I had the pleasure to meet up with Paulina Majda recently on the Lille film festival.
If you dont know this talented lady was the art director on the Oscar winning short “Peter and the wolf” and was in Lille to present the works of Se-ma-for film production studio. She was kind enough to write up something about the Peter and the wolf production, as well as give us some rather cool photos form the set. Thank you very much Paulina!
Here is what she wrote:
Paulina:
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I was wondering about some anecdotes from Peter and the Wolf, that you asked,
Honestly it hard to choose something funny and interesting after few years, already.
I remember the people.
Hugh Gordon was a leading cinematographer, about 70 ( on the photos he is with white beard) , but he never want to tell me exactly his age. Every day he rode a bike to the film set from his home. He put cycle helmet on his head, for hands and knees, jump on the bike and ride through the city. Is not often in Poland, in a quite big city, during the winter also. When he reached to the film set he jump out from the bike, and jump on the film set and work till the night. Amazing. Great, warm man with great condition. I miss him till now.
It is quite funny when you see the people about the 60, 70 and they are so much involved in the puppet production, they are so serious about everything what they do with the puppets. I am not laughing of course, but this is cute, that even old man can play puppets, and they are important for him.
It was a real boy, who inspired Suzie for the Peter. She met him, as I good remember, in Russia.
And she got a picture of him. During preparing the sculpture he was changed a little, but not so much.
For made a forest, we use a real trees from the forest’ s school (place where trees are growing up), actually we bought all the trees from the school and we changed them a little, make smaller, not so bushy, and so on… (some you can see on the photos from the top)
The balloons. Director want to be a real balloons, animated traditional, not computer, so the tests of balloon were looks like: balloon from the glass, plastic balloon, condom balloon, small real balloon, but always goes wrong with animation so, in the end, we decided to make it in computer and this is the best idea ,I think.
As a curiosity, on the premier in Royal Albert Hall in London, there wasn’t any balloon in some scenes,
I can’t remember if some one seen it, maybe I shouldn’t tell it?
Sometimes after parties some of the people slept in the film forest. It was enough big to hide in there for real people. It was funny.
Some international romances during the production and some children; friendships of course
And huge sadness after the end. It was hard to say good bye.)
I send you some photos with puppets, how the puppets were made, for example the chair of the Peter,
and wolf surgery, animators in their thoughts, under the tree, in Peter’s house, a bottle of Russian vodka from 50-60 ties, and the Russian cucumbers. The woman with the long hair it is Suzie , the director ,and I work with her with a big, real pleasure.
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Thank you again Paulina, and here are the photos
all images are copyright “Se-ma-for” and “Break ThruFilms Studio”. please respect this
