Graphic designer Martin T. Charles used a pair of large-format printers from Roland DGA Corp., Irving. Calif., to create the graphics for Disney’s new movie “Saving Mr. Banks.”
“Saving Mr. Banks” tells story of how the movie “Mary Poppins” was made, featuring a 1960s storyline with flashbacks to 1907. To set the stage for these two eras, production designer Michael Corenblith called on Charles, of SagaBoy Productions, Santa Monica, Calif.
For the movie, Charles was asked to focus on two primary settings: Los Angeles International Airport in the 1960s and the Allora Fair, held in early 20th-century Australia. He worked primarily from old photographs to design more than 185 advertisements, signs and décor elements styled for the period. Starting with hand-drawn illustrations, he then digitized them and embellished the designs with Adobe Photoshop. Final prints were produced primarily on artist canvas using two Roland large-format printers.
Among the most complex graphics were the metallic accents used to decorate the bank and city hall sets, according to the company. Charles re-created the look using metallic ink, which is featured in the Roland VersaCAMM VS series printer. According to Charles, advanced capabilities like this can make all the difference to the final product.
More than 2,000 total square feet of printed graphics were produced and installed to create the film’s vintage backdrops.
For more information, visit rolanddga.com. — L.M.
