Nigel Phelps

Nigel Phelps
Born16 March 1962 (1962-03-16) (age 62)
Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom
Alma materRoyal College of Art
Occupation(s)Production designer, draftsman
Years active1984–present

Nigel Phelps (born 16 March 1962) is an English production designer, set designer and conceptual illustrator. Phelps is best known creating the drawings of Gotham City as art director on Tim Burton's Batman (1989), for which the film's art department was honoured with an Academy Award.[1][2] Phelps is also a three time MTV Video Music Award for Best Art Direction nominee.

Life and career

Born in London, he trained at the Royal College of Art, London.[3]

Phelps originally intended to be a painter. When his grant ran out at art college he had to take a job to put himself through school. During this time he met screenwriter Paul Mayersberg, who was intending to direct his first feature, Captive. Mayersberg hired Phelps as a storyboard artist and mentored Phelps on editing, camera angles and lighting by showing him films like Touch of Evil and The Lady from Shanghai. Mayersberg introduced him to Anton Furst, who hired him as a draftsman/set designer for Neil Jordan's The Company of Wolves (1984). This is where his long partnership with Furst was established, as his lead draftsman Phelps would create the set drawings for Furst to sometimes later add details and accents to.[4] Phelps went on to create numerous drawings for Stanley Kubrick's approval during the long production of Full Metal Jacket. Tim Burton was a fan of Phelps' drawings from Company of Wolves and was unable to secure his involvement in Beetlejuice, which was filmed in the United States. When production of Burton's Batman was set up at Pinewood Studios he was hired as art director and gained worldwide attention and acclaim for his drawings of the city and interior sets.

In the aftermath of Batman Phelps designed the themes for the 1991 Planet Hollywood restaurant in New York.[1] In 1992 DC Comics commissioned Phelps to create a new Gotham City that debuted in the three issue Destroyer story arc. Phelps was unable to design sets for Batman Returns as he was still employed by Furst in 1991, who had signed an exclusive contract with Columbia Pictures. During this time Phelps had moved to the L.A. area and eventually became a production designer in his own right, making his debut designing Mega-City One in Judge Dredd.

Filmography

As production designer

As art director/set designer

Music videos

References

  1. ^ a b Anton Furst, 47, Dies; Designer of 'Batman', The New York Times, November 26, 1991
  2. ^ "The 62nd Academy Awards (1990) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
  3. ^ "Anton Furst, 47, the Set Designer For 'Batman' and 'Awakenings'", The New York Times, November 27, 1991. Retrieved 2012-11-16.
  4. ^ Ettedgui, Peter (1999). Production Design and Art Direction (Screencraft Series). ISBN 0240804007. Published in 1999, Focal Press