in Beetlejuice , which was filmed in the United States. When production of Burton's Batman was set up at Pinewood Studios he was hired as art director and gained worldwide attention and acclaim for his drawings of the city and interior sets.

In the aftermath of Batman Phelps designed the themes for the 1991 Planet Hollywood restaurant in New York. [1] In 1992 DC Comics commissioned Phelps to create a new Gotham City that debuted in the three issue Destroyer story arc. Phelps was unable to design sets for Batman Returns as he was still employed by Furst in 1991, who had signed an exclusive contract with Columbia Pictures. During this time Phelps had moved to the L.A. area and eventually became a production designer in his own right, making his debut designing Mega-City One in Judge Dredd .

Filmography

As production designer

As art director/set designer

Music videos

Related Research Articles

<i>Batman</i> (1989 film) Superhero film by Tim Burton

Batman is a 1989 superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name, created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. Directed by Tim Burton, it is the first installment of Warner Bros.' initial Batman film series. The film was produced by Jon Peters and Peter Guber and stars Jack Nicholson, Michael Keaton, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl, Pat Hingle, Billy Dee Williams, Michael Gough, and Jack Palance. The film takes place early in the title character's war on crime and depicts his conflict with his archenemy The Joker.

<i>Batman Returns</i> 1992 film directed by Tim Burton

Batman Returns is a 1992 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton and written by Daniel Waters. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the sequel to Batman (1989) and the second installment in the 1989–1997 Batman series. In the film, the superhero vigilante Batman comes into conflict with wealthy industrialist Max Shreck and deformed crime boss Oswald Cobblepot / The Penguin, who seek power, influence, and respect regardless of the cost to Gotham City. Their plans are complicated by Selina Kyle, Shreck's formerly-meek secretary, who seeks vengeance against Shreck as Catwoman. The cast includes Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Michael Gough, Pat Hingle, and Michael Murphy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gotham City</span> Fictional city in the DC Universe, best known as the home of Batman

Gotham City, also simply known as Gotham, is a fictional city in the Gotham town that serves as the primary city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It was best known as the home of the superhero, Batman, and his allies and foes. Created by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane, the city was first identified as Batman's place of residence in Batman #4 and has since been the primary setting for stories featuring the character.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Bolland</span> British comics artist

Brian Bolland is a British comics artist. Best known in the United Kingdom as one of the Judge Dredd artists for British comics anthology 2000 AD, he spearheaded the 'British Invasion' of the American comics industry, and in 1982 produced the artwork alongside author Mike W. Barr on Camelot 3000, which was DC Comics' first 12-issue comicbook maxiseries created for the direct market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Wagner</span> American-born British comics writer (born 1949)

John Wagner is an American-born British comics writer. Alongside Pat Mills, he helped revitalise British comics in the 1970s, and continues to be active in the British comics industry, occasionally also working in American comics. He is the co-creator, with artist Carlos Ezquerra, of the character Judge Dredd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Bisley</span> British comic book artist

Simon Bisley is a British comic book artist best known for his 1990s work on ABC Warriors, Lobo and Sláine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Grant (writer)</span> Scottish comic book writer (1949–2022)

Alan Grant was a Scottish comic book writer known for writing Judge Dredd in 2000 AD as well as various Batman titles from the late 1980s to the early 2000s. He was the co-creator of the characters Anarky, Victor Zsasz, and the Ventriloquist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Mignola</span> American comic artist and writer

Michael Mignola is an American comic book artist and writer best known for creating Hellboy for Dark Horse Comics, part of a shared universe of titles including B.P.R.D., Abe Sapien, Lobster Johnson, and various spin-offs. He has also created other supernatural and paranormal themed titles for Dark Horse including Baltimore, Joe Golem, and The Amazing Screw-On Head.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike McMahon (comics)</span> British comics artist (born 1954)

Michael McMahon is a British comics artist best known for his work on 2000 AD characters such as Judge Dredd, Sláine and ABC Warriors, and the mini-series The Last American.

<i>Judge Dredd</i> (film) 1995 US superhero film directed by Danny Cannon

Judge Dredd is a 1995 American science fiction action film based on the 2000 AD comics character of the same name. It is directed by Danny Cannon and stars Sylvester Stallone in the title role, a law enforcement officer in the crime-ridden futuristic metropolis of Mega-City One. The film co-stars Armand Assante, Diane Lane, Rob Schneider, Joan Chen, Jürgen Prochnow, and Max von Sydow. It was filmed entirely at Shepperton Studios in the United Kingdom, and released by Buena Vista Pictures on June 30, 1995.

Geoff Senior is a British artist, best known for his work in the comic book field in the 1980s, mainly for Marvel UK. Senior is perhaps best remembered for his art for the Marvel Transformers series.

Anthony Francis "Anton" Furst was an English production designer who won an Academy Award for overseeing design of Gotham City and the Batmobile in Tim Burton's Batman (1989).

Robert W. "Bo" Welch III is an American production designer, art director, film and television director and occasional actor. He is best known for his collaborations with directors such as Tim Burton and Barry Sonnenfeld.

Brendan McCarthy is a British artist and designer who has worked for comic books, film and television. He co-wrote the film Mad Max: Fury Road. He is the brother of Jim McCarthy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Will Simpson (comics)</span>

William "Will" Simpson is a Northern Irish comics artist and film and television storyboard and concept artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Batplane</span> Fictional aircraft for the comic book superhero Batman

The Batplane, Batwing, Batjet or Batgyro is the fictional aircraft for the DC Comics superhero Batman. The vehicle was introduced in "Batman Versus The Vampire, I", published in Detective Comics #31 in 1939, a story which saw Batman travel to continental Europe. In this issue it was referred to as the "Batgyro", and according to Les Daniels was "apparently inspired by Igor Sikorsky's first successful helicopter flight" of the same year. Initially based upon either an autogyro or helicopter, with a rotor, the Batgyro featured a bat motif at the front. The writers gave the Batgyro the ability to be "parked" in the air by Batman, hovering in such a way as to maintain its position and allow Batman to return.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Grant bibliography</span>

This is a list of works by Scottish author Alan Grant.

<i>Batman/Judge Dredd: Judgment on Gotham</i> Graphic novel by John Wagner, Alan Grant and Simon Bisley

Batman/Judge Dredd: Judgment on Gotham is the first of four Batman and Judge Dredd crossover comic books, published by DC Comics and Fleetway Publications in 1991. It was written by John Wagner and Alan Grant, with art by Simon Bisley.

Catwoman is a fictional character first appearing in issue 1 of the Batman comic book. After her debut she would appear in many forms of media including live-action and animated film, radio, live-action and animated television, records, video games, web series, live performance, and podcasts. The character has made live-action appearances in the Batman television series (1966–68), its film adaptation Batman (1966), Batman Returns (1992), Catwoman (2004),The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Gotham (2014–19), and The Batman (2022). The character has also appeared in numerous animated television series and movies, most notably Batman: The Animated Series (1992–95) and The Lego Batman Movie (2017), as well as video games such as the Batman: Arkham series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joker (Jack Napier)</span> Fictional character

Jack Napier, also known as the Joker, is a fictional character introduced in the 1989 superhero film Batman, directed by Tim Burton. Primarily portrayed by Jack Nicholson, the character was based on the DC Comics supervillain the Joker. His name is a play on the word Jackanapes, as well as a reference to the names Jack Nicholson and Alan Napier, the latter having portrayed Alfred Pennyworth in the 1960s Batman TV series and having died the previous year. This depiction is notable for being one of the first adaptations of the character to have a distinct first and last name, as well as one of the few instances which show his origins. This iteration of the Joker is a psychopathic gangster who serves as the right-hand man of Gotham City crime boss Carl Grissom until he is disfigured following a confrontation with the vigilante Batman; his disfigurement drives him insane, and he becomes a costumed criminal obsessed with "out-doing" the Dark Knight, who he believes is getting too much press.

References

  1. 1 2 Anton Furst, 47, Dies; Designer of 'Batman', The New York Times , November 26, 1991
  2. "The 62nd Academy Awards (1990) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
  3. "Anton Furst, 47, the Set Designer For 'Batman' and 'Awakenings'", The New York Times, November 27, 1991. Retrieved 2012-11-16.
  4. Ettedgui, Peter (1999). Production Design and Art Direction (Screencraft Series). ISBN   0240804007. Published in 1999, Focal Press