So let me introduce Anthony Lucas:
ANTHONY'S MOVIES
His first successes were with Slim Pickings and Holding Your Breath. His most recent success has been My Rabit Hoppy (not a typo!), a short movie that won an award at the 2008 Palm Springs International Shortfest and was on the list of 9 contenders for the short film Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
Here’s a still from Holding Your Breath -
The Oscar and BAFTA nominations were for The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello. I dote on that film! When I first saw it screened on SBS, I was knocked out by the imagery, so dark and gothic and beautiful. Not in my wildest dreams did I imagine the front cover of one of my books would one day come from the same talented hand.
The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello is (are?) available at
www.madman.com.au
or
http://www.sjhortfilmcentral.com.film/12/
which is the official link to the itunes download.
HOW HE DOES IT …
The silhouettes are like the silhouettes used as a form of portraiture in the 18th century, before the invention of photography. For his short short films, Anthony created the silhouettes using wire, glue and tan bark. For a longer movie such as Jasper, he used a mix of photos and drawing, manipulated with photoshop
As for the beautiful haunting backgrounds, they’re created with photographed miniatures, as many as 80 digital layers combined together to produce a 3 dimensional effect. Real effects of clouds and smoke-stacks are worked in too.
For more on the making of the film, and details of techniques beyond my understanding, check out:
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=7321423&linkID=7679643
THE COVER OF WORLDSHAKER
When my editor at Allen & Unwin suggested approaching the Jasper Morello director, I gasped at the idea. When I could speak again, I said ‘Go for it! Please, please, please!’
It’s a perfect fit: the steampunk/Victoriana mood of Worldshaker exactly matches the steampunk/Victorian sensibility of Jasper Morello. The cover image shows Riff and Col in black silhouette, surrounded by an intricate jungle of cogs, pipes and gadgetry. Shadows and steam and gleaming metal surfaces …
Here's the cover, full-size on a separate page, before lettering and boxes were added. 
According to Anthony, the pieces of machinery on the Worldshaker cover are from ships’ engines in the Brisbane Maritime Mueseum, plus car clutch plates, cogs and various other odds and sods. An amazing mechanical collage!
Here’s another pic of Anthony getting distracted from his own movie
And here he is again, keeping company with Oscar at the awards night in Hollywood!
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