Project Review: The New Adventures of Flash Gordon[Animated] PART V

The living Rock creatures from Flash Gordon were sharp edged stacked and cracked granite.

Here is Dale Arden fully armed with sword and blaster sidearm.

This is a turn around I developed for a character that I had Nick Pugh design for us of the Lioness Warrior Queen, with the leather garder-straps and all!

The Shark Queen with her electric eel trident.

An action outfitted version of Flash Gordon[ very early development].

The New Adventures of Flash Gordon PART V
Character Designs-Flash Gordon.

Client: Hearst Animation Productions.
Art Director: Myself.
Project Date: Spring 1994.

In this fifth installment on the work I performed on the Television Series The New Adventures of Flash Gordon for Hearst, I focus on more characters I designed and worked out for the series.

I developed the look for the series before my departure, though I did not stay for production they did air 13 episodes for a half season of the show.

We used fellow ACCD alumni, Nick Pugh to design all final main characters ,once we locked him in for a few months, but I did some character development as well while I worked on the production of The Phantom 2040 series that I have posted for you to view above.

You can view vehicles and background designs in the prior posts to see the overall look for the show via the links provided.

Cheers, THOM

PART I: here

PART II: here

PART III: here

PART IV: here.

Project Review: Timeline 2003

The 3D finish had my wireframe overlays and a 3D Logo used.

An Iron Dome helmet with a "T" eye opening for Timeline.

An alternate smooth helmet design with a slot for some comped in "eyes".

A rusted spiked helmet done for a few comp ideas for Timeline.

A complex helmet design reflecting fire a main look for the film.

An Iron Spiked ball with a "T" in the design as a teaser Icon.

A Medieval battle Axe Design I did for Timeline.

An hourglass concept was explored along with the arrow that shatters the time.

An alternate Hourglass shatte4r up close with grains of sand and glass shards.

A shield Logo for print advertising ideas.

Timeline 2003
PART I

Client: Paramount a Viacom Company via BLT and Associates.
Art Director(s): Rick Lynch, Zack Ris, and Jeff Barnett.
Project Date: Fall 2003.

One of my final projects that I did when I was an In-House Design Director at BLT almost 8 years back now, was for the Print and AV advertising campaign for Timeline, a new time travel movie starring Paul Walker.

I built out a large lot of props and a few logos as well. Also for the finish I built wire-frames to match the photography as a "grid" overlay look. As for the helmets, I had no scrap reference so I winged it with designs and did about half a dozen comps. I also did weapons with an axe, a sword and some 3D arrows as well.

I ended up getting the finish for the posters and for AV. For the poster I did the logo and the wire-frames to match the photography of the hand and bow. For AV I did a simple glass wall flip based on the time machine itself from the film. Fun stuff from eight years back.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review: Smart Car Launch 2006-3D Mock-Up Ads

This Print concept mock-up ad shows the gas nozzles as snakes circling the car.

The scale is exaggerated in this rough ad[ hey it is advertising!] to show the ease of parking.

Two will actually fit, but three sells it better! :o)

Freedom from fill ups for the Smart Car a is the base idea here.

It only needs a drop, really it does, "Trust us" TM

The AV cards I did for a motion Graphics pitch as well using the Single Point Beveled type.

Smart Car
3D Mock-Up Ads

Client: Smart Car USA via The Cimarron Group.
Art Director: n/a.
Project Date: Spring 2006.

Back in 2006 when I was running my one man show over at the Cimarron Group providing 3D illustration, Models, and Aniamtions for Theatrical Advertising, we had a chance to pitch Smart USA for the launch of the Smart Car here.

We used a stock model of the old version of the Smart Car as they did not want to invest the time into a new model. I had built the Lotus for that campaign and once we were awarded the job , then I would build the car.

The above images are 3D Mock Up ads and though they show a higher level of finish than a sketch, they are still mock ups for the idea. The disadvantage is the tighter your comps are the more clients and "creative directors" loose sight of the ad itself and start nit picking details of the car etc., that in a sketch are understood as FPO[ For Placement Only]. Even when we marked these up as FPO it was difficult to get past the natural inclination to crit these as final art, which that was not even the right year and version of the car.

I also did a single point bevel tube type treatment to the logo, and all the cards for the AV spots, as seen above in the storyboard for a type only ad.

All in all it was a fun pitch, as I am a huge fan of the micro car.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review: The Phantom 2040 PART 57-More Color Keys

Late in Season One a Lab tech turned out to be a Jungle Queen from The Phantoms homeland.

Trahn is Kit Walkers Collage Friend from the Series . Here he is in his standard costume.

Jenna is also Kit's Collage friend you see through out the series.

Guran is Kits mentor and sidekick above in his standard costume.

Sparks is the young tween computer hacker they befriend for the show.

Phantom 2040-PART LVII [57th]

Character Color Keys

Client: Hearst Animation Productions.
Art Director: Myself.
Project Date Spring 1993.

In this 57th post on "The Phantom 2040" television Animation Series I have put up some more of the marker color keys I designed and provided to our Ink and Paint vendors in Korea and France to style the shows main characters.

Most main characters who were human were designed before I arrived at Hearst Animation,by Peter Chung who was hired freelance to create the main look., similar to his award winning Aeon Flux work, and Paula LaFond designed the bulk of the rest of the human characters themselves, while I designed all fashions, and colors for them, along with any props they used.

Above are five more examples of my marker color keys I did , but you can find more here.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review: Las Vegas Casinos

A wide version of a new Studio 54 Logo I did for Art Director Calvin Sumler.

A modified Icon box version of the Logo that fits a standard One-Sheet Poster format.

A wide fire version of the Tabu Lounge Logo we presented.

A tall version in a cooler color range for Tabu.

A Casino Las Ramblas Logo we did back in 2004 for a pitch to open additional Casinos.

An Icon Marque built for the logo that matched the old "Rat Pack" photo.

Las Vegas Casinos
Las Ramblas--Studio 54--TABU

Client: The Cimarron Group.
Art Director: Calvin Sumler, and myself.
Project Date(s): 2005-2008.

While I ran the 3D design and animation department at The Cimarron Group for six years in Hollywood we did a lot of pitches to casinos to get work, and that usually included a few logo treatments we would offer to the client as a taste. Above you will see three additional casinos I have worked on; Studio 54, the TABU lounge, and finally Casino Las Ramblas.

Casino artwork is a fun genre to create artwork for as the bright lights and casino swag are fun to design with.

The bright bulb look was something that I developed farther on the "Nine" project so we spread that look over to these Icons as well.

You can view my prior casino work here.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review: The Phantom 2040: PART 56

A 3/4 top view of a Police Hyper Cruiser for Sagan Cruz the Main Character that helps The Phantom from inside the Force.

This micro-car was actually a modified version of my A.C.C.D.-C.A.L.T.Y. project car, just cut in half to a one seater. It can be viewed here.

Max chases and is chased by The Phantom on his Hyper-cycle as max tries to catch him on this one. It was only used in a few episodes though.

A second Hot Rod Design for Max the villians son in the show.

Phantom 2040-PART LVI [56th]

Vehicle Design Sketches

Client: Hearst Animation Productions.
Art Director: Myself.
Project Date Spring 1993.

In this 56th post on "The Phantom 2040" television Animation Series I have put up some more of the transportation designs I did for the series, as there were always a lot of vehicles we needed designed for the 52 episodes.

As a Car Design major from Art Center in Pasadena California, we wish for jobs like this. Futuristic Flying Cars and Motorcycles, I couldn't have asked for a better job had the master Syd Mead Himself, assigned it to me. FUN!

Above you see some quick designs I did for a few cars ,and Max's Flying Hyper-cycle that he ends up chasing [ and being chased] by The Phantom on. I gave his bike circular grips based on the workout system for the wrists and you rotate the handles rather than twist the wrist.

I also cut in half a CALTY project concept I did years earlier at School for the Micro Car. A fun time as I always had a few flying things each show to come up with a design for.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review: Two Weeks Notice 2002

Here is the final Elevator Virtual Set I designed and built for Two Weeks Notice Print Advertising. Pre-GI and about 6 hours work.

In this exploded view you can see the windows across the hall that are seen in the reflections as well as the backdrop cyclorama.

In this wire view I pull the elevator box back to show all the basic sets and lighting areas needed for this highly reflective comp.

The custom NYC chess set I rebuilt from photos form the film.

Here is the chess set showing the geometry built in 2002, also Pre Sub-D modeling for me.

Two Weeks Notice

Client:Warner Brothers Pictures via BLT and Associates.
Art Director: Dawn Baillie, Coby Gewertz.
Project Date: Spring 2002.

Back in 02' I was in-house in Hollywood at BLT and Associates running a 3D dept. and I had a small 3D Illustration task for the new Sandra Bullock film, Two Weeks Notice, and I needed to do a virtual set for a comp. This was one of my first of many sets I built and designed for use in the print comps. I had done Set Design right out of Art Center and I learned the tricks that I still use to this day when I build.

The main set I built was the elevator set, which all I had for reference was two still images from the film showing the design of the architecture so I could build out an elevator. As with real set design I designed everything that was seen and that is it, but since this was a fully reflective set, I had to build things that are only seen in reflection, like the inner walls of the elevator that fact e the camera that are seen i9n the reflection as in the elevator button panel you can clearly see above. So these needed to be built, textured, and lit accordingly. It should also be noted that Global Illumination was brand new and I had just started with Final Render, so this scene is lit the old fashioned way without GI.

I also built out a custom chess set with stylized pieces from NYC icons, including the Chrysler building, Empire state, the Guggenheim, as well as brownstones for the pawns, a fun little piece to make too.

Cheers, THOM

Napkin Sketching: PART V

Another 550 Spyder sketch I did, this was a notepad sketch I did in a meeting break.

A "finned" Later 50's toon-car I sketched out.

Bad to the Bone!

A droopy melted toon Buick.

A fastback tooned "sled".

Napkin Sketching Part V

In this fifth installment of the Napkin Sketches I do while out and about, I am posting some more vehicles I designed while sitting at the bar drinking my Newcastle nut Brown Ale[ back when I could] in Pasadena CA in the middle 90's. I tend to refine and re-draw a few favorites you will see early 40's cars as well as 58' Plymouth Fury "Christine" here and there along with a 550 Spyder or Speedster here and there too.

Keep on Sketching friends: It keeps you sharp as an artist to continue to exercise via sketching, I cannot express the importance for all you fellow designers out there, DRAW!

You can view the other parts here:

PART I

PART II

PART III

PART IV

Cheers, THOM

Project Review: Gosford Park

I built out the entryway to the Mansion in Gosford Park for a comp idea for a Poster.

Four Trinket Cards given away at the Premier Party for Gosford Park, used for a Boardgame handout.

An entryway gate with the "GP" cut into the iron. This was used as a fold open packaging design so I rendered both sides for the package.

A "blood red" wax seal on a letter built in 3D. I did a dozen samples with various icons pressed into the 3D wax for Gosford Park.

A monochromatic Mansion that was used for an all type comp idea early on. This item, had a three hour deadline to build and design a typical mansion, so I had to move super fast on this one so we went with iconic lighting to have less details needed so we could make the deadline.

Gosford Park

Client:USA Films via BLT and Associates.
Art Direction: Kevin "Munkee" Bachman, Tracy Weston.
Project Date: Fall 2001.

This is an early post, of 3D Illustration I did ten years back in 2001 while working in-house at BLT and Associates for the film advertising campaign for Gosford Park. This was an early project for me, and for this one the majority of the the labor was going to 3D Illustrations and no logos, though I did a series of the wax seals with the "GP" in them as a secondary mark.

As with most Theatrical advertising, the deadlines are very fast with turn arounds of less than 24 hours for many requests, so you need to learn fast to work even quicker to get the work acceptable within a short time span. I built a mansion , the iron entry gate, the front door and a few other areas, as well as a full series of playing cards for the Premiere party with various objects used in the Murders. A very fun project to work on.

Cheers, THOM