Walter D. Teague Documentary - update May 2013
Writing and Story Structure
Through October, November and December was focused work on writing the script. In the midst of this process I was alerted to a new discovery. Grandson, Walter D. Teague III, just found and digitized 35 personal letters written by WDT Sr. dating from 1917 to 1942! Most were written to his wife Cecil about his time in a small community in Woodstock, NY where he concentrated on his illustration projects. With this new information and after many weeks of continuous writing, multiple revisions and reviews, I completed a finished script in December 2012.
Visual Evidence
With the script in place, I then created a master list of all of the visual evidence that would be needed to communicate his story. For a 90 minute film, this means about 1300 images and clips of video. Thanks to the Teague company archives and family photographs I have most of these images already, however each one needs adjustments. Photos and slides were scanned, adjusted, cleaned, and cropped.
Camera Collection
Teague is well known for being one of the greatest designers of cameras in history. These include the Kodak Baby Brownie, Kodak Beau Brownie, and the Bantam Special of 1936. I connected with camera historian and collector, Ralph London of Portland, OR. I visited him and his collection and filmed and photographed much of the collection.
Illustrations
There are key scenes in Teague’s life story that have no visual evidence at all. Many documentaries use actors and recreations to depict these scenes, however that is unrealistic for this project. Instead I drew illustrations of scenes and set them in motion in a unique type of animated drawing using After Effects. Many of these drawings have been completed, with many more that still need to be done.
Computer Graphics Recreations
It’s very difficult and expensive to get a hold of a Sparton Nocturne radio (1935), which was designed by Teague, considering that they're very rare, 4 foot tall and are worth over $40,000. So I have been working with WWU ID Senior Jeff Grothe who took the CAD model, done by Fredrik Kaj, and then rendered it. I also created the Sparton Bluebird radio (1935) in CAD and rendered images that look realistic and show the design in perfect condition.
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| The Sparton Radio Model 557 photo by - Decophobia.com |
Excellent New Photos
On Jan 24th I connected with www.decophobia.com who has contributed her excellent photos of the Sparton Radio Model 557 sled. I also connected with the Pendleton Community Library who graciously shared their archival photos of Pendleton, Indiana from that era.
More Archival Research
The Teague office designed the interior of the Boeing Stratocruiser (1953) and all subsequent Boeing aircraft, but I didn’t have photographs documenting the process of that project. The Teague company in Seattle found 6 boxes of archives from the 1950s that I was able to dig through and scan in March 2013. There I discovered fascinating images that show the story behind those designs.
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This is an airbrush rendering done for the Boeing Stratocruiser lounge. 1946-47. Note the spiral staircase leading down from the cabin and the rectangular windows which were later changed to circular.
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Current Status
At this point, I am in the midst of the production phase with 50% of the needed visual images done and ready for editing. This phase will likely continue through September 2013, at which point I can begin editing and narration. The estimated completion date is February 2014. This will allow it to then be submitted to film festivals around the world. After that available as a DVD and streaming on demand video.
Meanwhile, be sure to "Like" the Facebook page and get updates every week.
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