Vehicle and Props Design - Projects

on
15/4/2022 - 9/7/2022 / Week 3 - Week 15
Lui Hsiao Hui (Tressa) / 0342003
Vehicle and Props Design / Entertainment Design
Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Project 1: Pre Production
Project 2: Production
Project 3: Post Production & Profiling

INSTRUCTIONS



Project 1: Pre Production

Concept

When this project was first introduced, I had the idea to create an organic patterned vehicle, with the concept of futurism. While browsing for inspiration, I remembered the cool designs I saw from the sci-fi movies Alien, Independence Day and Thor: Ragnarok, and decided that I wanted to create a vehicle of that genre. In the end, I chose the Alien universe because it is the closest to the style of vehicle I'd want to explore. I think the concept art of Alien is also very iconic and unique, especially with the skeletons incorporated into the designs of that universe. 


Moodboard
Because the Xenomorphs in the Alien franchise don't really require cars/any land vehicles, I decided to base the vehicles on different species featured in the films - humans, Xenomorphs and Engineers.


Fig. 1.1 Land vehicle moodboard, Week 7 (12/5/2022)


Fig. 1.2 Air vehicle moodboard, Week 7 (12/5/2022)


Fig. 1.3 Sea vehicle moodboard, Week 7 (12/5/2022)

Before designing the vehicles, I did some subject matter studies along with material studies which are included in the final PDF below.


Land Vehicle

Fig. 2.1 Rover sketches, Week 7 (12/5/2022)

I struggled a lot coming up with ideas for the land vehicle, I didn't like the monotony of drawing geometric forms.


Fig. 2.2 Rover sketch refinement #1, Week 9 (26/5/2022)

This was the variation I chose to develop. Another sketch variation is included in the final PDF below.


Fig. 2.3 Rover silhouette and colour value, Week 9 (26/5/2022)


Fig. 2.4 Rover colour variations, Week 9 (26/5/2022)


Fig. 2.5 Final rover design, Week 9 (26/5/2022)

I know the scale looks weird lol.

Air Vehicle

Fig. 3.1 Xenomorph mothership sketches, Week 3 (4/5/2022)


Fig. 3.2 Xenomorph mothership sketch variations, Week 9 (26/5/2022)

For the Xenomorph mothership, I referenced a Xenomorph head. I decided to not use the original franchise's Queen Mother head because I wanted to keep the iconic silhouette of a 'normal' Xenomorph.


Fig. 3.3 Xenomorph mothership sketch variations, Week 9 (26/5/2022)

From the base sketch, I added more details referencing Xenomorph anatomy - dorsal spines, bones and biomechanical tubing details.


Fig. 3.4 Xenomorph mothership finalisation, Week 10 (2/6/2022)

Mr. Kannan suggested combining some elements of designs #4 and #5 together.


Fig. 3.5 Xenomorph mothership silhouette and colour value, Week 10 (2/6/2022)


Fig. 3.6 Xenomorph mothership colour variations, Week 10 (2/6/2022)


Fig. 3.7 Xenomorph mothership final design, Week 10 (2/6/2022)


Sea Vehicle

Fig. 4.1 Engineer ship sketches, Week 7 (12/5/2022)


Fig. 4.2 Engineer ship sketch #1, Week 9 (25/5/2022)


Fig. 4.3 Engineer ship #1 colour variations, Week 9 (25/5/2022)

I initially wanted to develop this as my final for the sea vehicle because I really liked the weird shape, but Mr. Kannan mentioned that its functions are unclear because of its form. I was advised to explore sketch #2 instead.


Fig. 4.3 Engineer ship sketch #2, Week 10 (2/6/2022)

Sketch #2 is a flipped version of sketch #1. Mr. Kannan said that its form makes much more sense for its functionality.


Fig. 4.4 Engineer ship silhouette and colour value, Week 10 (2/6/2022)


Fig. 4.5 Engineer ship colour variations, Week 10 (2/6/2022)


Fig. 4.6 Engineer ship final design, Week 10 (2/6/2022)


Final Project 1: Pre Production

Fig. 4.7 Final Project 1: Pre Production - PDF, Week 10 (3/6/2022)


Project 2: Production

Fig. 5.1 Xenomorph mothership - design refinement, Week 12 (18/6/2022)

I chose to further develop the Xenomorph mothership for Projects 2 and 3. Based on feedback, I added more details and revised the design of the head of the ship.


Fig. 5.2 Xenomorph mothership - front and back, Week 15 (8/7/2022)

For the turnaround, I was initially going to do a 3D sculpt, but due to time constraints, I opted to draw them instead.


Fig. 5.3 Xenomorph mothership - 3⁄4 front and sides, Week 15 (7/7/2022)


Fig. 5.4 Xenomorph mothership - close-ups, Week 12 (18/6/2022)

We were also instructed to do close-ups on smaller parts of the vehicle


Fig. 5.5 Xenomorph mothership - final design, Week 12 (18/6/2022)

I also revised the colouring by reducing the harsh shadows unlike the first attempt in Project 1.


Fig. 5.6 Communications - interior sketch, Week 11 (10/6/2022)

Next, we were to design one interior of our vehicle. I decided to sketch out the interior for communications, drawing inspiration from the Juggernaut interior design from the movie Prometheus. The key elements observed are the symmetry and dome structures, hence they are implemented into my sketch.


Fig. 5.7 Communications - interior refinement, Week 12 (17/6/2022)


Fig. 5.8 Communications - colour value, Week 12 (17/6/2022)


Fig. 5.9 Communications - final design, Week 12 (17/6/2022)


Fig. 5.10 Control panel - lineart, Week 15 (7/7/2022)

Based on feedback, it was suggested to base the prop design on the interior. I decided upon a control panel that would be located on the rounded tables. Its design derives from the form of the table and is reminiscent of a laptop.


Fig. 5.11 Control panel - colour value, Week 15 (7/7/2022)


Fig. 5.12 Control panel - final design, Week 15 (7/7/2022)


Final Project 2: Production

Fig. 5.13 Final Project 2: Production - PDF, Week 15 (8/7/2022)


Project 3: Post Production & Profiling

Fig. 6.1 "Queen Mother" - final vehicle artwork, Week 15 (8/7/2022)


Fig. 6.2 Final Project 3: Post Production & Profiling - PDF, Week 15 (8/7/2022)

FEEDBACKS

Week 5: Do subject matter studies (perspective) - air, land and sea vehicles + insects/the subject you're going to morph the vehicle with. Sketch in mannequin-style - the structure of the spaceship.

Week 6: Identify the functions, colour the silhouettes in, and do different perspectives for the chosen vehicle.

Week 7:
Land vehicle: Reevaluate the perspectives of the wheels - are they too close and will cause friction.
Air vehicle: The alien ship is not looking like a mothership just yet, reevaluate the structures.
Sea vehicles: Interesting forms.

Week 9: Identify strengths and weaknesses for each vehicle - obstacles - can it traverse water etc.
Land vehicle: Extend the back as it looks short, does not match the capacity stated.
Air vehicle: Add more details to the front because it's the focal point. Think about the overview - what is the symbol of the mothership. Add more contrast to the colour value to trick viewers to pay attention to certain details.
Sea vehicle: Work on exploring sketch #2 for the sea vehicle as sketch #1's functions are not clear. 

Week 10: Explore concave and extrusion in the refinement process (Project 2), explore 'stickers' (details).
Air vehicle: Make the light thinner.
Sea vehicle: Create an identity for the sea vehicle (stickers/uniform).

REFLECTION

In the beginning, I was struggling with sketching the land and sea vehicles because I already had the idea to focus on designing an alien spaceship. Most of all it was very annoying to think and rip apart the sea vehicle design based on realism and believability especially when the universe doesn't reveal much about the specific materials and functions of the vehicles when it comes to the Engineers. This project was quite challenging because we had to focus on 3 different vehicles instead of developing one. I got pretty demotivated and lost the interest I had at the start, it didn't help that there was suddenly a ton of work to rush as well. Regardless, I learned the basic steps of designing a vehicle - most importantly to always ensure to design based on functionality.


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