Tom Southwell Q & A

[Tom Southwell]

Deck B,
The business card was designed by Jack Neville before I came on board. The title Blade Runner with the lines through was designed by Charles William Breen, the set designer who designed the title block at the bottom of all the "working drawings" or plans of sets and vehicles to be built. Charles was also responsible for drawing (and designing) Deckards apartment, under the master plan and design of Lawrence G. Paull and Ridley, also keeping a strong respect for Frank Lloyd Wright who created the inspiring Ennis Brown house where location shooting took place.

Charles took Letraset type rub on letters and spelled out "Blade Runner".
Then with a razor or exacto blade cut it up horizontally . He spaced it out the way he wanted it, and got a photo stat of that.

I'm not sure if I have one of Lawrence's cards, but I have one almost identical with my name on it. I'll track it down and shoot it for you.

I think I took the pictures of the blaster you spoke of. I put the business card beside the gun for scale. I think I placed the gun on a grid that was a cutting board. I loaned the photos to someone working on a Batman movie and he must have released them. I must still have those pictures. I think I shot all six views of it. I did this the day Steven Dane got the gun from the gunsmith. I'll have to take a look.
TS
_________________
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe...

[joberg]

Thanks for sharing Tom...yes, that apt. is a dream and a lot of people would cry if they could actually see the pics of the blue-print but also pics of the set.

As for pics of the gun, that would be great also

[Tom Southwell]

DeckB24... ,
I found my biz. card on a cassette of the BR soundtrack an editor
gave me long ago (that's why it says Vangelis).
Charles W Breen had this title block made so a mold and rubber stamp
could be made. Each drawing was stamped and the info added.
I added the Japanese translation to printed items needed later.
(however it was translated: Brade Lunner, and this was discovered
too late to fix it. I think that's even on the crew jackets.)

Switching topics to Dorgon:
I would make silly collages like this (Disco Leonardo) as gifts to friends,
(clipped from the same book that had the fat man). I thought DeVinci
could have invented the disco, which was very popular then.

And finally:
This is a catalog page from Dover about mid 1980's with the book that
replaced my volume, and the fat man is probably in there, but i can't
guarantee it.

joberg,
Sadly I don't have pictures or plans of Decks apartment.
TS
_________________
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe...

[Tom Southwell]

This is Charles William Breen, photographed while working on BR.
The view over his shoulder shows him drawing Deckard's
kitchen and photos of Syd Meads paintings
can be seen on his drawing table.

I have had the pleasure of working on several films with Charles.
He is now working as a production designer and keeps me informed
and entertained on Facebook.
TS
_________________
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe...

[joberg]

TFS Tom...those are great pics. I can see that the Microgramma, Eurostile bold extended has been used again for that Blade Runner logo

Seeing Mr. Breen at his table with some of the kitchen's blue-print is really something

[andy]

This is why I never get sick of this movie. Thanks so much Tom. This stuff is great.

Andy

[BeastMaster]

Great stuff as always Tom!

Speaking of photos, did you have anything to do with Leons photos? Did you mod the black borders with the red symbols/numbers?
_________________
"F*ck it, it's just a movie. Let him worry about it" Harrison Ford

[8th_Passenger]

Hi Tom,

I just wondered if you had been able to dig out those dimensions for the VK graphics?

Thanks,

Colin

[Tom Southwell]

BeastMaster,
No, I did nothing on those photos.
Back in 1981 there was a photo process that would take your film
negative or transparency and make a print with no white border
and the film codeing type along the edge would print over black. I think this
is what you saw. I'll look on Saturday to see if I can find one of
mine as an example (though not a BR print).

8th_Passenger,
I'm not sure I have the exact size VK logos I used. I have looked
but no luck finding the correct one. Better to be sure than lead
anyone a stray.

All the documents of record went to "the company" upon the
wrapping of the art department. During the making of
Dangerous Days I was told that material had been discarded
so my collection was used in the film.
80% of the behind the scenes stills in the film
(not including visual effects) were from my collection.
Please be patient and I will try again on Saturday.
TS
_________________
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe...

[8th_Passenger]

Tom,

Thanks for looking.


Colin

[DeckB26354]

Dear Tom

What can I possibly say, except a huge thank you!

It is so exciting to see his beautiful work in the quality it deserves. Thank you also for the wonderful breakdown of how he accomplished such an impressive effect. Your recolection of people and events from nearly 30 years ago is remarkable.

I was also amazed to hear that you may have actually taken the photos of the blaster that I have admired for so long! Please, if you can locate them I would be nothng short of ecstatic! The photos that we have are not infront of any sort of grid but otherwise match your description but only 4 shots; front , rear, left & right. The frustrating thing is that the left photo does not show how the wires to the two green LED bulbs fitted to the 'laser pointer' were hidden. Basically, the quality is too poor and the picture too dark. If that question could be answered from any photos, I know a lot of members here, including myself would probably need a sedative to calm our excitment!

Again, my deepest gratitude for your wonderful photos and knowledge.

[Tom Southwell]

DeckB26354,

Could THIS be the photo you saw?
This is a slide I took in 1981 of the first Blaster delivered, as I discussed earlier. (There were probably more than one made) .

I need to get a slide scanner to properly dig out the detail in the photo.
This exposure is a bit dark (to see the neat red lights that are switched on),
however I can see there is still some good detail in the shadows
that could be brought out (and the table will burn out). These shots were taken with available
light as snap shots. (No tripod or photo lights.)
I even got noir blinds from an art department window.

And this copy of the slide was off a small cube viewer with my iPhone.
Let me know if this is of use to you and I'll see about that scanner.
TS
_________________
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe...

[joberg]

Thanks Tom Yes, that's the photo I saw also, it's just that I didn't know there was more than one. It would definitely be great if we could see the other ones as well.

[DeckB26354]

Hi Tom

Thank you for your reply and YES, those are the ones!

Wow, who would ever have guessed that YOU were the chap who took those precious photos? Incredible.

I realise that we are asking you to go to some trouble here and understand if it is too much to ask. However, I know everyone here would really appreciate your time and effort in scanning the slides and obtaining the best quality from your "snapshots". It would also be so benificial to be able to finally document the details of the blaster as it was when delivered for present and future fans.

Thank you again for your invaluable insight.

[Tom Southwell]

DeckB26... : ... Your recolection of people and events from nearly 30 years ago is remarkable. ...

Truth is I can't remember what I had for lunch two days ago, but I can remember almost
every minute of six months on BR thirty three years ago
(with the help of memory prods like photos, sketches, books and films.)

"...you're talking about memories..."

I will look into that scanner. Stay tuned.
TS
_________________
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe...

[andy]

Tom,

Those photos you took have been hoarded by a select few for a long time. I have some low res scans of the prints that were shown when the gun went up for auction at Profiles in History. If you haven't noticed yet we are obsessed with every tiny detail and bit of information we can get about this movie, and especially Deckard's gun. High res scans of those slides would be of extreme interest to us. I am very excited to see them, and hope to see things I haven't seen yet.

Thank you once again,
Andy

[BeastMaster]

Me too! I cant wait to see those slides

Heh, I was thinking all the time reading this thread 'how the heck does he remember all these details from 30-odd years ago?!'
_________________
"F*ck it, it's just a movie. Let him worry about it" Harrison Ford

[Tom Southwell]

BeastMaster,
I think the best illustration for memory is this:
Do you remember your best moments from Christmas' past?
Do your photos of those days bring back the details?

Well every day was Christmas for me back then, even with
12-16 hour days! I think you would have saved those memories too.
TS
_________________
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe...

[joberg]

Talking about memories Tom: brain specialists/scientists have claimed that the only time the brain can remember is when the event is accompanied by a "shot of adrenaline".

The event takes place and the adrenaline makes sure that you remember that event...like a picture being printed permanently into you conscience.

I guess working under a certain amount of pleasure/stress was giving the necessary adrenaline shots you needed at the time and also the association of pictures/drawings, etc will awake that memory that was recorded all those years ago.

[nickdaring]

This thread just gets cooler and cooler.