BUNRAKU : DESIGNER ALEX McDOWELL HAS A WORD TO SAY ABOUT HIS FIRST PRODUCTION

The average audience member might not know production designer Alex McDowell by name, but they certainly have never forgotten his work on such films as Fight Club, Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, The Crow, Minority Report, The Terminal, Bee Movie, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Corpse Bride. In 2002 he won the San Diego Film Critics Society award in the Best Production Design for Minority Report and, in 2004, the Art Director Guild Excellence in Production Design Award for The Terminal. In 2006, McDowell was named Royal Designer for Industry by the UK’s most prestigious design society, the RSA and was appointed Visiting Artist at the MIT Media Lab.

Alex McDowell, you're producing your first film, Bunraku. What can you tell us about it?
I met with Guy Moshe, the director of Bunraku, and his producer Nava Levin a couple of years ago, originally to consult with them.

His project was such an interesting and provocative blend of genres and techniques that I got hooked and helped them to set up an innovative approach to pre-production that integrated pre-visualization, storytelling and design into a new fluid and low budget workspace for the creative team.
The story is set on a theatre stage in a folded paper world where Russian gangsters, cowboys and samurai warriors come together in inevitable and never-ending battle. It's an elegantly choreographed dance of revenge, honor and friendship. It stars Josh Hartnett, Gackt, Ron Perlman and Woody Harrelson. It's cool!

Source : Forces Of Geek