–Everything that happens strengthens us. Pain, loss (which is nothing but exchange),and death which is but another transformation of our energy.
–C.C. of the rest of the film
• Map Shop in Gold/Greens
• Army Base 1955. Earth tones, military green, and blue and yellow Christmas lights.
• Flashback in shades of Scarlet and gold that don’t regain their intensity until the end of the film.
– Nuada Silverlance
–The magic world’s color code.
– • The T.M. GREENS BLUES GOLD RUST RED.
• Throne Room: GOLD and BLACK
• Bethmora: Ochre/ Gray/Amber
• G.A.C. Golds/Scarlets
• Little hallway Ipepe: Greens/Gold.
NOTEBOOK 4, PAGE 24A
11/8/06 13 Goyas and I’ll throw out the A. Shave. I hope everything turns out well.
11/24/06 War, murder, people killing people they don’t know, those are facts. The barrier between us, that one we can’t break, you and I, that is tragedy. Pure and simple.
–If I move the prologue so that it contains the legend of G.Q., it will make the TROLL MARKET section lighter.
–It’s important for the “Elemental” sequence to feature a large-scale scene and show us “NATURE VS. M”
–They show the king the Elemental grenade and call it “the Bad”
–Placing our faith in organized religion makes beggars of us, starving people pleading for something that they carry, and have always carried, within
—You disgusting–meat sacks of GARBAGE.
HB [?] set.
—THE WORLD—etc.—“Keep up the good work”
The prince does his “cleansing,” little by little the graphics mix together with the graffiti.
Royal markings
–Angel of Death.
plays with lives.
–What is evil if not the work of the virtuous man?
–Perhaps it would be a good idea if Abe “read” the state of Liz’s pregnancy.
–“the immoral and impious straight line” Hunderwasser.
–Solitude and silence are the greatest gifts or the worst punishments.
–“Fairy cottage” or “Storybook architecture popular during the 20’s/30’s
Del Toro’s original idea for the Angel of Death was given a lair by Mike Mignola.
GDT: Yeah, the first time I designed the wings of the Angel of Death was for a project called Mephisto’s Bridge, but they were much more elaborate. Every feather had an eye, and each of the eyes in the feathers represented a soul. But the Angel is really rooted in medieval illustrations, which show angels with four wings and eyes in the wings. I just love that image, and I keep it in my head.
And I wanted him to be blind in the sense that he doesn’t care if you choose one path or the other. That gives him a distance. There’s something really, really sinister about the angel that is blind to human suffering, if you will. And we took a long time sculpting the faceplate because I wanted it to feel like a helmet, like a crown, but to give it the texture of real bone. And then we added the asymmetry of the crack—in a character that is all about symmetry, you put in an asymmetrical detail.
MSZ: The faceplate in the final design isn’t something I see reflected in the early drawings.
GDT: No, it literally came out when we were sculpting. I went to visit the makeup effects department, and when we started there was no faceplate. So I took a bunch of Plasticine and I started expanding it into a faceplate. And then Norman Cabrera found the half-moon shape. And we started saying, “Let’s make it bigger,” and it just happened. Sometimes I like “sketching” with clay. I used to sculpt, and am an okay sculptor, so I can get away with it, although not all of the makeup guys like it when I do it.
MSZ: And then the Angel’s teeth remind me of the Pale Man’s.
GDT: That’s exactly right. I like really narrow, small teeth that are long. I think they are very threatening. If the only makeup you use on an actor is just changing the teeth, it’s already super creepy. And it’s very subtle. People don’t read it at first.
The angel’s faceplate, absent in the original design, was developed during the sculpting process.
NOTEBOOK 4, PAGE 24B
–A thing like that, if nature didn’t put it there, then it had a purpose. Somebody did. Somebody wanted it there. there are things in these woods that are older, and meaner than us. They have been here before any of us and hate us.
–The land, the soil of our land calls our name, the rocks and the roots dream of us, await our return. Call our name. Call us back. (True name). The earth of our land dream of us.
–Mirror Helmet for J. TO AVOID REFLECTION/SET. Plus TORSO J to establish it at the start of the film
–That’s a long sword, your highness, overcompenseting?
Arno [?]
4:35 28/11/06
–The prince needs to show his sister ONE room just like things were in their splendor.
“The worst”
–A character called Mr. Knuckles–
–A 1,000 people could save the earth.
–We are a race of shitbags protecting their turf and this young, [?] of shits. How about that??
–December 15, 2006, Stephen King writes in E.W. “…the best Fantasy Film since THE WIZARD OF OZ… you will SEE This movie…” I am happy. They nominated us for the Golden Globes.
–Lynch: It’s about the idea.
–Emilio: It’s about the story.
–Lynch: I’m a classic avant-gardist.
–The community moves slower than the images.
–Lynch: “revealing the sickness…”
–Making films different than media.
–Emilio: You know who counts at 3.06 a.m. in a set. The west—FUCK OFF!!
–Bargen, LAST Name, German. Pronounced like “Bargain”
GDT: I just found it disturbing—the idea that in a Lovecraftian movie a character could raise their arm and you would see a bunch of tentacles moving. It’s an image I would like to use one day.
Below it is a sketch I did of the council of the elves on both sides of the throne, which ended up in Hellboy II in a different way. It says “The worst” because the prince says, “And for that I will call upon the help of all my people and they will answer. The good, the bad, and the worst.” He’s including “the worst” in his oath, which is the Golden Army. And I was playing with the idea that the train of the king’s robe was also the carpet leading up to the throne. But I didn’t use that either.
MSZ: Let’s talk about this portrait of the king [opposite].
GDT: I like the idea of a creature having ornamental elements that grow out of their body—of ornaments that are biological. You know, when you see a stick insect, it looks like a design. Or if you look at a flower or a vegetable, there is a symmetry and an elegance to the inside that is completely natural, organic. For example, when you slice a tomato, the veining is beautiful.