Brian Selznick. Photo credit: Jamie Mazzie
Brian Selznick is the author and illustrator of Caldecott-winning The Invention of Hugo Cabret, a book that garnered much praise for the unique style in which it combined illustration and prose to create a fascinating hybrid influenced by film, graphic novels, comics and picture books. Hugo, the film adaptation, just won director Martin Scorsese a Golden Globe; Selznick’s latest offering, Wonderstruck, came out in September to rave reviews and rumours of a film version. Below, Selznick has answered some of my questions.
What did you think of the film adaptation of The Invention of Hugo Cabret? Did you have any involvement in its production?
Well I think the movie is stunning. I’m really proud that I made something that inspired Martin Scorsese, one of the great film makers of all time. When I wrote the book I didn’t think it could be filmed because the illustrations and the page turns and the book itself are actually a part of the plot. But then Scorsese called and suddenly I thought, hmmm… maybe it can be a movie!
“But then Scorsese called and suddenly I thought, hmmm… maybe it can be a movie!”
I didn’t work on the movie at all myself, but I feel like everyone on the movie collaborated with me through the book. The cast and crew all told me they’ve never seen a director be more faithful to source material. Scorsese had a copy of my book with him at all times, as did most of the people working on the film. When I first visited the set I saw that Dante Ferretti, the Oscar winning set designer, had used my drawings as inspiration for everything he built. It was an incredible feeling.
A still from the movie version of Hugo.
You have described your illustrations in Hugo Cabret and Wonderstruck as “bursts of silent movies”. How much is film an influence on your work?
I’m distantly related to David O. Selznick, the producer of Gone with the Wind and King Kong among many other films, so I’ve always been aware of the power of movies. I loved seeing my last name at the beginning and end of his films and watching movies has always been something I’ve loved. When I’m illustrating a book, especially something like Hugo or Wonderstruck, I’m thinking like a movie camera in certain ways, watching the story play out visually in my head and trying to translate that to the page. But the nice thing about making books is I am the director, the designer, the actors, the cinematographer, everyone. I like having that kind of control.
Do you see yourself continuing in the style seen in those two books?
Yes indeed, at least for one more book. Whenever I make a book my goal is to take everything I’ve learned previously and try to do something new with it. Hugo was the culmination of twenty years of making other books, and Wonderstruck was an experiment in trying to move beyond what I did in Hugo.
If you are able to talk about it, what can we expect from you next?
I have the beginning of a plot, and characters, and location and time periods, but I’m not sure yet how exactly the story will be illustrated, or why. But that’s one of the fun and exciting things about making a book.
Do you have a particular work routine for your writing/illustrating?
I usually start by writing everything out in present tense outlines. Then I begin to fill the story in further and start sketching based on the outlined story. So even though most of my stories start out as images in my head, I always write text before I begin any drawing. The plot and the details change considerably as the writing and the illustrations develop and often I have to cut things that I thought were very important when I began. But the act of cutting things from the story is always as important as adding things.
So there’s the part of the process where I’m making up a story, then I often travel and do research so I can get the details right, and then there’s a very long period of rewriting, and towards the end I do the final art that appears in the book, but only after doing many rough sketches. All the writing and sketching and conceptualizing must be done in total silence, but when I’m doing the final art, the shading and fine pencil work, I have to be listing to something. I listened to the radio and about ten audio books while I was doing the finished art for Wonderstruck (my favorites were The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski and the Wicked books by Gregory Maguire). Hugo took me about two and a half years and Wonderstruck took me three years. I’m hoping the next book won’t take longer!
This is an edited version of an interview that first appeared on www.litblog.co.uk.
