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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 01/01/2025

Colin Cantwell, concept designer of so many iconic Star Wars vehicles initially wanted to be an architect. He was accepted to study at Taliesin and Taliesin West by none other than Frank Lloyd Wright…

Cantwell discusses his prototype Y-Wing design with George Lucas

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 30/12/2024

Production Designer Rick Carter on using collage; “It's all just about the process of visualizing. It's not so much a recreation, but a meditation on how I'm feeling at that moment and then what does that lead to…” Some of his early work for Back to the Future Part II (1989).

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 27/12/2024

Baraka (1992). Directed/Cinematography by Ron Fricke. Roger Ebert wrote, “If man sends another Voyager to the distant stars and it can carry only one film on board, that film might be Baraka."

Review by @ebertchicago: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-baraka-1993

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 24/12/2024

Matte paintings by Rocco Gioffre for Gremlins (1984).

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 22/12/2024

Ralph McQuarrie's 1994 Lucasfilm Christmas Card of Jawas enjoying some holiday gift giving.

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

Early Babu Frik concept art by Luke Fisher for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019).

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

Krypto the Superdog’s first appearance in March, 1955.

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

Pre-production resin prototype Jetsam Fix-It model by the Industrial Light & Magic workshop for Batteries Not Included (1987).

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

Layout design of a view of Yubaba’s Bathhouse for Spirited Away [千と千尋の神隠し] (2001).

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

Tik-Tok from Return to Oz (1985). Three versions were built of the rotund, wind-up robot for the film by Lyle Conway. Production designer Norman Reynolds based the design on John Neill’s original illustrations for Ozma of Oz (1907) by L. Frank Baum.

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

Le Château des Pyrénées (1959) by René Magritte and 天空の城ラピュタ [Laputa: Castle in the Sky] (1986) by Hayao Miyazaki.

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

A panel from The Repairmen (1996) by Mœbius.

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

Set development by Rodolfo Damaggio for Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017).

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

Cinematographer Dean Cundey chats with the @ilmvfx.bsky.social Lighter Darker Podcast: youtu.be/BZP4NVdfzo4?...

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

Concept art by Matt Allsopp for an unmade reboot of The Last Starfighter (1984).

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

Model maker John Duncan’s resin cast N-1 Starfighter maquette based on Doug Chiang’s design for Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999). Chiang presented this model to George Lucas for approval (see video below), while others were used as the basis of CG and physical models.

John Duncan poses with his N-1 starfighter maquette.

All the information you could ever hope to know about this is here on the RPF: https://www.therpf.com/forums/threads/naboo-n-1-starfighter-studio-model-reference-photos.346485/

The now iconic concept art of the N-1 Starfighter by Doug Chiang completed in July 1997.

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

Early A-Wing development sketches by Ralph McQuarrie for Return of the Jedi (1983).

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

Spacesuit and thruster pack design by Jack Johnson for Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

With only 9 months remaining of the original 21 allocated on the film, Douglas Trumbull took over as director of visual effects on Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). Nearly 500 effects shots were to be done, more than any film made at the time. Here’s a brief thread…

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

Concept art by John DeCuir for Cleopatra (1963).

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

Michael Pangrazio's matte painting of Camp Khitomer for Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991).

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

Space helmet and sunshield concept design by Harry Lange for 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Ralph McQuarrie’s initial cover concept for the novelization of Star Wars (Ballantine, 1976).

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

The Apple II Plus and the Apple III, 1981.

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Cockpit background art by Mitsuki Nakamura for Crusher Joe (1983).

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

Skeleton Crew (2024) adds another great kitchen to the Star Wars universe!

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

Concept art by Production Designer Tony Masters for Dune (1984).

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

Drawing by Daniel McGarry exploring the balance between organic and mechanical elements for the Simulants of The Creator (2023).

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

Super fine detail on the Tyrell Building’s rooftop Spinner bays for Blade Runner (1982). Beautiful miniature work by Douglas Trumbull's Entertainment Effects Group.

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

Verner Panton’s Fantasy Landscape, Visiona II. Cologne Furniture Fair, 1970.

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

“Carlo Rambaldi was E.T.'s Geppetto.” - Steven Spielberg

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954). Some of the matte paintings by legendary matte artist Peter Ellenshaw. One of the first feature-length films to be shot in CinemaScope, it meant the paintings had to be quite large and shot from a distance due to the shallow depth of field.

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

Vehicle concept sketches by Doug Chiang for the Trade Federation Droid Army of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999).

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

Hand painted animation backgrounds by Nelvana Ltd for The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978). “Lucas had requested that Nelvana design the show in the style of French artist Jean Moebius Giraud,” says Animation Director John Celestri.

Millennium Falcon interior.
You can see more at: https://www.starwarsholidayspecial.com/swhs-old/photos/cartoon_backgrounds.htm

Rebel Base’s commlink.
You can see more at: https://www.starwarsholidayspecial.com/swhs-old/photos/cartoon_backgrounds.htm

Luke Skywalker’s two seater Y-Wing.
You can see more at: https://www.starwarsholidayspecial.com/swhs-old/photos/cartoon_backgrounds.htm

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

Scratch built prototype for Darth Vader’s Super Star Destroyer, The Executor. Built by Lorne Peterson as a proof-of-concept for the approval of George Lucas during pre-production on The Empire Strikes Back (1980).

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

Compare also with Syd Mead’s concept art for Yamato 2520 (1994-1996) and Mead’s 1988 cover art for the Los Angeles Times Magazine’s article L.A. 2013- a speculative look at the future of the city.

Yamato 2520 was Yoshinobu Nishizaki’s short lived attempt at a sequel to Space Battleship Yamato, set several hundred years after the original series.

Los Angeles Times Magazine cover art. April, 1988. ‘Techno-Comforts and Urban Stresses- Fast Forward to One Day in the Life of a Future Family.

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

Some of the built environment of The Roddenberry Archive’s Star Trek universe so far…

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

What do you mean, a taxi cab?! I thought we were flying! Back to the Future Part II (1989) is 35!

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

Some of Costume Designer Joanna Johnston’s nearly 150 original costumes for the colorful clothing of 2015 Hill Valley in Back to the Future Part II (1989).

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

Digital matte painting by Yanick Dusseault for Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005).

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

Ralph McQuarrie’s poster design for the Space: Fantasy & Reality art expo held at the Maturango Museum in October 1986.

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

1976 USS Cygnus concepts by Robert T. McCall for The Black Hole (1979). At this point, the script had intended that the ship be called the Centaurus.

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

I’ve been waiting for this one! John Bell!

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

Costume Designer John Mollo’s sketchbook drawings for the belts, buckles and bandoliers of Star Wars (1977).

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Katsuhiro Otomo has said that Syd Mead’s design for the Light Cycles of Tron (1982) was the design starting point for Kaneda’s bike in Akira. I have no evidence to support a link to Luigi Colani’s 1973 Frog motorcycle design study but there is a striking resemblance.

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Photographic transparency and design drawings for the central panel of the Visitor Center Mural by paleontologist and artist Doug Henderson for Jurassic Park (1993)🦖

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Designing Film @designingfilm.bsky.social · 14/11/2024

One of Syd Mead’s matte painting concepts for Blade Runner (1982). Once the plates were shot, Mead painted over enlarged prints. These were then accurately reproduced as full scale mattes.

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