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Jul. 3rd, 2007 02:53 amEarlier this evening I went to listen to Lance Wilder speak at the Chelmsford Public Library. He's the background designer for The Simpsons, and has been working on backgrounds for the show since the second season. He talked about how he got the job, the process for the creation of an episode, and the many, many Chelmsford landmarks that have appeared in the show over the years. Chelmsford is Lance's home town, and he used the places he remembered from home as the inspiration for many of the buildings in Springfield. That's why there's a Zesty's Pizza in Springfield, why their town hall looks like our library, and the interior of Krusty Burger looks a lot like the interior of a local McDonald's, among other things.
A lot of this I already knew, but one thing I didn't know is that he and the other design artists will sometimes throw in little jokes that aren't in the script. For example, Lance felt strongly that there should be a sense of continuity to Springfield, so in future episodes after the Simpsons recieved the giant stone head of X’tapalapaquetl, he suggested that the Simpsons should still have it, and drew it into the background in their basement, and even as an item for sale at a yard sale the Simpsons held on their lawn. I had always assumed stuff like that was in the script, and I think it's really cool that the designers get to contribute those sorts of things to enrich the show.
Many, many years ago, I took an art class that Lance taught while he still lived in town. This must have been something he did during the summer while still at college, since it turns out he got his job at the Simpsons a couple of weeks before graduating from the RISD, and moved out to California a couple of days later. I think I would have been around 12 years old at the time, and it was just something do to for fun to try to improve my drawing skills. I didn't apply myself seriously to art until college, so it wasn't as if I had an art career planned at the time.
After he finished his talk I mentioned to him that I'd taken his class all those years ago, and thanked him for teaching me the most important lesson - keep practicing. I had brought my portfolio with me in case he had a chance to look at it and was interested to see what sort of things I was doing these days, but the talk was very well attended, and I didn't think he really had time for it. There was a short line of people waiting to have stuff signed, and the library was supposed to close in 5 minutes. Maybe I'll catch him for longer next time he comes to speak.
A lot of this I already knew, but one thing I didn't know is that he and the other design artists will sometimes throw in little jokes that aren't in the script. For example, Lance felt strongly that there should be a sense of continuity to Springfield, so in future episodes after the Simpsons recieved the giant stone head of X’tapalapaquetl, he suggested that the Simpsons should still have it, and drew it into the background in their basement, and even as an item for sale at a yard sale the Simpsons held on their lawn. I had always assumed stuff like that was in the script, and I think it's really cool that the designers get to contribute those sorts of things to enrich the show.
Many, many years ago, I took an art class that Lance taught while he still lived in town. This must have been something he did during the summer while still at college, since it turns out he got his job at the Simpsons a couple of weeks before graduating from the RISD, and moved out to California a couple of days later. I think I would have been around 12 years old at the time, and it was just something do to for fun to try to improve my drawing skills. I didn't apply myself seriously to art until college, so it wasn't as if I had an art career planned at the time.
After he finished his talk I mentioned to him that I'd taken his class all those years ago, and thanked him for teaching me the most important lesson - keep practicing. I had brought my portfolio with me in case he had a chance to look at it and was interested to see what sort of things I was doing these days, but the talk was very well attended, and I didn't think he really had time for it. There was a short line of people waiting to have stuff signed, and the library was supposed to close in 5 minutes. Maybe I'll catch him for longer next time he comes to speak.
