Neville Page

Neville Page

Page at the 2014 Comic Con Experience in São Paulo, Brazil.
Born 1964/1965 (age 51–52)[1]
England
Residence California
Alma mater Art Center College of Design
Occupation Film and television creature and concept designer
Years active 1990 – present
Known for Judge on SyFy television series Face Off
Notable work Avatar, Cloverfield, Star Trek, TRON: Legacy
Awards ADG Excellence in Production Design Award (nominated)
Website www.nevillepage.com

Neville Page is a British-American film and television creature and concept designer. Born in England, he was raised in Manchester, and Chicago, Illinois. He was inspired by science fiction, including Star Wars, and makeup artist Rick Baker's work in An American Werewolf in London. Page moved to Hollywood at the age of 17, and gained roles as an actor. He graduated with honors in 1990 from the Art Center College of Design with a degree in industrial design, and went on to teach students in Switzerland. He focused his work on design consulting along with business partner Scott Robertson.

Page has worked as a concept designer on films, including Super 8, Watchmen, Star Trek, TRON: Legacy, Cloverfield, and Avatar. In 2010 his works were featured in an exhibit titled "From Page to Screen: Character and Creature Design of Neville Page" at the Oceanside Museum of Art. He joined the panel of judges on the SyFy television series Face Off for its third season alongside Ve Neill and Glenn Hetrick. His works were again featured at the Oceanside Museum of Art in 2012 in an exhibit titled "The Beauty in the Beast: Crafting Creatures by Neville Page", which highlighted his designs in films, including Green Lantern, Prometheus, and TRON: Legacy.

Early life

Neville was born in England,[2] and grew up in Manchester, England.[1] He was later raised in Chicago, Illinois.[2] He grew up around artistic influences; his parents worked as performers in the circus.[3] From an early age he was motivated to pursue a career in science fiction due to his appreciation for Star Wars.[3] Page was inspired by makeup artist Rick Baker and his film work, including An American Werewolf in London.[2]

At the age of 17, Page moved to Hollywood to further employment in acting.[2] He gained minor roles on soap operas, including General Hospital.[3] He took coursework at the Art Center College of Design, and in 1989 for a class on product-design he created a machine apparatus similar to that used by the character portrayed by Sigourney Weaver in the film Aliens.[1] He received his degree in industrial design from that institution with honors in 1990.[2][3] Following his graduation, Page instructed students at the Switzerland location of the Art Center College of Design.[2] Along with his studio partner Scott Robertson, he began work in the field of design consulting.[3]

Career

Neville instructs students at the Gnomon School of Visual Effects in Hollywood, in addition to the Art Center College of Design, in Pasadena, California.[4]

He has worked as a concept designer on films, including Watchmen, Star Trek, TRON: Legacy, Cloverfield, and Avatar.[4] Cloverfield director Matt Reeves noted they hired Page to design the "creature" that appears in the film, commenting, "We would go into his office and he would have what I affectionately referred to as his 'Wall of Terror.' On the wall were all sorts of bits of color, and as you got closer suddenly your interest turned to revulsion because those pictures were like pictures of intestines and eyeballs and pieces of animals. What he was doing was having a biological, evolutionary basis for every aspect of the creature."[5]

From July through August 2010, the Oceanside Museum of Art held an exhibition on Page.[6] Titled: "From Page to Screen: Character and Creature Design of Neville Page", featuring works by Page, including pencil drawings, three-dimensional models, and digital creations.[7] Page said he hoped the exhibit would educate the public about a different facet to filmmaking, "The general public tends to associate films with actors versus people who conceive and design and make the films. What is on display is one small facet of what it takes to make a movie, one of the many gears involved in the mechanism, neither more important nor less ... simply as important."[8]

Neville has served as a judge on the SyFy television series Face Off.[9] He joined the judging panel on Face Off in season three, which launched in August 2012.[10][11] His fellow judges included Ve Neill and Glenn Hetrick.[12] Page returned for the fourth season in 2013.[13] In October 2012, Page returned to the Oceanside Museum of Art, with an exhibition titled, "The Beauty in the Beast: Crafting Creatures by Neville Page".[14] The exhibit which ran for ten weeks featured 45 works by Page from films, including Green Lantern, Prometheus, and TRON: Legacy.[14] He was the creature designer for the 2013 American science fiction action film Star Trek Into Darkness.[15]

Reception

In the 2011 book Star Wars vs. Star Trek: Could the Empire kick the Federation's ass? And other galaxy-shaking enigmas, author Matt Forbeck characterized Neville Page as a "creature guru".[16] Cloverfield director Matt Reeves spoke highly of his work with Page, "... he is a genius."[5] Reeves characterized Page's work on the "creature" in the film, "It developed in many different ways, and it came down to what Neville was doing, which was amazing."[5]

The North County Times referred to him observing, "Page is one of the most recognizable artists in the entertainment industry for his iconic designs."[6] Director of exhibitions and collections at the Oceanside Museum of Art, Teri Sowell, reflected of the exhibition featuring Page's work to The San Diego Union-Tribune, "These creatures are so embedded in our minds, we take them for granted. It's really handcrafted art."[8] Film director J. J. Abrams commented on Page's work on his film Super 8, "the designer of the creature, Neville Page, did an amazing job and I think he gave us something that took a ton of iterations but he really nailed it".[17]

Filmography

Film

Year Film Role Director
2000 Men in Black: Alien Attack Creature design David C. Cobb, Lyonal Coleman, Linda Hassani
2001 Planet of the Apes Props Tim Burton
2002 Minority Report Concept designer Steven Spielberg
2004 Garfield: The Movie Character development Peter Hewitt
2005 Fantastic Four Props Tim Story
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Creature designer Andrew Adamson
2006 Superman Returns Costume illustrator Bryan Singer
2008 Cloverfield Creature designer Matt Reeves
2009 Watchmen Creature designer Zack Snyder
Star Trek Character designer; Head creature designer;
Actor: Romulan crew member		 J. J. Abrams
Avatar Lead creature designer James Cameron
2010 Piranha 3D Creature designer Alexandre Aja
TRON: Legacy Lead concept artist Joseph Kosinski
Just Wright Actor: Jellyfish Documentary Narrator Sanaa Hamri
2011 Super 8 Creature designer J. J. Abrams
Green Lantern Lead creature designer Martin Campbell
2012 Prometheus Concept artist Ridley Scott
2013 Oblivion Concept art Joseph Kosinski
Star Trek Into Darkness Lead creature designer J. J. Abrams
2014 Noah Creature and character designer Darren Aronofsky

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2011 Terra Nova Creature and character designer Creators: Kelly Marcel, Craig Silverstein
2012 Face Off Judge Executive producers: Michael Agbabian, Dwight D. Smith
2013 Falling Skies Creature and character designer Creator: Robert Rodat

Awards and nominations

Year Award Organization Work Category Result
2010 ADG Excellence in Production Design Award Art Directors Guild TRON: Legacy Fantasy Film Nominated[18]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Reilly, Sue (May 7, 1989). "Students with designs on the vehicles of tomorrow". Daily News of Los Angeles. p. L16.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bennett, Dan (July 21, 2010). "It's Alive! Page brings creature design to Oceanside museum". North County Times. Escondido, California.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Neville Page – Judge". Team – Face Off – SyFy. SyFy. 2013. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
  4. 1 2 Spencer, Scott (2011). ZBrush Character Creation: Advanced Digital Sculpting, 2nd Edition. Sybex. p. About the Contributors. ISBN 0470572574.
  5. 1 2 3 "Monster files". The Kansas City Star. Missouri. January 24, 2008. p. F18.
  6. 1 2 "Community News: NCT, Sunday, July 4 – Science fiction artist to talk". North County Times. Escondido, California. July 4, 2010.
  7. ↑ Kragen, Pam (July 7, 2010). "Film club launches second season". North County Times. Escondido, California.
  8. 1 2 Sheshadri, Triveni (July 17, 2010). "Exhibit explores art behind the monsters". The San Diego Union-Tribune. pp. NC–3 NI–3.
  9. ↑ Whittaker, Richard (March 5, 2013). "picture in picture – 'Face Off' Recap: Fast And Furry – Zombies vs. werewolves is nothing compared to backstage fights". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Must-see summer TV premieres". Erie Times-News. Pennsylvania. July 5, 2012.
  11. ↑ Justin, Neal (August 19, 2012). "critic's picks". Star Tribune. Minneapolis, Minnesota. p. 14E.
  12. ↑ Lauer-Williams, Kathy (August 18, 2012). "Life". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. p. D1.
  13. ↑ "Victoria native makes it to Hollywood". The Victoria Advocate. Texas. February 5, 2013.
  14. 1 2 Kragen, Pam (October 22, 2012). "Creature feature: Monster-maker back at Oceanside museum". North County Times. Escondido, California.
  15. ↑ Griffiths, Daniel Nye (March 7, 2013). "To Bodily Glow – Burning Captain Kirk in Star Trek: The Video Game". Forbes. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
  16. ↑ Forbeck, Matt (2011). Star Wars vs. Star Trek: Could the Empire kick the Federation's ass? And other galaxy-shaking enigmas. Adams Media. p. 76. ISBN 1440512620.
  17. ↑ Gross, Terry (June 13, 2011). "J.J. Abrams: The 'Super' Career Of A Movie-Crazed Kid". Fresh Air. National Public Radio.
  18. ↑ "2010 Crew List of Nominees & Winners". 15th Annual Excellence in Production Design Awards. Art Directors Guild. 2010. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
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