Unproduced Movie Control Room (2014)
Since a pretty high percentage of movies that are developed never get made, it stands to reason that a goodly chunk of what we as concept designers work on will never see the light of day, except in forums such as these. This was a project I worked on for a few weeks back in 2014 before it died a quiet death. Too bad, it might have been fun. Certainly it was fun to work on, with great collaborators. This set would have been part of a secret headquarters deep in the catacombs beneath Rome.
Final image of the Control Room. The room was modeled in Modo. I then painted the image in Photoshop using masks generated by applying black and white luminant materials selectively applied to the model. The St. George statue I sculpted in Z-Brush.
An earlier overview of the Room. Painted with the same technique. I love the accurate perspective that 3-D grants you, but prefer the painterly look and lighting control of a 2-D process. Rendering masks allows me to stay loose and achieve a tight result.
One of several early sketches of what the headquarters could look like, set in an ancient cistern or catacombs.
Another sketch, trying to make it feel very utilitarian and governmental, but in an exotic setting.
A pass at dropping "Mission Control" into the underground setting.
Another version of a traditional Mission Control.
Mission Control in a more natural cave-like setting.
My breakthrough came with this sketch, replacing the traditional world map screens with an ancient globe retrofitted with LED displays.
A closer view setting the scale.
A quick rough pass at color and tone before moving on to the model.