Pete Von Sholly On Working in Over 100 Films And Why Peter Jackson's 'King Kong' Is Not Impressive

When I first heard about Pete Von Sholly it was when his artwork was featured as being concept designs for the Tim Burton film Superman Lives. But, he's worked on over 100 feature films include Mars Attacks!, Disney's James and the Giant Peach, Darkman, The Mask, The Shawshank Redemption, The Blob, Nightmare on Elm Street III and IV, The Waterdance, The Green Mile, Click, The Mist and more. His political satire Capitol Hell Political Monsters Postcard Book has been talked about all over the Internet.

Sholly is talented, outspoken and a ton of fun, so I'm really glad he agreed to do this interview for my blog. You'll find fascinating insights and and exclusive artwork after the jump.
Pete Von Sholly Mars Attacks concept art

Q. You have been in concept art and storyboarding for many years. What led you to work in this industry?
(Image: The Mist storyboard)
First, THANK YOU, for all the kind words. Much appreciated. Movie work is so "behind the scenes" one seldom gets to hear from anybody outside any given production, which is why your blog is so great. So "the guys" get to show what they can do, you know? (Yes, yes, "the girls" too!)

Anyway, I always loved comics and the movies and my first professional work was in animation (television mainly) where I found out there was a field where you could actually get paid real money to draw! What a concept! Then I saw storyboards and thought they looked kind of like comics and thought maybe I could learn how to do them. Some great guys helped me learn the ropes (Art Vitello and Larry Houston while we were at Marvel Productions) and they taught me the key differences between the print and film media. Mainly when you draw for film you have to honor "screen direction" and think about how your shots will cut together, quite different from laying out a comic book page.

Persistence and some networking helped me get a toe-hold in movies. The first two I did (of any note) were VAMP and A NIGHTMARE OF ELM STREET 3: DREAM WARRIORS. This led to other work for New Line Cinema and I met Frank Darabont while there- who later hired me to board THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, THE GREEN MILE, and THE MIST.

Q. One of your first storyboarding jobs was on Nightmare on Elm Street. How did you get involved in that and what was it like?

Oops! Already kind of covered that. But that film (the third one, not the original Wes Craven one) led me to meet Chuck Russell who I liked and had fun with. He later hired me to do THE BLOB remake and THE MASK. Had a ton of fun with Chuck and with all the New Line crowd. It was a small company then.



Q. You've done a lot of comic book and cartooning work. How does this art style help you in your movie and television work?
(Image: The Shawshank Redemption (1994) storyboard)

I think comics and cartooning are great because apart from the basics like anatomy and perspective and composition, you learn to make your characters emote. This is helpful for storyboards. Brain Yuzna once told me he liked my boards because you could always tell not just what the characters were doing but how they FELT about it! Simplicity and clarity are my goals.


Q. Was there anything in particular that inspired you to take that direction or was it all natural and pure brilliance on your end?
Oh, all natural and pure brilliance, absolutely. (Sorry, that was TOO good to pass up!)

I think I want to see certain things in comics and movies (and we all do) and so we become "the guys we always wanted to be" as my old pal Dave Merritt says. Dave runs the model shop at Legacy (and did the same for Stan Winston for years). I think we make the stuff we always wished somebody would make. Or try to anyway.


Q. You seem drawn back to the original King Kong film time and time again. How many times have you seen it?
Dunno. A BUNCH though! Love Skull Island. I'm always sad when they leave for NY! It had the feeling of a place where giant prehistoric things could actually live and seemed like it could go on forever even though it was just an island! Of course, it was chock full of DINOSAURS which put me in cinema heaven right away. I went to a show at the Academy theatre V a few years ago (or whatever it was called) where some of the WETA guys were touting their effects work on Pete Jackson's King Kong. They were boasting about how their wonderful animators were able to bring tears to audience's eyes with the way they brought Kong to life and made you feel his tragedy when he died... I so wanted to stand up and mention, yes all very well and good, but don't forget how Willis O'Brien ALSO did that with a f***ing rubber and metal PUPPET along with Max Steiner's wonderful music back in 1933! A bit more impressive an accomplishment than what you can do with tons of CG and virtually unlimited money nowadays.



Q. Do you prefer digital or traditional art tools?
Both. Love to draw and ink on paper! Love pencil and paper. But I also love what I can do once I have the drawing down by getting it into Photoshop and going to town. I like the luxury of having "thinking time" as Alex Toth called it... and the ability to revise and change the work later on if I get a better idea, which I can sometimes only do when I'm not too close to it.


Q. When you began your journey as a designer you probably had a few role models, would you name two of your favorite artists?
(Image: Jack Kirby Captain America comic panel restoration study)
Only two?? Jack Kirby and Jack Kirby. No, I loved Frazetta too.



Q. How does it feel to have your designs come to life?
It’s fun, of course, but I have to tell you something. When you work on a movie it's hard to ever SEE that movie as a normal audience member; you KNOW too much. I have had more work come to life from storyboards than designs.

Q. What advice would you give to newbie designers?
Find your own thing by working at it a lot. Watch King Kong (1933) and other "old movies" too. For storyboarding, watch a lot of good films (like anything by Hitchcock) with the SOUND turned off so you can really notice the cutting. Find what excites you. And remember, nothing pays off more than pure persistence. Don't give up and don't forget how much you WANT to do your art.

Q. Lastly, what can we expect to see from you in the future?
I have a giant HISTORY OF MONSTERS mural book in the works (2013), a two volume PETE VON SHOLLY'S MONSTERBOOK from TwoMorrows (sooner!), a ZOMBIE POP-UP BOOK in the works, some secret personal projects- one of which could be epic! What else? Writers Blocks. I don't know. A lot of stuff which may or may not see the light of day. You might like SPINECRAWLER, a graphic novel I adapted from a script I wrote. IDW published that last summer. I do stuff because I want to and feel it NEEDS doing, not because somebody promised to publish or produce it. WORK is for making money. Art is for your soul.

Check my blog once in a while, maybe. I will post stuff on there as it comes forth.

Thanks for asking all of the above and I hope there is some modicum of info or entertainment or something to be found in the answers.

And keep your OWN stuff coming too, MM- your blog is wonderful!

Thanks Pete!

See more of Pete Von Sholly's portfolio and commentary at VonsHollywood.com and http://vonshollywood.blogspot.com.

To read more of my exclusive interviews with talented artists go here.

What do you think of Pete Von Sholly's work? Did you learn anything you didn't know?





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