Grim Prairie Tales production & poster art, Wayne Coe © 1989

Grim Prairie Tales was my first feature. Starring James Earl Jones and Brad Dourif it featured a handsome cast. A feminist, horror-western-anthology, I began doing spec production art throughout it's gestation, shooting and distribution. GPT got good reviews but as an indie, had little P & A budget. We hit many film festivals and the film was deemed commercial. Grim Prairie Tales played at General Cinemas across the country till the producer shorted the P &A budget and the theater chain pulled it from screens. I visualized all aspects of production, feel frames, storyboards, ad sketches, hundreds from the earliest moments of my Horror-Western genesis to long after it was distributed and on through to sequel ideas. I wasn't paid for any of them, I'm the copyright owner, it's my privilege to make the ideas available.

Karen Erbach, 1991. A great interview with two time . p 1 Academy Award winner, Janusz Kaminski (aka Mr. Holly Hunter).

Coe © 1989. Academy Entertainment took my design and photographed it, flipped James, for the release poster. Concept and art, hand painted by Wayne Coe.

Wayne Coe 1989, on set, creator of
Grim Prairie Tales

This sketch was done in 1985 to illustrate the feel of the film. Amazingly 5 years later, I painted the subsequent poster which was used by the video company in a photo-version.

James Earl Jones, Grim Prairie Tales, creator, Wayne Coe, 1990.

Poster design, Wayne Coe © 1989 17, Cowboy against skull sky, Coe

Color poster done during money raising for WEIRD TWO-FISTED WESTERN aka Grim Prairie Tales

poster design created while writing GPT.

Color rough in pastel.

thumbnail poster design done in the notebook aI was writing GPT in.

Original script notebook, written at Norms, Santa Monica, CA.

Butt-Suck classic sequence, pen in notebook. Norms, Santa Monica, CA.

Legendary butt-suck sequence, original storyboard @ Wayne Coe

Prelim butt-suck layouts for final boards

Final boards to sell butt suck.

Butt-suck special effect drawing, Wayne Coe. As I explained it to the effects builder, it's a butt and boots with an extremely extended body. A "squash and stretch" effect, like a cartoon, so that there's time to see the legs/torso being sucked in.

First draft script, printed off my home printer, Wayne Coe copyright 1985. Grim Prairie Tales copyright 1990.

"One Bullet" animation, four layer frames, Wayne Coe © 1989

Grim Prairie Tales Title Page, Wayne Coe 1985

Grim Prairie Tales First page, Wayne Coe 1985.

p. 2 Karen Erbach, American Cinematographer 1991

p. 3 Karen Erbach, 1991

P.4 Omits Januszes brilliant but problematic plan to let the opening be dark and open up as their relationship does. Starts underlie and claustrophobic.