DEEP
BACKGROUND ON TRAINING DAY
an
exclusive report by graphic designer Snow Dowd
My
partner Robert and I had worked with producer Jeffrey Silver,
while we were living in Toronto - creating artwork and graphics and
video
screens that were used on the set for a small WB movie called Gossip.
(If
you have seen the movie, Robert created most of the stuff that was
made by
the "multimedia artist" character named Travis.) We were
also contracted to
create an "underground" web site for the film that included
a lot of video
and audio collages...because it was "unofficial" but endorsed
by the producer
and WB Online we were able to use nearly any material in any way
that
we wanted on the site.
Jeff
contacted us early in the production stages of Training Day
to start brainstorming
on the look and feel for the web site. We did a lot of visual
research
on grafitti art, tattoos, custom guns and low-rider cars. We were
especially
interested in those cultural artifacts that might be consistent
or
overlapping in both cop and gangster culture. We interviewed "Bone"
Sloan who
worked on the film as the gang consultant (he has been in gangs for
most of
his life and recently completed a documentary about the history of
gang culture
in Los Angeles) - we found that the tough inner-city cops often had
unofficial
logos much like gang signs and that both cops and gang members
were
motivated by fierce (if misguided) notions of loyalty, dedication
to a cause
and a desire to prove themselves worthy by any means necessary.
We
created a series of concept boards - collages that included key visuals
that
represented the research we had done and that gave an impression of
the
colors and images that would be supportive of the film's theme and
location...in
addition to the elements already mentioned, these included sun
and
moon time-lapse images, layered maps of Los Angeles streets and photos
of
the Monte Carlo that was going to be used in the film as Alonzo's
"G-Ride."
These
concept boards were discussed with the director (Antoine Fuqua) and
the
production designer (Naomi Shohan) and we then put together a "look
book"
of images and ideas that were distributed to some of the musicians
who were
contributing to the soundtrack as a way for them to get into the mood
and
themes of the film.
We
then began work on the designs and content for the web site...this
was an intense process overseen by Don Buckley of Warner Bros. Online.
We designed and
built the site in Flash so that it could include dynamic audio and
animation
elements that would help to convey a feeling of the unique urban
and
cultural landscape of Los Angeles.
http://trainingday.warnerbros.com
Overall
the experience was eye-opening for us, at the beginning we were
hesitant
about even working on a project that seemed to have a strong focus
on
gangs...but as we learned more about the long history and the complex
culture
of cops and gangs in Los Angeles, we began to see overarching themes
of
loyalty, justice, and strength that were tied directly to the more
general
human struggle with morality.
As
new residents of Los Angeles, it was also a wonderful opportunity
to gain an
appreciation for the rich visual landscape that reflects LA's
multicultural
and often chaotic core. Visiting some of the inner-city locations
and seeing the beautiful photographs taken by Robert Zuckerman* of
people
who lived in those areas (many of whom worked on the film, either
as extras
or as security people), gave us a new perspective on parts of the
city
that we might not have explored otherwise.
