Ralph Eggleston joins us for an in depth conversation about his career. A Pixar veteran, you'll know Ralph's work from movies such as Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Wall_E, The Incredibles, Inside Out and more, as well as his hilarious Academy Award winning short film For The Birds. We find out how Ralph got started, and he shares some great insight into his process and approach to production design. A great episode not just for animation fans, but film fans in general.

This episode is longer than our usual conversations, and we still didn't cover Ralph's entire career.

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Guest: Ralph Eggleston
Host & Producer: Michael Wakelam
Executive Producer: Eric M. Miller
Music by: Rich Dickerson (www.richdickerson.com)


The Creators Society is a group of passionate, friendly, and respectable creators working in different areas of animation from development through distribution. We work to bring these members of the animation community together through education and networking.
Learn more about the Creators Society, and how to become a member at thecreatorssociety.org.

Toward the end of the episode, Ralph talks about a recommended reading list for film making and production design. We've included the list below. Enjoy!

The Big Goodbye, by Sam Wasson
All text, a few pics.  An exceptionally well written account of the making of the movie Chinatown, with lots of design insight by the film’s production designer Richard Sylbert.  Can get on iPad…one of the best books on making a film EVER.  Blast to read (like Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, but on one film!)

By Design, by Vincent LoBrutto
All text.  Interviews with film production designers. 

Hollywood Art ,by Beverly Heisner
GREAT survey of the design departments of the major film studios in the early to late 20th Century.  Lots of medium quality pics, but a great starting place for names and films to look into further. 

Designs on Film:  A Century of Art Direction, by Cathy Whitlock
Excellent book LOADED with high quality images.  

Selznick’s Vision, by Alan David Vertrees and Thomas Schatz
EXCELLENT book on the design and making of Gone with the Wind.  At first, it reads like a doctoral thesis, which it probably is.  But endlessly fascinating.  First film to give credit of Production Design to the great William Cameron Menzies.

William Cameron Menzies:  The Shape of Films to Come, by James Curtis
Terrific biography of the great William Cameron Menzies

Designing Movies:  Portrait of a Hollywood Artist, by Richard Sylbert
Autobiography of Richard Sylbert

Production Design and Art Direction (Screencraft Series), by Peter Ettedgui
Great overview of more modern films.  Lots of interviews and TONS of images!   

Production Design:  Visual Design for Film and Television, by Peg McClellan
Excellent book.  Lots of practical stuff.

Production Design for Screen:   Visual Storytelling in Film and Television, by Jane Barnwell
Lots of good basic info.

The Art of the Hollywood Backdrop, by Richard M. Isackes, Karen L. Maness

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