Great video on Star Wars designs
- Thread starter bwayne64
- Start date
Bjorn
Sr Member
Very cool video!
I think all of the behind the scenes doco's were great at giving some insight to some of this. I have watched them so many times over the years.
Interviews with the likes of Doug Chiang who was presumably schooled by George with the Joe Johnston design aesthetic, provides some great clues to what makes a good Star Wars vehicle or environment.
Most of all it has to be beat up.
Cheers,
I think all of the behind the scenes doco's were great at giving some insight to some of this. I have watched them so many times over the years.
Interviews with the likes of Doug Chiang who was presumably schooled by George with the Joe Johnston design aesthetic, provides some great clues to what makes a good Star Wars vehicle or environment.
Most of all it has to be beat up.
Cheers,
PHArchivist
Master Member
Interesting stuff
Thanks for sharing this.
bwayne64
Master Member
You're welcome ! I always wondered about how the designers for the original Trilogy and the prequels could make such iconic designs. I've tried many times to do original designs, and nothing looks close to these ships. Even the placement of kit parts on the ships is an art form. I remember one Sci Fi flick, where one of the artists said, they cover the base model with glue and roll it in kit parts. And most of them look like that. I think the forerunners are the exception of course. The people who did 2001 and Space 1999 and a few more. Almost anything done at ILM looks good of course. They started the whole lived in ascetic. Great video, I enjoy these things more than all the present day remakes, reboots, and retcons, ; )
joberg
Legendary Member
ILM didn't start the whole "Wear and Tear" look. If you look at some of the models from 2001, (the Aries 1-B is a good example since we have detailed pics) you can see clearly that it was already painted that way. Oil streaks, burn marks near the engines, etc...
Some models in the movie were in "pristine" condition: EVA Pod, for example.
bwayne64
Master Member
Yep, I mentioned 2001 and Space 1999,ILM didn't start the whole "Wear and Tear" look. If you look at some of the models from 2001, (the Aries 1-B is a good example since we have detailed pics) you can see clearly that it was already painted that way. Oil streaks, burn marks near the engines, etc...
Some models in the movie were in "pristine" condition: EVA Pod, for example.
; ) I probably missed some older ones too. The moon in " A trip to the moon " was pretty roughed up, ; )
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Matte Painter
Active Member
I think people have been weathering models since model making started. Here's a clip from 1964's Thunderbirds
joberg
Legendary Member
Well, we can argue that there's a U.K. school of model making and a U.S. school. Now...who copied whom?
As we see on the Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's series, the paneling was airbrushed on the models. It was an easy/rapid way to obtain an effect of "Wear and Tear"; looked good on camera. Paneling with different grey hues can be seen on the Orion/Discovery (2001) Clear use of paintbrushes are on the Moon Bus and the Aries-1B. Next was Space 1999; using the same approach as 2001 (Brian Johnson as one of the lead model maker on both). Then SW model maker took it further with the airbrushing + paint brushes to achieve the famous SW look.
So, it's a matter of who worked on those iconic movies/series. Let's not forget Martin Bower and Bill Pearson that were key model maker of that time and, of course, Alien models.
As we see on the Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's series, the paneling was airbrushed on the models. It was an easy/rapid way to obtain an effect of "Wear and Tear"; looked good on camera. Paneling with different grey hues can be seen on the Orion/Discovery (2001) Clear use of paintbrushes are on the Moon Bus and the Aries-1B. Next was Space 1999; using the same approach as 2001 (Brian Johnson as one of the lead model maker on both). Then SW model maker took it further with the airbrushing + paint brushes to achieve the famous SW look.
So, it's a matter of who worked on those iconic movies/series. Let's not forget Martin Bower and Bill Pearson that were key model maker of that time and, of course, Alien models.
bwayne64
Master Member
Guys, I retract the statement that ILM created the lived in ascetic. It was actually a quote I read many years ago. It was actually that George Lucas wanted a lived in look to the universe. Before that he was looking at things like Star Trek and 2001. Which were very clean and antiseptic for the most part. I misspoke. Didn't mean to start a nurmey vs greenly debate. I totally agree that the UK was a great influence on the whole scuffed and dented look. I was trying to remember Martin Bower, one of my modeling heroes. Too lazy to Google it the other day. I did mention 1999 which had awesome models and efx. So anyhoo, love debates, so please continue,
P.S. We don't have a tongue in cheek emoji, we need one. 90 % of my internet posts are just that.
P.S. We don't have a tongue in cheek emoji, we need one. 90 % of my internet posts are just that.
Pyramidrep
Sr Member
Great documentary on a really interesting subject. “What makes an great/ iconic design?”. I like to think that the designers/ modelmakers themselves were super-talented artists and also they were strongly influenced by the environment,education and times they grew up in.
Model making was a more widespread popular hobby amoung a generation in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. Cars, aircraft, ships, a lot of which were World War 11 subjects. What movies they watched, what books they read. If you were interested in cars/ engineering ( as George Lucas was), you probably hot-rodded cars, saw that putting an oversized engine on an old “ banger” of a car could create something new and cooler. And the effects of that, the dirt, the oil streaks. All that information sub- consciously feeds the skill of design.
Designs would have gone through a lot of development too, with protypes, alternatives being practically built/tested , not just on paper. They are rarely arrived quickly.
The narrator on the documentary also mentions ”the Silhouette” in design. Thats an extremely important design tool in Art, Architectural, Industrial Design, etc.
From little beginnings, George Lucas’s first rough concept design.
Model making was a more widespread popular hobby amoung a generation in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. Cars, aircraft, ships, a lot of which were World War 11 subjects. What movies they watched, what books they read. If you were interested in cars/ engineering ( as George Lucas was), you probably hot-rodded cars, saw that putting an oversized engine on an old “ banger” of a car could create something new and cooler. And the effects of that, the dirt, the oil streaks. All that information sub- consciously feeds the skill of design.
Designs would have gone through a lot of development too, with protypes, alternatives being practically built/tested , not just on paper. They are rarely arrived quickly.
The narrator on the documentary also mentions ”the Silhouette” in design. Thats an extremely important design tool in Art, Architectural, Industrial Design, etc.
From little beginnings, George Lucas’s first rough concept design.
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