In February of 2015, I began work on “Story Of Your Life,” the Denis Villeneuve movie that would eventually be called “Arrival.” I worked with Patrice Vermette, the production designer to illustrate his and Denis’ ideas, and over the course of three months provided many variations of designs for the ship and its occupants. It was a real treat to be part of this film, and to work so closely with one of our most visionary directors, a real honour.
Here are a few samples of the various designs, beginning with the vessels which were called ‘shells’. There were many shape explorations, beginning with a sphere, some triangles, odd shapes, and eventually an ovoid. The lozenge shape seen in the final was designed by another concept artist; sorry, not sure who*. No spoilers here, as most of what you see ended up in the trailer. (*Edit – the final lozenge shape was rendered by assistant art director Aaron Morrison)
Coming next, Part 2: Alien designs
Spheres were in the first script I read. Thanks to Noah Bradley for his fine photos of Iceland, used in a couple of concepts here. The sphere shape was abandoned quickly at the start.
One of many texture exploration pages.
Getting closer to the final idea.
An illustration of the basecamp, with the final design of the shell.
Base camp, and on the way to the shell.
Early explorations of the meeting room in the shell had various shapes and colours at first. this was getting closer to what Patrice and Denis were looking for. I loved the idea and simplicity of a wide and empty space – the exact opposite of typical cluttered movie spaceships. With less to distract, we pay more attention to the main characters.
More interior explorations.
The top image was going to be called “The Meinert Room”. The way one “entered” the room – inside it while being outside it, like a Klein bottle, was going to be a challenge, FX-wise, and for set-design it added a bit too much to an already tight soundstage. The bottom image shows some early exploration of the alien appearance.
