Editing Terry Gilliam (section)

=== 1975–1983: Transitional years ===
{{anchor|Trilogy of Imagination}}
In 1975, Gilliam began his career as a director by co-directing ''[[Monty Python and the Holy Grail]]'' with [[Terry Jones]]. Gilliam was responsible for photography and also appeared as both Patsy and the Old Man from Scene 24, while Jones guided the actors' performances. It was the only Python film directed by Gilliam, though he continued to act in their subsequent projects.

As Python started to take longer breaks between projects following ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'', Gilliam became a solo filmmaker, building upon the experience he had acquired. In 1977, he directed his first film outside the group, ''[[Jabberwocky (film)|Jabberwocky]]'', also a comedy set in the [[Middle Ages]]. It featured Python member Michael Palin in the lead role, and was based on the [[Jabberwocky|poem of the same name]]. In 1978, he published ''Animations of Mortality'', an illustrated, tongue-in-cheek, semi-autobiographical how-to guide to his animation techniques and the visual language in them.<ref>[https://www.gilliamdreams.com/tgbooks.htm ''Dreams: Terry Gilliam Books'']{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. ''Dreams: The Terry Gilliam Fanzine''.</ref>

Gilliam served as art director on ''[[Monty Python's Life of Brian]]'', Terry Jones having taken on sole directing duties. Gilliam made ''[[Time Bandits]]'' in 1981. Following directing the short film ''[[The Crimson Permanent Assurance]]'', which opened showings of ''[[Monty Python's The Meaning of Life]]'', Python effectively ceased working together, and Gilliam pursued his career as a filmmaker.