It takes a lot of work to get a Marvel Studios movie together and one of the many talented people working on the projects is Fede Ponce. I got the chance to interview him and he told me what's it's like to work for Marvel and about his new live action/CGI episodic tale called Slumberland that blends "Magical Realism with Science Fiction." He worked with top talent like Bertha Navarro, producer for Guillermo Del Toro and Academy Award winning writer Zachary Sklar.
Fede Ponce is a professional artist leading global campaigns for main titles and an VFX supervisor on Hollywood blockbusters like Iron Man and Thor: The Dark World.
Click on the images to enlarge.
Here's what the final logo looked like
Marvel is a massive entertainment complex. I didn’t directly work at Marvel’s offices. They outsource a lot of the work to their marketing vendors. Then the vendors either work with their in house staff of they reach out to hired guns (specialists) like myself. I am freelance Creative Director and because of my work I get called a lot to do Marvel projects. Marvel is a pretty amazing client to work for, they know what they want, they give out really good creative notes and overall everyone on their ships seems to know what they are doing. It’s a really great collaborative operation.
When I developed the main title for Thor: The Dark Worldthey gave me ample time to design it because I showed some concept art first and they realized it was going to take time so they trusted me and I like to think I delivered.
What led the team to select the current Iron Man logo versus the other options?
We go through a lot of iterations and concepts when designing. For this particular case, I had read the script and was able to grasp what the director wanted to talk about in this movie. The movie in essence is about redemption, about being broken and being re-born. So the main title had all those elements in it.
You mentioned that Slumberland is inspired by events. How did you come up with the idea?
It began about 8 years ago. I have a younger brother and we live very far apart from each other. He is such an amazing little guy and most importantly he is one of my best friends. But it was always very hard to stay in touch with him. So when he was little I created Slumberland for him. Slumberland was the land of dreams and a place where we could theoretically visit together when we fell asleep. We would tell each other stories about our misadventures and that sort of kept us connected through the years.
After a while I had compiled a huge amount of stories and decided to write a feature film. I couldn’t fit everything into a 90 minute film and I was very frustrated about it. That’s when Bertha and Zachary came in and helped me out. After working with them I decided to turn the project into an episodic series.
Would you consider adapting "Slumberland" into a theatrical release?
I did consider it a few times but there is just so much of this world. It's incredibly deep, I think it would be best to live as a high end episodic series. I have not seen anything like it on streaming yet so I think the audience will be happily surprised by it.
See more of Fede Ponce's amazing work at http://fedeponce.com
Click on the links if you want to see more of Fede Ponce's work or Iron Man artwork on my blog.
Learn more about Slumberland and watch the trailer here
Synopsis: "In a future ruled by AI, where disease is a choice and unauthorized dreaming is punishable by death, a young orphan risks his life by traveling into the Dreamworld in order to save his inexplicably Ill grandfather. Inspired by true events."
What do you think of the interview? Did they choose the right logo for Iron Man? Would you visit Slumberland?
Official Iron Man Synopsis
When jet-setting genius-industrialist Tony Stark is captured in enemy territory, he builds a high-tech suit of armor to escape. Now, he’s on a mission to save the world as a hero who’s built, not born, to be unlike any other. Co-starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard and Jeff Bridges.
Directed by Jon Favreau
Cinematography by Matthew Libatique
Production Design by J. Michael Riva
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson
Release Date: May 2, 2008
Official Site: http://ironmanmovie.marvel.com/
© 2008 Copyright Paramount Pictures, Marvel Enterprises, Marvel Studios, Fairview Entertainment, Dark Blades Films
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