ELEMENTS OF A BOOK COVER: WINTER'S CHILL in the Hamish Riordan series
As has happened with some of the other works, there has been in the Rodeweil character a visual progression - a growth of character that is signified through the change in wardrobe. Mrs. Rodeweil is at first in a simple black dress, then in a blouse and skirt, then in a suit, which progress frankly was not planned so much as it "happened" subconsciously on my part. But the progress works. For the fourth book, Not In Our Stars, Mrs. Rodeweil appears having been relegated to a state of enforced rejection, with a commensurate change in wardrobe (as pictured at right)
For book 5, I had in mind something dramatically different for her return to the world of the Company.
From the outset, the consideration was for the image to convey a return to power for the character, and for the milieu of the Corporation to have something of the grand sweep of moneyed interests such as had been seen in The Empire Strikes Back (the Cloud City of Bespin) and the grand city-scapes depicted in Metropolis, with the aeroplanes above and the myriad autos on elevated highways below.
Mrs. Rodeweil returns with a suit, and, I suppose analogous to Bespin's Calrissian, a cape. Yes, the cape was added specifically as an element that could sweep in a wind - I've recently found that adding in coat tails or some such that can move independently of the character so to effect an apparent motion in the otherwise static image. The billow and sweep from focus are as they appear "in camera:" I had a fan blowing during the photo session for just that reason.
SO - a high city with aerial transportation means a cloudy background. I mean, it could have just been sky, but where's the drama in that? No, it's got to be clouds, which photos I have in abundance, like the image at right.
This then is the basic idea: Fiona striding across a landing platform in front of a cloud-filled sky. The sky and the character were fairly easy, but the platform was created from "scratch," as shown below:
Starting with a field of gray, these shadows and highlights would eventually be added to tie-in with the apparent light sources. By itself, the gray slab, even with some texture, seems too bland to have been constructed as a platform, so -
- some "expansion joint" lines help not only give the slab an appearance of construction, but also aid with the idea of depth of field as they force the perspective toward the edge. "Hanging out" beyond that edge is the next major element:
The Rodeweil Corp shuttle. This "model" I put together just for this cover, using rather disparate parts: a connector formerly on an electric blanket (the engine module); the frame that held up the sight for a toy assault rifle (the central body); and the spray cap from a paint sprayer (the nose assembly). Quite literally held together with tape!
Now we're getting somewhere. Or at least I like to think so. Some fiddling about with color and surface detail on the shuttle image to remove it as much as possible from looking like the motley parts that compose it and set it just beyond the edge of the landing platform.
How much of it would be "in sight" was something I had to agonize over: I have a tendency to want to include everything I've worked on, but everything doesn't always make sense for the finished image. Here, the nose and engine units are cropped, but I like that it helps establish that there is a world beyond the photo frame.
So much for the basic picture.
Note here, too, that Mrs. Rodeweil's hair has been "tweeked" to go with the idea of the platform being windy.
Again, as with so many images I do, I also like to add in something in to suggest that there is "atmosphere," to add some interesting visual effect and further the implication that there is depth of field. Here, there is some smoke or exhaust helping separate the platform from the shuttle.
And there should also be some additional aero-vehicles, to further the idea that the city is not abandoned. Again, the motley model shuttle, with a little "engine burn," with a smaller craft banking in the opposite direction. The smaller aero-car is actually my mobile phone, with an old, twin-pronged audio plug sitting atop the case.
Add in a touch of disturbed air behind their engines so they have that look of having been somewhere as the photo was taken.
But what about that tall city? Or at least a hint of it? Not a lot of room left in this, so perhaps the top of a tall building?
For the hint of a city out there in the clouds, I went to my stock of photos taken of The City - pictures taken around Manhattan.
These are the towers of Lincoln Center, shot from Columbus Circle. The bonus with these is that they are already reflecting clouds in the sky.
With the building in place, a couple final "tricks" are employed:
the shuttles get "fuzzy" with motion, and a very faint "haze" of blue is dropped in front of the whole thing to cool off the colors ever so slightly, setting Fiona in with the rest of the view.
And then comes the rest: the cover backing and pin-lines, the blurb copy, title, and author. The second small shuttle paired with the one pictured above (and yes, they are actually shot from slightly different angles), along with a bit of "nudging" of the elements so they all fit in with the lettering and balance off against the building. I also added the but barely seen Rodeweil Corp name to the shuttle body, to help convey the idea that it's Fiona's shuttle she's just walked off of, not just some taxi service ship.
O.K., yeah, it aint ILM, but I like the finished work.
There's a bit more depth of explanation concerning the cover backing and the pin-line detail on the Elements...page for Winter's Chill