Tuesday 15 September 2009

District 9 Mothership Concept Art


images©wingnut film

Here's the first piece of my District 9 concept art released on the internet.
This image was printed as a limited edition (150 prints) piece and signed by Peter Jackson.

I'll be showing more in future, but this one is out there on the internet so I thought I might as well put it on my blog too.

The next concept art to be made public will be through UK magazines ImagineFX (a concept art magazine) and sister mag, 3D World.
ImagineFX will feature several pieces from myself, Leri greer and David Meng and hopefully reveal a little of the design process and thinking behind the film.
3D World are doing a feature with Embassy VFX and Weta Digital about their build of the D9 Dropship which will feature my original concept pieces.

Oh yeah, the blurred out part of the image is Chistian Pearces face! It must have been blurred to protect his identity... not now!
In this iteration of the design (which was adjusted for the final build - more booster pods instead of three, a reduced mid section, based on an earlier version of the design etc..) I had advertising hoardings and some grafitti littering the sides of the ship, the idea being that the Mothership has been there for twenty plus years. I thought that not only would MNU have been up to scavenge and salvage, but private firms and individuals would have made their way up and over the course of time, graffitit'd it and added billboards etc..
I really liked the idea that this astounding object could become mundane over time.
This idea didn't make it into the final build for various reasons.

Another subsequent version had the big, graphic patterns on the side. I think this version was the second or third to last iteration.

From a design perspective, I painted this from a pretty tight set of Neill's ideas. He had established by this point of the design phase that it was a classic saucer, something iconic and instantly recognisable - a shorthand. He also wanted it to be slightly de-constructed by MNU's salvaging and to feel like a refinery or mining vessel.
While the forms are all my own, the ideas are for the most part, very specifically Neill's.

For the final model, I think it was Embassy VFX who built the actual model, but Weta Digital added a great deal of detail and texture as they managed the majority of 'ship' effects shots.

You can hopefully read a lot more on this in the upcoming ImagineFX feature.

16 comments:

Unknown said...

Amazing art Greg.
Now I just need to find a way to get my hands on one of these prints.

The ComicBook Factory said...

Great film too! Saw it a couple of weeks ago, loved the little subtleties like the propeller beanie cap alien.

Gerald de Dios said...

Just amazing!!!!

Lady T said...

Really bloody cool :D I love the idea of the billboards; I think those would have started appearing after a month or less, heh!

Moai said...

Awesome, awesome work, Greg. Can't wait to see some Prawn concepts! I bet you guys had tons of fun designing those.

Jay Wright said...

Broadmore! Jay here. I didn't know you had a hand in this, but I should have! Shame they didn't keep in the graffiti/billboard concept. I think that would've been a nice touch.

I guess they didn't want to lose the idea that the country was trying to show at leas a faux respect for the aliens (despite slumming them up).

Greg Broadmore said...

Thanks guys. Yeah, those prints are pretty rare. I'm sure a few'll show up on Ebay.
Moai - the Aliens were designed by one of Weta's best sculptors, David Meng. A few of us did early concept work but the final design you see is the work of David (and implemented at the highest level by Image Engine in Vancouver)

Unknown said...

Awesome artwork, Greg.
Been waiting for you to upload this one!
:)

Will definitely be looking out for the ImagineFX issue that has the District 9 concept artwork.

Do you have any idea which month's issue the artwork is going to be in?

Greg Broadmore said...

Hi Rizal - issue 50 I think.
GB

Unknown said...

Cool.
Have been wanting to see David and Leri's work ever since you told me about the terrific work they did for the movie.
:)

Will we be seeing any interview with you and the rest of the team in any Behind The Scenes documentary for the District 9 dvd?

I'm guessing yes, right?

Alfonso de la Torre said...

wow Greg! I been waiting for you to put up some concept art from the movie, and I must say I looks fantastic. I totally dig the idea of people putting up billboards and graffiti, I actually know a couple of graffiti artist that would try to get up there and tag that shit up. I'll definitely look for the imagine fx mag where you'll be in to look at more of the work, can't wait for that to come out. I'm also going to be featured in imagine fx, and advance photoshop mag, witch I'm very exited about since it will be the first time I'll be publish in a mag. Aniway keep that amazing work coming, love to see more. take care.
Alfonso

Gavin said...

Hi Greg, just wanted to say what an incredible job I think you did with the final design, it's really quite something! Will we be seeing any of the Prawn or other concepts in the next ImagineFX issue/here on your blog?

Thanks for posting this up!

Benjie said...

hey Greg its Ben, that kid you and a few other weta guys had lunch with one time. The mother ship looks pretty dam kick ass by the way, you said you did some work on the exoskeleton that we see near the end, any chance we will be able to check that out?

I’ve uploaded some stuff to my blog if you wanted to have a wee look!

Unknown said...

es un grandiosos trabajo acabo de empezar este mundo del diseño y veo q hay muchas cosas por aprender !!! felicitaciones!!!

Paul Lasaine said...

This is the coolest looking ship I've seen in a long time! My favorite film of the year! Fantastic job.

Sorry I left Weta when I did...I missed my chance to work with you. Maybe someday.

Cheers!
-Paul

Greg Broadmore said...

Hey Paul, thanks man.
Yeah, would be great to work with you someday - a lot I could learn.
Just been checking out your blog, and although i've seen much of your work over the years, hadn't seen it before - nothing to say but wow.

Thanks for coming by!

Gracias Carlos, espero que disfruten el blog!
Disculpas si mi español es malo, es a través del traductor Google.