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

Project Review: The Phantom 2040 PART 55

A Production Layout I did for Aunt Heloise' Porch looking into the Livingroom.

A closer view lower angle on the floor of the Brownstone.

A Birdseye view inside the door looking down.

A shot of the front side window with blinds open nest to the bookcase to the side of the fireplace.

A side angle on the front porch area.

Phantom 2040-PART LV [55th]

Background Production Layouts

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

In this 55th post on "The Phantom 2040" television Animation Series I have put up some more of the production layouts I did for the series after the show went into production. In this post I haf ve posted layouts that I did as corrections for the porch area and living room for Aunt Heloises Brownstone where Kit walker[ AKA The Phantom] lived.

Unlike a pre-production layout where you have time to do a detailed design drawing, production layouts you only have 15-30 minutes each since I had hundred of layouts I needed to fix for these sequences. It is a form of Rapid VIS[ visualization] as you need to work super fast and fully understand the space and design you are drawing at various angles.

I have talked about the bookend in design from concept to completion, and that is the responsibility of the the Art Director on an Animated series to make sure the look of the show that was first pitched, then designed, is actually implemented by the various vendors used in the actual production itself. I myself picked up the pencils and fixed what was needed.

We used a series of studios up in Vancouver to do the production layouts for the shows and I had to redo and revise a few full sequences as the stages were simply off model.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review: The Pink Panther 2006

A 3D Logo design I built for Theatrical comps for the new re-booting of the MGM franchise back in 2006.

We also paid homage to the original Logo for the series above in 3D brushed pink stainless.

An all glass Pink Panther 3d Logo I built for poster comp ideas that were presented to MGM.

I also built a 3D model of the hat that Inspector Clouseau wore in the original films as part of the icon, as the films did get playful with the type.

A pink Naugahyde(R) version of the logo I built for the pitches as well.

The Pink Panther 2006

Client: Metro Golden Mayer via The Cimarron Group.
Art Director(s): Calvin Sumler and Joseph Stamper.
Project Date: April 2004.

Back in 2004 I did a half day project for the Print Department at The Cimarron Group for the upcoming reboot of the Pink Panther franchise via MGM with Steve Martin playing the main role.

I was tasked with doing a few 3D Logos that covered the old 70's version as well as some updated ones too. I also threw in Inspector Clouseau's famous hat he wore in the films into the 3D logo as well.

In theatrical advertising you have very short deadlines so you need to design model texture and render your ideas very quickly , and sometimes you only have a half a day like with this project.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review: Warner Brother Digital Copy

A very early Logo with a digital mark from 2007 for Warner Brothers Digital Copy.

A close up on the 3D pixelation of the Disc.

An early Icon with the "D" and the "C" interlocked.

A 3/4 view of the above 3D Logo I built for Warner Brothers Studios.

A second Icon design I did for Art Director Darren Keller with the two letters locked by arrowheads.

A back-lit version at a 3/4 worms eye view of the above 3D Logo.

A dual arrow Icon with a circular simplified disc in the middle.

A Virtual Photo-shoot for the website from 2009 with an iPhone and Mac book connecting showing the technology.

An exploded view of the iPhone[ first version] that I built out and re-used for WB here.

Warner Brother Digital Copy

Client: Warner Brothers Studios via The Cimarron Group.
Art Director(s) HE: Darren Keller,IA: Mike Potter, and Michael Paul Terranova.
Project Date(s): HE: Winter 2007, Fall 2009.

I worked on two phases of the Warner Brothers launch of the Digital Copy technology where you get a PC friendly copy on your Blue-Ray or DVD to put on your phone or laptop. Early on I did logo and Iconic Mark concepts for our Home Entertainment Division, and two years later, I did some work for the website launch for the Interactive Division.

The 3D pixelating CD image was a fun concept to revisit as I did 3D glass cubes a few years back and it emulated a 3D pixelation feel and so I proceeded with one look that way. We also explored pure icons with arrows and a warm orange coloration. And the last part in 2009, I built out an iPhone for an Iron Man game, and I reused it here along with a stock model of a mac book that they provided for the finals.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review: The Phantom 2040 PART 54

I was inspired by dual hull boats for this flying vehicle design I did for The Phantom.

A concept vehicle using the wrapping and interlocking shaped in the design from the show visual theme book.

A second concept for a Tube Train which ran in the vine-like freeways that wrap the city.

A hypercruiser concept piece from Phantom 2040 from 1992.

A Concept sketch for a vehicle used in the series The Phantom 2040

Phantom 2040-PART LIV [54th]

Transportation Design Layouts

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

In this 54th post on "The Phantom 2040" television Animation Series I have put up some more of the concept vehicles I designed for the series. The city was inhabited so I designed about 30 or so vehicles for the 52 episodes that aired on ABC.

As the Conceptual Design/Art Director for this Animated Series, I was responsible for the look, and as an Art Center Trans major doing the vehicles was the icing on the cake of a great experience I was fortunate enough to have here in Hollywood back almost 17 years back now.

As to the sketches you will notice I put lines around the forms to help the animators understand the shapes better. Complex forms can be understood in dimension with some profile lines cut through the forms as a guide.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review: The Scorpion King

The finished Teaser One sheet that was done by Alon Amir at BLT and Associates with my 3D wall Illustration used.

Here is a detailed render of the wall used in the final teaser poster for The Scorpion King in 2002.

I built a 3D scorpion Icon and this was an AV back-lit concept frame I did.

Here is the gold hammered finished Scorpion King Icon I made for some Print Advertising w pitches.

Here is the rusted metal finish on the Scorpion King Icon I made.

I emulated a "crest form the film that was seen in the opening sequence and I built it out to be used for some teaser Ideas as well.

The scorpion itself was a quick model I built that is seen in this wireframe render. I built this prior to doing Subdivision Quad modeling so the parts are all high resolution to begin with. Today I would do this all Sub-D.

The Scorpion King 2002

Client: Universal Pictures via BLT and Associates.
Art Director: Alon Amir.
Project Date: Fall 2001.

Here is another early 3D illustration job I did, about ten years back for BLT and Associates for the Theatrical Release of The Scorpion King, a spin of film from the Mummy franchise. The Rock, Dwayne Johnson starred as the Scorpion king and I was charged with doing a few logo marks, some iconic props and what finished was the 3D virtual Photo shoot of the city wall for the teaser posters and banner advertising assets.

I started with the 3D scorpion you see above, and that was used for a variety of Print and AV concept presentations we sent over to Universal for review. I also did some virtual illustration in that they wanted a full city wall surrounding the city to be used in the poster, and it did not exist, so I built out an entry gate and a large wall. This eventually ended up finishing so I rendered it out at 5000 pixels wide for the One Sheets and Billboards as a final. A fun project to have been able to work on.

Cheers, THOM

Rapid VIS[visualization]: Fast Sketching PART I

A quick sketch of a Robot "boy" I did for our family drawing lessons.

A robot with an "unhappyface" on his chest as a second read graphic.

A balding butler with a wineglass character design as a Rapid Vis two minute design.

Ned is a contractor over at the "Home Despot" that was a two minute sketch design exercise.

A Rapid Vis sketch that is just over one minute with almost no under-drawing and the lines are laid down as finals the first time as if drawn with ink. It forces you to commit to your design fast.

A baby dinosaur that is part T-Rex, part Velociraptor, and part Brontosaurus.

Rapid Vis [Visualization]
Fast Sketching PART I

This is the first part in a new series on "Rapid Vis" techniques. Rapid Visualization, or Rapid Vis is the process of really fast sketching a unique design in just 1 to 3 minutes. It is a great exercise that I learned while attending Art Center, in that you had to come up with the concept and execute it in sometimes less than one minute.

I have taught drawing and sketching at various levels including discussions with High School Art classes as well as when I worked at Disney Interactive I had a Perspective sketching workshop I regularly ran for the various teams there interested, so it comes natural for me to teach Art and Design and what you see above are some recent examples from my drawing lessons I am doing with my 5 year old daughter. She will both copy side by side, as well as trace my designs to learn.

The above examples represent a few sketches I have done for the family drawing lessons I have here at the home studio. Some have an under-drawing and can be seen in the sketch itself, and some are a single line committed sketch technique like what can be seen in the above dinosaurs. Those are a bit tougher as you drop a line on the page as if it is ink. no erasing, so it is more of a challenge for me to do these sketches, but they really exercise your designer inside the most.

Cheers, THOM