Three Questions With Back to the Future Concept Artist Ryan Jones
TelltaleGames
Former Telltale Staff
We're nearing the release of Back to the Future - Episode 2: Get Tannen! and as we prepare to release the second episode upon the world I got a chance to ask a few questions of our concept artist for Back to the Future, Ryan Jones.
Here's what he had to say when I picked his brain. That's him as Punch-Out!!'s Little Mac this past Halloween.
Q: What's been your favorite new character from BTTF: Episode 1 or 2 to design?
Ryan Jones: That’s a good question. I could be completely misogynistic and say I loved designing Trixie. Vivacious curves, oooh lala! But, that would be a lie. I really had fun designing Officer Parker. I love the idea of a down and out cop who is always off the wagon. It was fun coming up with a brutish guy, whose stature isn’t that big, but you can tell he’s scrappy and given the right motivation will take you down. I can relate...well, with the stature part.
Q: What kinds of visual references have you used for the various characters? Perhaps specify one and what details you gleaned from it?
Ryan Jones: Well, we’ve taken a lot from different eras, more specifically, the 80’s and the 30’s. It’s great gathering reference from both. Somehow the 30’s seem really charming, while the 80’s just seem really ridiculous. We gathered everything in terms of reference: Architecture, Dress, People, Hair Styles, Cars, Posters, etc. etc. This ranged from popular movies and culture from the different eras; some movies that were actually released in that era and others that were about that era. For instance, when designing Kid Tannen, we looked at everything from The Godfather to Public Enemies. Kid’s hair is very similar to John Dillinger’s so we could really capture that harsh, gangster type look.
Q: What's been the most challenging aspect about working with a beloved property such as Back to the Future? Why? What's been the most rewarding?
Ryan Jones: It’s been really nerve-racking not to let the fans down. Coming up with a stylized look for all of these revered characters has been fun, but difficult at the same time. You still want them to be easily recognizable, but at the same time to come off as fantastic and light-hearted. I’m happy where we ended up. This has made it really rewarding to see the fan’s reaction to everything. People seem to really like the style. I’m just glad I didn’t have to make Marty look like Mr. Bieber.
I love the look of the characters in Back to the Future: The Game! What's your favorite new character from Episode 1 or 2? Let's hear it in the comments.