Terry Gilliam- Photomontage

“You’ve got to be modern, you’ve got to go to better places and use a different style.”

Terry Gillian, an American artist, animator and film concept artist/director is responsible for some of the most iconic animations that acted as buffers between sketches and the open credits of the TV series “Monty Pythons” ‘Flying Circus’.

Fig 1- Terry Gilliam- Mont Python Animation 

Describing his work is rather challenging as it is so varied in its style, Gilliam spoke about the aesthetics in his designs commenting his work “was just anything I could lay my hands on that was free and cheap, that I could cut up and move around”. As described by his statement Gillian using collage to create his concept work and his animation, whether its digital enhanced or not, the basics start from using old magazine and newspapers. His animation style could be described as ‘filmic collages’, they have been creates using existing concepts, but have a narrative of their only, and have been sliced up by Gillian to create an intriguing eye catching scene.

Fig 2- Terry Gilliam

By preferring to use cut out animation, it gave Gillian a lot of freedom, allowing him to cut up pieces of paper and pushing it in front of a camera. He uses a combination of old photographs, and illustrations to create his work that was both surreal and hilariously strange. Gillian said that “That whole point of animation to me is to tell a story, make a joke, express an idea. The technique itself doesn’t really matter, whatever works is the thing to use. That’s why I use cut out. It’s the easiest form of animation I know’.

Gillian crafts his figures onto animal bodies, for example a potato with eyes or a large foot descending from the sky. The images Gillian creates are not intended to be violent but odd and surprising, making the audience ask questions. Gillian said that “I mean we created interesting worlds full of odd, bizarre, surrounding elements, and I think that is what gamers seem to what.

Fig 3- Terry Gilliam- Monty Python- Flying Circus

Gilliam it a surrealist artist, and by not conforming to realism it gives him more freedom to “…do different things. I didn’t want to get stuck’, with just relying on conversational scenery which everyone knew, and understood what it looks like. For Dr Pannassus Gillian wanted to demonstrate the idea that every time you go in to that world, you didn’t know what to expect or what you were going to experience. This gave him the ability to be able to jump out of the world very quickly without having to available time explaining how and trying the create the ‘same kind of atmosphere and space’ for each scene. Gillian creates abstract background for his concept art, which is much easier and simpler than having to create a realistic and naturalistic setting, as you don’t have to add too much detail, you can leave the reader to imagine that for themselves, commenting that “I think you can get away with murder’.

Fig 4- The Hall Breaks Apart, by Imery Watson and Terry Gilliam

In response to Terry Gilliam's photomontage technique I decided to create my own imagery scene. For this collage I created ig digitally using Photoshop. I used a combination of my own photographs which you can see in the background from my trip to Rome, and license free photos. 

Image References

Fig 1 -BBC. (2016). Terry Gilliam Animations for Monty Python's Flying Circus - Terry Gilliam and Edward Gardner, Joshua Ferris, Clean Bandit, Front Row - BBC Radio 4. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02067rh [Accessed 4 Dec. 2016].

Fig 2- Artinfo, B. and Fuller, G. (2016). Fresh Tilt for Terry Gilliam's "Quixote" | Artinfo. [online] Artinfo. Available at: http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/1010329/fresh-tilt-for-terry-gilliams-quixote [Accessed 4 Dec. 2016].

Fig 3- We Heart. (2016). As “The Reunion” approaches we look back at influence of visionary artist Terry Gilliam.... [online] Available at: https://www.we-heart.com/2014/01/28/the-graphic-design-of-monty-python/ [Accessed 4 Dec. 2016].

Fig 4- Smart.co.uk. (2016). Dreams: Dave Warren on the design of Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus. [online] Available at: http://www.smart.co.uk/dreams/parnwarr.htm [Accessed 4 Dec. 2016].

Bibliography

• Artinfo, B. and Fuller, G. (2016). Fresh Tilt for Terry Gilliam's "Quixote" | Artinfo. [online] Artinfo. Available at: http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/1010329/fresh-tilt-for-terry-gilliams-quixote [Accessed 4 Dec. 2016].
• BBC. (2016). Terry Gilliam Animations for Monty Python's Flying Circus - Terry Gilliam and Edward Gardner, Joshua Ferris, Clean Bandit, Front Row - BBC Radio 4. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02067rh [Accessed 4 Dec. 2016].
• Child, B. (2016). Terry Gilliam laughs off Variety's dead Python blunder. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/sep/09/terry-gilliam-dead-monty-python-variety-blunder [Accessed 10 Dec. 2016].
• Harrod, H. (2016). Terry Gilliam interview: 'If I had stayed in America, I'd be throwing bombs'. [online] Telegraph.co.uk. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/10688503/Terry-Gilliam-interview-If-I-had-stayed-in-America-Id-be-throwing-bombs.html [Accessed 10 Dec. 2016].
• Smart.co.uk. (2016). Dreams: Dave Warren on the design of Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus. [online] Available at: http://www.smart.co.uk/dreams/parnwarr.htm [Accessed 10 Dec. 2016].
• Smart.co.uk. (2016). Dreams: Dave Warren on the design of Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus. [online] Available at: http://www.smart.co.uk/dreams/parnwarr.htm [Accessed 4 Dec. 2016].
• Terrygilliamweb.com. (2016). Terry Gilliam's Official Website. [online] Available at: http://terrygilliamweb.com [Accessed 10 Dec. 2016].
• The Believer. (2016). The Believer - Salman Rushdie talks with Terry Gilliam. [online] Available at: http://www.believermag.com/issues/200303/?read=interview_gilliam [Accessed 10 Dec. 2016].
• We Heart. (2016). As “The Reunion” approaches we look back at influence of visionary artist Terry Gilliam.... [online] Available at: https://www.we-heart.com/2014/01/28/the-graphic-design-of-monty-python/ [Accessed 4 Dec. 2016].