Tom Jung is an American advertising art director, graphic designer and illustrator best known for his movie poster art, and a motion picture storyboard artist.
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Tom Jung grew up in Boston, Massachusetts. After finishing High School Tom attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. During his second year he was drafted into the Army. While stationed at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina, Tom contributed to the Fort Jackson Leader as a editorial cartoonist designing and illustrating public service communications.[4]
Following his discharge, he worked as a freelance illustrator and art director with a number of well known advertising agencies in New York.
In 1958 Tom was hired full time to redesign advertisement campaigns of foreign films to suit American audiences (theatrical redistribution) for Ben Adler Advertising Services Inc.[5] Tom created press books and one sheets for distribution to independently owned movie theaters throughout the country. Jung's work on "La Strada"[5] and "And God Created Woman" helped introduce American audiences to the magic and genius of Federico Fellini and Roger Vadim.
He worked with Continental Film Distributors, the largest distributor of foreign films at that time, as the advertising art director on ad campaigns for classics such as "Room at the Top" and "A View From the Bridge".[6]
As a freelance art director at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Jung designed posters for "Dr. Zhivago," "Ice Station Zebra," "The Shoes of the Fisherman" and the re-release of the ever-green "Gone With the Wind".
In 1968 he was engaged by Bill O'Hare, the vice president of advertising at CBS television network's theatrical film division Cinema Center Films, to handle the art direction for their entire release schedule of nearly 30 films. Some of the films Tom designed and illustrated, with the help of able staffer and artist Vincent Marrone, were "A Man Called Horse", "Little Big Man", "Prime Cut" and "Le Mans", starring Steve McQueen.
Tom Later worked for Allied Artists, United Artists, Columbia Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures and Lucasfilm Ltd. designing key art concepts and illustrating movie posters for films like "Papillon", "The Man Who Would Be King", "The Omen", "The Lord of the Rings", "The Deer Hunter", "Apocalypse Now" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark".
Starting in 1997 with the Disney film "Jungle 2 Jungle" Tom began working on the production side of the business as a storyboard artist.[7] Similar to a comic book artist, his ability to draw out of his head without the use of visual aids made the transition to storyboard art effortless. Tom has worked on a number of notable films including "The Perfect Storm", "The Salton Sea" and "Disturbia".
As a freelance illustrator in 1977 working for the advertising agency of Smolen, Smith and Connolly, Tom was chosen to work on Star Wars based on his reputation as a designer of one-sheet posters for a number of important films, including Dr. Zhivago and the 1966 re-release of Gone With the Wind. He was given the theme of "Good Over Evil", and provided with a wealth of photos taken by unit photographers in color and black & white, as well as 2 1/4 in. stills on contact sheets taken from the original 35mm print of the film. According to Jung, the unlikely "cross" formed by Luke Skywalker's saber sword set against the ghosted background image of Darth Vader seemed to him like a good solution to the "good" versus "evil" theme.[8][9]
In 1980, for his work on The Empire Strikes Back, Jung is quoted as saying "I used various martial arts attitudes in my working studies, trying to come up with the perfect look. I was searching for the image 'bi-coastal' (as they used to say) of Darth Vader, which could be the centerpiece for The Empire Strikes Back. I made the presentation to Sid Ganis at Lucasfilm's new offices in North Hollywood, near Universal Studios. In the large airy reception area sitting on couches, with my presentation spread on a coffee table, we attracted a small crowd of onlookers. Steven Spielberg peered in and chimed, 'I like that' and strolled away. It was the drawing of Darth Vader in profile, a powerful outstretched arm holding his saber."[8]
An interview that Jung gave for the design and illustration of the 1974 poster "The Man with the Golden Gun" provides insight into his creative process, which in his own words is "whatever works". "The actual painting is done on 20x30 double-weight illustration board, half of a standard 30x40 board. I used acrylics, I can use it transparently or opaquely; it dries quickly and is permanent and can be reworked. I'd use airbrushing for large areas of background, color pencils, and inks and dyes and tempera and whatever else I think that may give me the desired result. Sandpaper. Brillo. A single-edge razor blade. Whatever works."[10] Tom often would use family members as models. For his iconic Star Wars poster design with Frank Frazetta in mind as his final illustrator, Tom posed his son Jeff as Luke Skywalker and his wife Kay as Princess Leia.[11] After discussions with Don Smolen of Smolen, Smith and Connolly, it was decided that Tom would execute the illustration.
Tom states that he really does not have a recognizable technique. "I adjust my technique to the problem at hand, because being an art director in advertising it's really the end result that I'm after......anything to get the printed poster and the printed ad, which is the primary goal".[11]
The length and breadth of Tom's career, spanning over fifty years working in the film industry, is unique among his peers as evidenced by the following films. In 1959 Tom was asked to design the one sheet theatrical poster for the movie "Plan 9 from Outer Space", dubbed the "worst movie ever made" by authors Michael and Harry Medved in their 1980 book The Golden Turkey Awards. Then, in 1977, Jung designed and illustrated the one sheet theatrical poster for arguably one of the best movies ever made, "Star Wars". Hence Tom Jung has the unusual distinction of having worked on perhaps the worst and best movies made during the last fifty years.
| Date | Project | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1956 | La Strada[5] | Press book including one-sheet |
| 1957 | And God Created Woman | Press book including one-sheet |
| 1958 | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof | Press book including one-sheet |
| 1959 | Go, Johnny Go! | Press book including one-sheet |
| 1959 | Plan 9 from Outer Space | Press book including one-sheet |
| 1960 | School for Scoundrels | |
| 1963 | Murder at the Gallop | |
| 1964 | The Unsinkable Molly Brown | Promotional Record Album |
| 1965 | Murder Ahoy | |
| 1965 | Doctor Zhivago | Howard Terpning Artist |
| 1966 | Grand Prix | Howard Terpning Artist |
| 1966 | The Sand Pebbles | Graphics design one sheet and opening credits |
| 1967 | The Venetian Affair | Frank McCarthy Artist |
| 1967 | Gone With The Wind | Howard Terpning Artist |
| 1968 | Ice Station Zebra | Howard Terpning Artist |
| 1970 | Scrooge | Joe Bowler Artist |
| 1970 | Little Big Man | |
| 1970 | Kelly's Heroes | Jack Davis Artist |
| 1971 | Le Mans | |
| 1973 | Papillon | |
| 1974 | Gold | |
| 1974 | The Man with the Golden Gun | |
| 1974 | The Towering Inferno | |
| 1975 | The Man Who Would Be King | |
| 1976 | The Omen | |
| 1977 | Star Wars[12] | Style A and Half Sheet |
| 1978 | The History of Rock & Roll[13] | Commercial use, Distributed to radio stations |
| 1978 | The Deer Hunter | |
| 1978 | The Lord of the Rings | |
| 1979 | Apocalypse Now | Key art |
| 1980 | Raging Bull | |
| 1980 | The Empire Strikes Back | Style B and re releases 1981, 1982 |
| 1981 | Raiders of the Lost Ark | Key art |
| 1983 | Return Of The Jedi | One sheet with death star exploding |
| 1983 | The Right Stuff | |
| 1984 | The Razor's Edge | |
| 1984 | Once Upon a Time in America | |
| 1985 | Weird Science | |
| 1986 | Clockwise | Duane Meltzer Artist |
| 1989 | Moontrap | |
| 1991–1993 | The Thrawn Trilogy | Book cover art |
The key skill: "One thing a storyboard artist needs to be able to do is be able to draw out of his head. There are many illustrators who have to rely on photographs, but unless you can draw out of your head like comic book artists, I don't think you can do it..............."Normally, a storyboard artist is only called in when they are looking for special effects or action shots. But sometimes you have a guy like Alfred Hitchcock, he wouldn't even trust the camera and he would visualize every single shot."
| Date | Project |
|---|---|
| 1997 | Doctor Dolittle |
| 1998 | Stuart Little |
| 2000 | The Perfect Storm |
| 2002 | Star Trek Nemesis |
| 2002 | Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story |
| 2002 | The Salton Sea |
| 2002 | Collateral Damage |
| 2003 | Hulk |
| 2004 | Starsky & Hutch |
| 2005 | Two for the Money |
| 2005 | Herbie Fully Loaded |
| 2007 | Disturbia |
| 2007 | Blades of Glory |
The International Society of Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy, "Best Graphic Award", 1979, Lord of the Rings.
Key Art Award, Tom Jung, designer, illustrator, "El Francotirador": (The Deer Hunter) Latin America, Third Place, 1980.
Key Art Award, Creating and illustrating The Golden Years of Country.[13]