Professional Profile - April 2012
Damien is passionate about the creation of ‘place’ and the relationship of Production Design to story telling and character.
He was Art Director on the following feature films and television productions;
'The Great Gatsby’,
‘Tomorrow When the War Began’,
‘Superman Returns’,
‘Fools Gold’,
‘The Pacific’ ,and
‘Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars’.
His credits also include ‘Star Wars’ Ep 2 and 3 and ‘The Matrix’ Sequels.
In 2006 he received a US Art Directors Guild Nomination for Best Production Design on a Fantasy Feature Film for ‘Superman Returns’. He also received a 2010 AFI Nomination for Best Production Design for feature film 'Tomorrow When the War Began'
Commercials Production design is also a staple of his work.
“I enjoy the immediacy of design and art direction for commercials. The creative challenges and scope are always varied, as are the breadth of different approaches required when working alongside some of the best Directors and Cinematographers”
Damien’s reel shows a wide range of work that includes spots with Directors' Husein Alicajic, Nick Ball, Ash Bolland, Gary Freedman, Frank Miller, Paola Morabito, Fiona McGee, Scott Otto Anderson, Nick Robertson and Robin Walters.
Three examples of Damien’s design work, concept drawings and finished set stills are included here.
The first for Bundaberg Rum illustrates the transformation of Elizabeth Bay House into a ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ for Bundaberg Rum’s ‘Think Tank’ Miller character. This series of spots was directed by Robin Walters for Curious Film and involved an extensive dress of the central elliptical space of the historic home with period taxidermy, peculiar artifacts and special prop builds. These special prop builds included the world’s smallest book within a giant tome, a live pug dog pulling a miniature carriage and a ticket that issues forth from a taxidermied polar bear’s mouth. These concepts were realised by prop maker Simon Bethune.
Damien also worked closely with Fuel VFX and Director Frank Miller to design a “Future Art Deco City” for the Global launch of Gucci’s new fragrance ‘Guilty’. Some examples of early massing sketches and concept drawings can be seen here. These were later developed by ‘Fuel’ into 3D Maya models and subsequently a complete rendered CGI city environment. Some key frames and early 3D models are shown here also.
He received an APDG Nomination for Best Production Design on a Commercial for ‘Gucci – Guilty’.
“As one of a number of spots for Photoplay Director Scott Otto Anderson we built a set of light in a large empty warehouse space. A series of wall panels and freestanding lights built of single loom kenos by the art department created a dynamic runway for the Lexus IS250. Additional in-camera lights and technical dressing elements created a mythical testing environment. Additionally, we had to drive a digital green car through a practical breakaway wall. The destruction of the wall was motivated with large explosive charges by SFX Supervisor Dan Oliver. The car was later replaced with the new Lexus IS250 and a series of CGI panel replacements as the car later transforms into it’s cabriolet sister”
With a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture, Drew has applied his passion to feature film and television projects for the last 14 years.
Damien is available in Australia via Top Techs Management +61 (0)2 9958 1611
