DVD Review - Paul Lanner


	PORTRAIT OF A DVD COVER ARTIST

		by Ed Peters

Most of the time when fans are given a behind the scenes glimpse of their favorite DVD, the emphasis of the investigation usually focuses on the technical: the transfer, the authoring, the sound track and the accumulation, creation and execution of the supplemental materials. Yet there is an equally important element that in many ways is taken for granted: the cover.


	Most of the time, fans - and I include myself in that generalization - assume that for the most part, all the studios do is take the poster art, shrink to Amaray size and slap it on the cover. Nothing, but nothing, could be farther from the truth. True, many DVDs appear to simply regurgitate the theatrical poster of 6 months, 6 years or 60 years ago and many times that element itself is an "extra" (the original Image releases of the Chaplin features immediately springs to mind.) But what about all those "TV on DVD" sets coming out now where there is no "poster?" Or films where the poster art does not "speak" to today's audiences? Well, creating that attractive wrapper for our beloved digital discs falls into the realm of the graphic design artist. Like any other artist, they must digest, reconfigure, and transform the mundane into the magnificent, convert the commonplace into the compelling. What on the surface appears simply re-arranged takes a great deal of aesthetic know-how, a touch of the dramatic and, of course, the blessing of the client. I recently sat down with Paul Lanner, one of the best and busiest graphic designers working today. He not only has a million and one stories to tell about each cover he's designed (don't break into a sweat; we managed to keep it to a handy few) but he, like so many of us, is a man PASSIONATE about movies - not just the ones perched in his 2,000+ DVD collection, but those "missing in action" gems that still have yet to be released!

DVD Review: Paul, let's just start off, exactly what does it say on your business card?

Paul Lanner: Lanner Design.

DR: How did you get started?

PL: When I was in school, I worked at Simon & Schuster, in the Editorial Department, handling writers' contracts and stuff. And they needed someone to design their first in-house published book. They elected me to do it and I ended up designing their first in-house published book. And from that experience, I moved to L.A. and ended up getting a job with Disney, working on Euro-Disneyland as the Mac graphic specialist. When that project ended, I wound up working at Universal Theatrical because they had gotten a Mac and at that time no one was really using. So that's how I ended up branching further into the film industry.

DR: At what point did you get involved with DVD?

PL: After the Universal gig, I went to work at an advertising agency for a short while and one of their clients was FoxVideo. In a way I brought them in, and worked at the advertising agency on FoxVideo titles and other theatrical marketing. At that time it was just VHS, there was no DVD then. After I left there, Fox asked me to come on board, working directly in the studio environment in Home Entertainment.

DR: What time was this when you first came in with Fox?

PL: Early 1990s was when that started.

DR: At that point, laser disc had been entrenched. Did you work on any laser disc covers during your tenure there?

PL: No. I never worked on a laser disc, that was done by Image Entertainment. I incorporated some laser disc art into some video packaging however.

DR: So you had some laser disc projects where they incorporated the art that you had designed?

PL: The other way around. For example, the laser disc of "Towering Inferno" was already out and when Fox decided that they were doing their wide-screen collection on VHS. I opted to use the laser disc art for that. And that's how I incorporated it. But, the actual laser disc itself? No, I didn't work any laser disc art.

DR: What was the first DVD cover you designed?

PL: The first DVD I recall doing was for the movie "Airplane" and "Airplane II," the sequel. And, I think, at that same time was also, "Planes, Trains & Automobiles."

DR: So that would be around 2000?

PL: Hmmm, yes, I would say something like that.

DR: What are some of the other DVD artwork that you've created over your career?

PL: Oh my, there's been so many… "Mommie Dearest," "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?" "Ravenous," "Stuart Saves His Family," oh my, let me think, there's "The Haunting," "Soylent Green..."

DR: "The Haunting" being the 1963 Robert Wise version?

PL: Yes, correct, not the horrid remake. [LAUGHS] The original.

DR: Sounds like a lot. If you were to assign a number, roughly, what would the number of covers you've designed?

PL: I'd say it's in the hundreds, now.

DR: The most recent project that you worked on was the Wonder Woman Season 1 DVD, which is about to come out.

PL: Correct.

DR: Can you walk us through the process of that particular cover? When you first got the project and how it evolved to what consumers will see in the store when it's released?

PL: Sure. Well, the big thing for me, especially with Woman Wonder was incorporating some of the original DC Comics art into the packaging, to show where she came from. Of course, play up Lynda Carter and give it that pop art, comic book feel. Hence, you'll notice on the background, it's this dot pattern of red; ultimately when all 3 seasons are released, my goal is to have them in red, white and blue. Also, to make it collectible and make it something even more special, you will see that the stars on the front have a nice rainbow foil to them. Of course, I didn't want to play up any kind of campiness because even though in its own way it is, Lynda Carter was very sincere and I wanted to stay with that, stay true to her sincerity, yet retain that comic book feel, not a camp feel especially because the first season was more in tune with the DC Comics which came out of the '40s.

DR: And was 1940s. Did you find yourself having to straddle between the '70s nostalgia versus the '40s nostalgia?


	PL: I tried to keep it in the '40s because when it goes to seasons 2 and 3, Wonder Woman all of a sudden got updated to the '70s. DR: That's right. PL: And I think when Season 2 and 3 come out, I can play off the campiness a little more with the '70s because of the costuming changes and it had a little more tongue-in-cheek [approach] then. So I'll bring that into the Seasons 2 and 3, not with Season 1. DR: Was the Wonder Woman DVD cover fairly typical? PL: That particular project flowed very smoothly which was great. Maybe it was my love of the show or whatever, but the art work was great to work with. There were great images from the show. The one, difficult thing with early TV product is so much of it has little art or not much to work with; because, back then, who could anticipate ever releasing it on video or DVD? But, Wonder Woman Season 1 happened to have quite a lot of art to work with. DR: You touched upon not being able to have the kind of art work that's needed for the covers consumers expect today. Just on that general note, what was your toughest project? PL: Of all time? DR: Well, to date? PL: Ironically, it was a movie called "Ravenous," that turned out to be the most difficult project because the studio, or the marketing department I should say, didn't know how to sell the DVD of the film. Is it a comedy? Is it a horror movie? Do you play up the campiness of it? When you think about it, it's a black comedy about cannibalism. So, we ended up going round after round after round of art - Generally, I'd say in a project, you'll run five to ten different key art looks. "Ravenous" turned out to be I think 61 different looks before signing off. And then even some other design firms got involved in trying to create art. Ultimately what they ended up with was something very mundane.

DR: Oh…

PL: I shouldn't say "mundane" I should just say it wasn't anything, you know, amazing. It was almost like your typical horror movie, a knife image with the faces in it.

DR: It definitely sounds like too many cooks spoiling the broth.

PL: Yes. My thing that I was pushing for was a very close-up image of Robert Carlyle in black and white except with the blood on his lip, and put "Ravenous" under his eye. But they felt he looked too much like Charles Manson. [LAUGHTER] So that got killed.

DR: Yeah, that might put a damper on sales.

PL: Yeah, true, but at least it was in your face. [LAUGHS]


	DR: Regarding theatrical product, the window between theatrical and DVD release keeps getting shorter and shorter. How has that affected you as far as creating artwork that satisfies the studio and grabs the consumer? PL: Actually I think theatrical to DVD can be some of the easier ones because generally what will happen is they'll pick up theatrical poster art. What bogs down the new releases are the approval processes (legal, creative approval from cast, director, etc). I think the bigger challenge, believe it or not, is with catalog films, catalog titles.


	DR: How so? PL: Because sometimes they want to "freshen" the art or create new art. It varies from studio to studio. Certain studios will keep the original art, some want all new art. DR: Well one of the projects that I know you worked which I think you did a terrific job was "Soylent Green." Tell us a little bit about it. PL: Well, for example, with "Soylent Green," I kept the original art of Charlton Heston but the logo was very '70s so I used a more current typeface while keeping it in the sci-fi realm and then adding day-glo green to it. You know, just making it more tasty [LAUGHS] for the consumer. DR: [LAUGHS] Very aptly put. PL: [LAUGHS] Yes.


	DR: Well, in terms of "Soylent Green," and DVD in general, we are seeing movies making it to the format that many thought would never come out. Do you have a wish list of movies that aren't out where you would say, "Oh, I would love to work on this?" PL: "Valley of the Dolls" would be a fun one to do, or do it as a double feature with "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls." That could be a fun double feature disc to do. The thing is, the list gets shorter and shorter as all these films are really starting to come out. Two from Warner Bros. in particular, they're small films but I just love them are "Men Don't Leave," with Jessica Lange and "Crossing Delancey" with Amy Irving. DR: Yes. PL: Those are sweet films that haven't been released yet. And then there was another one that I had started two years ago, which got killed but now it's back and I'm working on it currently, is "Foul Play." I'm excited about doing that. "The Boys in the Band" would be a good one to work on. DR: Well, so there's definitely a lot out there that still could be mined. PL: True, there are definitely films out there that you wonder why they've not been put on the schedule yet. Probably the prints need to be cleaned up. And I WISH someone would acquire all those 70' TV movies like "The Legend of Lizzie Borden…" DR: With Elizabeth Montgomery, right? PL: …Exactly. Those I would kill to work on and I definitely think there is a market for them. DR: Well, for anyone who happens to be reading that's in control of some of those titles, there's definitely an artist out there who's more than willing to work on the art work.

PL: [LAUGHS] That's true.

DR: There's a lot of talk right of going to high definition DVD. From your perspective, will a format change pose challenges for you in designing or redesigning the covers?

PL: The only problem it would pose is if they change the actual template of the packaging itself. For example, as you know, VHS is narrow as opposed to DVD, which is a little wider, so sometimes you have to reformat and alter art and stuff like that. So, if they change the format to blu-ray or whatever it's called, if the packaging changes, then it could mean possibly recreating art for certain titles. Otherwise, no, it shouldn't be a difficult thing.

DR: Sounds like you'll be very busy for years to come?

PL: I would hope so because what I'm seeing now is a lot of the studios are doing these special editions, these two-disc special editions that require different art to make them more collectible. For example, "Lost Boys," is having a two-disc special edition come out. And

	though I'm keeping the original key art, the back art is completely different. "Gothika," will be a lenticular, which will make it collectible also, aside from all the special added features. DR: Paul, thank you very much for your time and insights. PL: Thank you. Anytime. Our thanks again to Paul Lanner for his time and insights, as well as a special thanks to Phil McKenna at Warner Home Video for helping make this possible.


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	Ed Peters July 7, 2004



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