That's no demon, that is just a guy with some dirt on his face...
I was able to find some time to take a fresh pass at another monster that I designed while working on Joss Whedon's Angel series. This time around the Eli Demon was the lucky winner. Here is my original design for the Eli Demon from 2003...
Wait, the design looks more like a demon and just a guy with dirt on his face, what could have happened?
© 2004 Almost Human
© 2004 Almost Human
The Eli Demon was to be a Demon working at the evil law firm that Angel and company take control of. He was to be a subtle demon that was mostly human. Apparently off camera he did some bad stuff and Angel set and example of him to the rest of the firm ringing in a new way of doing business. Fair enough, I got to work on a 'subtle' demon design and came up with the above image. Apparently my subtle design was not subtle enough for everyone. Clumsily, behind my back (I say clumsily since I heard the entire conversation I was not to be overhearing) the sculpture was instructed to ignore my bad design and do something VERY subtle. First off, the sculpture on this is an amazing artist and has gone on to do some AMAZING things with WETA in New Zealand and is not at fault in any of this. The thing is, subtle just does not work for TV. Especially pre-HD TV. The rule of thumb in the shop was if you wanted to know how something was going to look once it was filmed and aired you just needed to squint your eyes at whatever you were working on. Squint your eyes at the top photo of the finished demon... yeah, looks like a dirty guy with some spots. And guess what? On set and once filmed production made fun of the demon saying that it... LOOKED LIKE A GUY WITH DIRT ON HIS FACE! For things to read on TV you have to make them a little over the top, add a bit more contrast, make them a bit more brighter. In a movie you can go to town with subtle when there are close up and the image is shown dozens of feet high. My design was overruled, the sculpture was backed into a corner, and the makeup appliances were made flesh tone... all resulting in a very dirty man demon. All things aside, here is something... newer, for the design of the Eli Demon...
Taking the Eli Demon back!
© 2012 Christopher Burdett
© 2012 Christopher Burdett
Since I never had an opportunity to actually draw this design I was really more focused on drawing the actor and having fun. I stuck with the original direction of the old design but made it more exaggerated. More is more after all. Some of the drippy skin above the eyes in the original also made him feel a little sad. Funky faced demon guys say, "RAWR!" This design would have gone over even worse, but I sure had some fun drawing it.
I sometimes forget which demons I have photos for and which I do not. I was pleasantly surprised that I actually had some pics of the Eli Demon because I figured finding him online might be tricky. Not only did I have some set pics, but I had some wacky off camera fun...
Oh look, it is too dirty faced guys hanging out... wait, one of those guys has no body...
That is all for another exciting Wednesday, see you back here on Friday! Until then...
For more samples of my work or to contact me regarding my availability head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com
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