Artists of 'Battleship' (2012)

Here are some of the artists that worked on the science-fiction film Battleship (2012). As always there are many talented artists involved in the production of a film. These are only some of them according to IMDb and my own research.

Official Synopsis:
Peter Berg (Hancock) produces and directs Battleship, an epic action-adventure that unfolds across the seas, in the skies and over land as our planet fights for survival against a superior force. Based on Hasbro’s classic naval combat game, Battleship stars Taylor Kitsch as Lt. Alex Hopper, a Naval officer assigned to the USS John Paul Jones; Brooklyn Decker as Sam Shane, a physical therapist and Hopper’s fiancée; Alexander Skarsgard as Hopper’s older brother, Stone, Commanding Officer of the USS Sampson; Rihanna as Petty Officer Raikes, Hopper’s crewmate and a weapons specialist on the USS John Paul Jones; and international superstar Liam Neeson as Hopper and Stone’s superior (and Sam’s father), Admiral Shane.

Directed by Peter Berg
Production Design by Neil Spisak

Illustrators

• George Hull (Lead Conceptual Artist) - www.ghull.com/
• Ben Mauro (concept designer) - http://benmauro.blogspot.com/
• David J. Negron Jr. (storyboard artist) - http://www.goliathpictures.com
• Eddie Yang (character designer) - http://www.eddieyang.com/
• Harald Belker (concept artist) - www.haraldbelker.com
• James Carson (concept artist) - http://www.jamescarsondesign.com
• Jock (concept artist) - http://www.4twenty.co.uk
• Josh Nizzi (senior illustrator) - www.joshnizzi.com
• Mauro Borrelli (illustrator) - http://www.mauroborrelli.com/
• Steve Jung (Senior Concept Artist) - www.stevejung.net
• Tani Kunitake (illustrator)

Storyboard Artists

• Richard Bennett (storyboard artist) - www.richardbennettart.com

Official Site: http://www.battleshipmovie.com/

What do you think of the artists? Did you see the movie or plan to?

The Top Seven Freakiest Things We Learn From Tim Burton's 'Superman Lives' Film Concept Art

When Tim Burton was given the go to create a Superman film called Superman Lives in 1998 he went all out in freakiness. We'll never know for sure, but what we know is weird enough. Casting Nicholas Cage. Making Doomsday the villain. Giving him electrical powers.

Recently, some toy designers posted concept art to the Man of Steel facebook group. io9 calls it "design Kryptonite," but frankly I've seen stranger concept art for the film.

Back in 1996, Kevin Smith was tasked with writing a script for a film based on the "The Death and Return of Superman" comic book storyline. Eventually, Tim Burton was given the job of directing the movie titled Superman Lives. The release date was 1997 or 1998.

The basic plot is Brainiac and Lex Luthor get together and create the villain Doomsday. He beats Superman to death. Superman comes back to life, but is powerless, so the Eradicator transforms into a battle-suit for him to fight Doomsday.  Here are some more things we learn from the concept art.

1. Superman Would Have Gone Goth And Other Weird Costume Designs
Producer Jon Peters hated the classic blue and red 1978 Superman costume, so he had them ditch it for a black costume. He also hated Superman flying too, but that's another story.

This design by James Carson shows an all-black armored Superman. He said, "The costume is black instead of blue and red because they felt the old colors were effeminate."

Brainiac blocks the sun. Since Superman's powers are based on yellow sunlight he becomes powerless. Doomsday beats him to death.

Suit concept designs by Chris Samuels for Superman Lives while working with the Hasbro Toy Group years ago when Tim Burton was scheduled to direct Superman Lives (97/98). The designers on the development team at Hasbro Toy Group were responsible for creating designs that could be used in both the movies as well as toys. Working in conjunction with the studios, they developed concepts all the time; Ideas that could be used across both platforms. The team did hundreds of designs for Superman Lives. They also had the design team drawing Supes with cowls, masks, etc.

 Various costumes were designed for Superman's post-battle with Doomsday.

This suit rendering was one of the concepts for a first "traditional" suit we could have seen Nic Cage wearing.

The Kryptonian Explorer suit, designed by Brian Eun, which got as far as having several sculpts done for it.

The "light-up" suit, aka the Disco Suit, that Superman would have been wearing at the end of the film. As designed by Ben Torres.

2. The Casting Would Have Been Mind-Blowing
Nicholas Cage as Superman? Woody Harrelson as Jor-El? Before Burton came on board Ben Affleck was considered for Clark Kent\Superman.

In this design concept shared by Ben Torres, this could have been Nic Cage's final "light up" suit. Other story items included Woody Harrelson as Jor-El, and Supes having a son.

3. Superman Would Have Had A Ball With His Robot Sidekick
Brainiac and Lex Luthor band together, but Superman is resurrected by a Kryptonian artifact called "The Eradicator" and Kryptonian technology. 

Timburton.jp posted concept art from the film of a robotic orb called "K". From everything I've read it's probably the "Eradicator" in it's robot form.

4. Planet Krypton Would Have Been Epic

Designs by Mark Goerner show towering spires, huge statues and a massive platform. These would either have been a flashback or some kind of vision.

These paintings and drawings came from an early preproduction development of Superman. My primary focus was on the landscapes of Krypton and the precipice of Jor Els palace. Images courtesy of Warner Bros. pictures.

Precipice Final

Taza Center Comp

Precipice Comp

Plaza Center sketch

The costumes also would have been out of this world too.

 
5. The Eradicator Would Have Been A Transformer
Smith's treatment said "The Eradicator for a planned scene in which it transforms into a flying vehicle."

According to the proposed storyline, The Eradicator would wind up helping Superman over the course of the film and eventually turn itself into a suit of armor that would help Kal-El regain the powers he'd lost.

The Kryptonian Explorer, designed by Brian Eun. The design pulled on some ideas from "Superman: The Movie." If this looks familiar to fans, you will find inspirations of this design in Superman Returns, starring Brandon Routh, in the DVD cut of deleted scenes. (Remember when he was exploring Krypton?)

Other design concepts include the Eradicator changing into a humanoid form and a suit for Superman to protect him from the "lack of" sunlight.

Toy concept art: Special suit made from Eradicator technology that restores Superman’s powers during the darkness on Earth. Encloses Superman entirely to completely hide his identity; creates a powerful new silhouette for Superman. Suit magnifies all of Superman’s traditional powers. Sleek and aerodynamic metallic suit that pulses with light energy (light piping). Includes smooth armor accented with hieroglyphic designs.

“RECOVERY SUIT” SUPERMAN 

Toy concept art: Superman wears this suit in the rejuvenation chamber in the Fortress of Solitude. Suit is laden with Kryptonian technology, including triangular-shaped energy ports for “plugging” Superman into the Eradicator technology (for restoration of his powers). Energy “circulates” visibly through the sculpted Kryptonian power matrix (use of light pipe and translucent areas on the figure). Likely to be dark metallic blue with light accent colors.

James Carson shows Superman appearing with a reimagined costume enhanced by Kryptonian armor.

6. Brainiac Would Have Been A Giant Spider
According to reports, the script's villains would have been a combined force of Brainiac, Doomsday and Lex Luthor.

Artist Rolf Mohr was told by Jon Peters to make a giant spider. Apparently, Tim Burton took a crack at it and made some designs of a disembodied Brainiac head.

7. Doomsday Would Have Looked Nothing Like The Comic Book
It's safe to say that the producers were not too impressed by the Doomsday from the comics and had designs that varied from bizarre to more bizarre. 

 From the comic book.

 

One design by James Carson has him looking like an alien worm (above). Some designs by artist Kerry Gammill (Virus, Species II) of the "alien killing machine" Doomsday (below).

 

Even Tim Burton did a design.

While we'll never know what the final film would have looked like we can be sure that with the wierd costumes, bizarre casting, strange villains and a robot sidekick Tim Burton's Superman: Lives would have been the freakiest Superman film ever made.

Sources
Movie Web
io9
timburton.jp
James Carson
Steve Johnson FX Facebook
Superman: Man of Steel (2013) Facebook
Mark Goerner
Rolf Mohr
Kerry Gammill

Updated: Is 'Avengers' Hulk Really 'Substationally Different" From Other Movie Hulks?

With Will the Hulk design for the Avengers movie be that much different from the past two movies? Yes, but not the way he says.

Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios and producer of The Avengers (2012)  in an interview with "Hero Complex" said the following:

It will be as different as "The Incredible Hulk" was from Ang Lee's "Hulk" in terms of its look and design, but it is Hulk.

As you can already see in that concept painting, it is — more than any Hulk that's ever been done in live action — a Hulk that let's you see the actor in there. You will be able to see Ruffalo in there. That was a big revelation for us. It's just a concept painting, but in that you can see the [influence of Marvel Comics pioneer and original Hulk artist Jack] Kirby, as people have already pointed out, but also, and equally important in this case, Ruffalo's eyes and his cheek structure. It is him.

So how different will the Avenger's Hulk be? He's implying that other Hulk's haven't really looked like the actor. Is that true?

Hulk (2003) with Eric Bana

Artist: James Carson

This looks quite a bit like Eric Bana. They widened his jaw and shortened his nose a bit. The eyebrow ridge is more pronounced and his jaw is much larger than his real one. The entire face looks like it was blown up like a balloon.

The Incredible Hulk (2008) with Edward Norton

Artist: Unknown (Aaron Sims Company)

This Hulk looks less cartoony than the first one. His face isn't as exaggerated as the first one, but he looks a lot less like the actor Edward Norton. Mainly because Norton's face is much narrower. The face is very hulk-like, but not as Norton-like. Notice they got rid of the crooked nose too.

The Avengers (2011) with Mark Ruffalo

Artist: Charlie Wen (Marvel)

Its hard to tell from this angle, but at first glance it looks like they took the same liberties as they did with the other films. Eyebrow ridge is larger. Nose is shorter. When you look closer though, you do see some changes.

Ruffalo's face is thicker, so it's easier to bulk it out. His jawline, while larger, isn't that much larger. The same with most of his features. He still looks like the traditional Hulk, but his face doesn't change as much.

It's possible that they chose him specifically because his face lends itself to the distortion. I've never done casting or concept design though. So, who knows?

In the end, it is different, but mainly because the actors face is Hulk-like.

Update: In the book Art of Marvel's The Avengers there was a quote from Ryan Meinderding that supports my viewpoint.

Joss really pushed us to take some of the cuses from those early Hulks and combine them with Mark Ruffalo's features. At first, we couldn't see how that would work - but he was dead-on in that direction. Mark's face really lends itself to hulking out, and we affectionally called the design "Hulkalo."

What do you think? Is it really a "different" Hulk?

Via: Herocomplex

Scorching Hot Emma Frost and Groovy Cool Hellfire Club in New 'X-Men: First Class' Concept Art

Marvel and 20th Century Fox released some concept art from the new X-Men prequel X-Men: First Class (2011) and has mind-blowing costume designs for the sexy Emma Frost, shots of the interior and exterior of the Sabastian Shaw's (Kevin Bacon) Hellfire Club and the Kremlin War Room and a revealing picture of Angel's fly wings.

IGN had a quote from January Jones, who plays telepathic mutant Emma Frost, on her character design:

No actual woman looks like that. She's very blessed, shall we say.

So coming straight from Mad Men, literally the day before, there was no way I could get physically cut like that. Also, for a woman to get that physically cut and not lose the curvy areas was a bit of a challenge for me, so I just did some weight training and body sculpting. I had a lot of fun with that, too.

All the stunt training and the physical aspects of the role that I didn't know I'd be doing were a lot of fun. Because her powers are very strong on both the mental and physical sides, so it was a lot of fun for me to go to different places than I've had to do as an actor before.

She also talked about the groovy mod designs of the Hellfire Club's pad.

...I can say that it doesn't feel like a period movie. There's obviously historical aspects in the storytelling and some of the props and stuff, but I think it feels very modern. It does take place in 1962.

One of the things that's brought in from that time, the Hellfire Club aspect especially, is that it's pretty -- I dunno, the Bunnies and the Playboy clubs. It's really cool. You'd think Sinatra was there. The sets are really cool and the vibe of the whole thing is really neat.

There's also a image of the design for the Kremlin war room which plays a big part of the Cuban missle crisis storyline.

Here are some concept design for the mutant Angel Salvatore (Zoë Kravitz) who hides her mutation of insect wings as a body tattoo.


No indication of who the concept artists are, of course. Very frustrating frankly.

IMDb lists Nick Ainsworth, James Carson, Kim Frederiksen, Paul Anthony McGill, Matthew Savage, Hayley Easton Street and Tom Whitehouse as concept artists for the film.

X-Men First Class stars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Rose Byrne, January Jones, and Kevin Bacon and will be released June 3 in the US.

Official plot synopsis: "X-Men: First Class charts the epic beginning of the X-Men saga, and reveals a secret history of famous global events. Before mutants had revealed themselves to the world, and before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Not archenemies, they were instead at first the closest of friends, working together with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop Armageddon. In the process, a grave rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto’s Brotherhood and Professor X’s X-Men."

Update: Pretty sure the Hellfire club artwork comes from Jamie Rama.

Does this concept art make you want to join the Hellfire Club?

Via Movieweb

Dynamic CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER Red Skull Concept Art

John Thiago on the Brazlian website Mundo Hype posted some concept art for production designer Rick Heinrichs' Captain America: The First Avenger.

The blog says the following about the concept art:

"For starters I must emphasize that not confirm the veracity of this news. But you may have some leaked concept art look of the Red Skull in the film of Captain America , which debuts next year. The style of conceptual art match those that leaked months ago of Captain America and Thor. Furthermore, the skull showed up holding the Cosmic Cube, which was confirmed in the film. However, there is no trace of actor Hugo Weaving in art." [Translated by Google Translate]

Most concept art is done before casting, so its no surprise it doesn't look like the actor. What confirms these as legit is that they look exactly like the official movie costumes.

We don't know who did these, but, the concept artists for Captain America are James Carson, Rodolfo Damaggio, Dan Walker, Andy Park and Henrik Tamm.

Captain America: The First Avenger is directed by Joe Johnston and stars Chris Evans. After being deemed unfit for military service, Steve Rogers volunteers for a top secret research project that turns him into Captain America, a superhero dedicated to defending America's ideals.

Via Mania and Splashpage