Five Amazing Batmobile Concept Designs

B is For Batmobile
The Batmobile is one of the most treasured of designs. There have been hundreds of concepts used in the comics, so there's no right or wrong way to design one. But, for some reason when we see it we recognize it.  Here are five concept art drawings of the Batmobile in live-action film and television.

1.  Batman TV Series by George Barris
In a pinch, 20th Century Fox turned to George Barris to build the Batmobile. He was given a rough sketch (by BATMAN production artist Eddie Stakes) and only 3 weeks to design and build it!

"The art director brought in an idea of what they needed: flashing lights, turbine fire blower on the back, chain slicer, etc.," said Barris. "We gave them a twentieth-century Batmobile that was different from Bob Kane's."

To save time, he realized he could use the long-idle Futura as a basis.

2. Batman (1998) by Anton Furst
In his design, Furst managed to capture the essence of a Batmobile while providing all-new design elements. The bat-mask was gone entirely from his design. In its place, the nose featured a large jet turbine intake flanked by sweeping, mandible-like front fenders.

 

3. Batman Forever by H.R. Giger
H.R. Giger (Alien, Species)was contacted in 1994 to design a Batmobile for Batman Forever. "His unique 'X' shaped design was to include articulated front legs/mandibles, retractable fins, and Gatling gun emplacements on each of the four pods on the sides of the vehicle. The design also combined side and forward intake ports with organic spines and a central pod connecting the four legs"

4. Batman Forever by Tim Flattery
Most controversial and complicated Bat-mobile ever. "After thinking thru it farther, he decided he wanted something more organic so it was back to the drawing board. The reference I used was everything from bats, bugs and crustaceans to Giger." - Tim Flattery

 5. Batman Begins by Nathan Crowley
Nathan Crowley never did any concept designs I'm aware of. Instead, he used parts from different modeling kits to cobble together by model bashing.

"I worked on the entire film, starting with the Batmobile, because we needed lots of time to build the thing. Unlike the other movies, we decided we were going to build the car to go high speeds and maneuver. We decided we were going to build a racecar and we were going to redesign the entire car. We thought we needed to update it. I think it had been beaten up too much. In the previous films, except Tim Burton's first one, they relied too much on digital effects, for all this trickery, so we decided we weren't going to have any digital elements to the car whatsoever. Everything you see on the screen is a real car, or a miniature car."   

"The rudiments of it was we also had to explain the origins of the Batmobile. One of our problems in doing Batman Begins was we wanted to explain where everything came from, so Batman can't build a super-car in secret by himself. We figured that was implausible. We couldn't convince anyone that one hiding his identity could create a car. So Chris came up with the concept of a military vehicle that was mothballed by his father's company. Which was fantastic for me, because it informed the design of it. Suddenly, this was a military vehicle, sort of an urban assault vehicle. I call it a sport tank. Also, the great thing about the Batmobile is, if you go down the road of making it an armored vehicle, a sort of high-speed sport tank, then that informs Gotham because why do you need that car unless the city's in decay? One helped the other. The root of it, through scripts and design, was to come up with a modern version of the car, with a modern look that people would identify with. And it was tricky. We showed it to Paul Levitz, who runs DC Comics, and he liked the shape; and we got it around to the fan base, and there was a big discussion for the last six months. It was such a departure from the old Batmobile. I think it works. When you first see it in camouflage, I'm still in awe of it."

"Yeah. What happened was, we were trying to find shapes that felt good, in the way I designed it with model making-I'd cut up bits of other vehicles and planes and stick them all together to try to find shapes. I'm fed up with curvy cars. I love angular cars anyway. I'm a big fan of the Maserati and all of that. Once we found those shapes it kind of took on an organic look. The fascinating thing about Stealth fighters is if you put enough angles on them, it becomes organic. It's very strange. So suddenly we found some bats in it. If you look at the back and see how the flaps are, you'll actually see the Bat symbol. If you look flat on the back of the car, with the flaps you'll see the bat-wings. I think subconsciously those shapes appeared. We wanted to maintain the jet--we figured we could not do the Batmobile without the jet. It's important. We could lose anything else, but we couldn't lose the jet. It's like the big old Land Speeder cars that always had jet engines. I liked that. The first Batmobile is reminiscent of the Land Speeders."

"I was a fan of [production designer] Anton Furst's [1989] Batmobile. I felt the Batmobile from the TV series was too similar to a car that I knew, whereas Tim Burton and Anton Furst's car was like 'Wow, that's pretty cool.' I can't say that I was a huge comic book fan. I just love design. To get a chance to design the Batmobile was brilliant, and I love cars."

What do you think of the designs? Do you have a favorite?

This post is part of the month long "A-Z Challenge." For the next 27 days, we'll be choosing a letter from the alphabet and crafting a post around it. To read more of the posts in the series click here here. To find out more about the challenge go here.

Hosts: Arlee Bird at Tossing it Out, Alex J. Cavanaugh, Stephen Tremp at Breakthrough Blogs, Jenny Pearson at Pearson Report, Matthew McNish at The QQQE, Tina Downey atLife is Good, Jeremy Hawkins at Retro-Zombie, DL Hammons at Cruising Altitude, Shannon Lawrence at The Warrior Muse, Elizabeth Mueller, Damyanti Biswas at Amlokiblogs, Karen Gowen at Coming Down the Mountain, and Konstanz Silverbow at No Thought 2 Small. Check the Facebook page and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge.

The Artists of 'Real Steel' (2011)

Real Steel (2011)
These are some of the artists that helped to create the block-buster film Real Steel accoring to IMDb.

Directed by Shawn Levy

Synopsis: A gritty, white-knuckle, action ride set in the near future [the year 2020], where the sport of boxing has gone hi-tech, “Real Steel” stars Hugh Jackman as Charlie Kenton, a washed-up fighter who lost his chance at a title when 2000-pound, 8-foot-tall steel robots took over the ring. Now nothing but a small-time promoter, Charlie earns just enough money piecing together low-end bots from scrap metal to get from one underground boxing venue to the next. When Charlie hits rock bottom, he reluctantly teams up with his estranged son Max (Goyo) to build and train a championship contender. As the stakes in the brutal, no-holds-barred arena are raised, Charlie and Max, against all odds, get one last shot at a comeback.

Production Design by Tom Meyer

Concept Illustrator

• Daren Dochterman
• Tim Flattery
• Victor James Martinez
• Miles Teves
• Andrew H. Leung
• Jamie Rama

Storyboard Artist

• Trevor Goring
• Michael Anthony Jackson
• Joel Venti

Graphic Designer

• Megan Greydanus
• Mike Maher

Exclusive: Tim Flattery Talks About His Organic Concept Art And The Batmobile That Almost Was

Tim Flattery is an amazing conceptual artist and took some time out to give me this exclusive interview.

His career spans two decades and has worked on some of Hollywood's biggest films from Back to the Future to Transformers.

What's it like for you being a concept artist?
It's rewarding creatively and a great way to make a living!

How would you describe your style and approach to your art?
The first half of my career was more traditional... using paint and markers. Now, my approach relies on the computer along with 2d and 3d software. I will still sketch with a pencil but all my painting and rendering is done in the computer now. As far as style, I generally rely on nature as my influence when it comes to design. I refer to everything from bugs to sea life to microscopic bacteria, etc.

Could you tell us the path you took to become a conceptual illustrator?
I went to art school and studied industrial design in Michigan but I knew I wanted to work in the film industry so I worked on a separate portfolio geared for that. Once I graduated I moved to California and started knocking on doors. I got a break when I met John Dykstra and he gave me my first job. From there it was a matter of doing good work and getting known in the Hollywood community.

You've done a lot of work at all types of concept design from clothing to vehicle and weapon design. Is there a type of design that you find most rewarding?
I love doing it all but I would have to say, coming from an Industrial design background, designing hardware fulfills the geek in me the most. Nothing like the challenge of a new spaceship or vehicle!

Your drawing of the Transformers aircraft character "Tidal Wave" took the Internet by storm. Do you think the fan support of the character will translate to the big screen?

"Tidal Wave" was great fun but was eventually cut out of the script. I have seen how the Internet can influence production in the past but I think in this case we would've seen him by now... but you never know.

Could you explain the design of the organic-looking Batmobile that you did for the 1995 Joel Schumacher film Batman Forever?
I initially did five designs and Joel picked a very faceted, stealth looking design. Here is a picture of the model not seen before.

After thinking thru it farther, he decided he wanted something more organic so it was back to the drawing board. The reference I used was everything from bats, bugs and crustaceans to Giger. Once the design was finalized, we did another scale model (see below) and from there began construction on the full-size vehicle.

You mentioned in an interview that the vehicle molds of the Batmobile were made of clay while the design of the Fantastic Four Fantasticar went closer to development. How do you see technology moving to bring designs to the screen?
It's a much more efficient process now. Until 10 years ago we were sculpting everything in clay and molding it from there. Now we mill the mold directly eliminating the clay stage. The hardware and software has changed how we go about everything now. From the design concept to the construction of the design is executed totally different now and dependent on computers. It's a great process but I miss the days of amazing talent sculpting by hand.

You graduated from the College for Creative Studies. How do you feel this education helped you in your industry?
It helped me considerably. I was taught key design theory along with many different techniques for rendering with different media like gauche and markers. I had to turn that into an appropriate portfolio for the film industry because there was no Entertainment Design curriculum in those days. From there I learned the rest in experience from the industry.

Are there any artists that inspired you in the past and today?
Oh yes, too many to mention all of them but some are Robert Taylor, Ralph Mcquarrie, Syd Mead and Raymond Loewy.

So, what can we look forward to from you in the future?
I just finished Real Steel (2011) [a film starring Hugh Jackman training a robot prize fighter] doing some of the robots and am currently working on Mission Impossible 4 (2011).

Check out his gallery at timflattery.com

Exclusive: Dawn Brown Talks About Working on The Last Airbender and With Hubby Warren Manser

Dawn Brown is an illustrator and set designer as well as the creator of two critically acclaimed comic book titles, Little Red Hot and Ravenous. Recently, her work has been seen in the film The Last Airbender. She graciously agreed to do& an interview for the blog.
***

Thank you for this interview Dawn. How did you get started as an artist for films?
I've been a set designer since 1995, and made the transition to illustrator in 2007. Set design has really migrated to digital over the last few years, and computer drafting holds absolutely no interest to me. I really just love to draw, and so I made the transition to another branch of the art department that utilizes my skills in a more productive way.

Do you prefer the title "Concept Artist" or "Illustrator?"
I use the terms interchangeably. "Illustrator" is the title that is officially recognized by the union. "Concept artist" has become a very popular title over the past few years. It is not an official union title, so a lot of the non-union guys use it.

Was it hard to make the shift from the fantastical world of Alice in Wonderland to the more realistic tone of The Last Airbender?
Huh? Both films are set in fantastical worlds! No, it was not hard to shift from one world to the next. Those kinds of films are the most fun.

How did you get the job working on M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender?
Phil Messina was the Production Designer for The Last Airbender. I have worked with him on several movies through the years. (Ocean's 11, Solaris, Ocean's 13) He introduced me to Larry Dias, the Set Decorator. I get most of my jobs through Production Designers, Art Directors, or Set Decorators. There's kind of a "6 degrees of separation" thing that goes on in this industry, and it plays a big part in who gets hired on what.

What was it like working with M. Night Shyamalan?
You know, I've actually never met M. Night Shyamalan. I've worked on 2 of his movies, but I've never had any interaction with him whatsoever. I mostly work in Los Angeles, and he mostly works in Philadelphia.

That's the nature of the industry I guess. Movies like Alice in Wonderland and The Last Airbender have a more fantastical tone than films other films you've worked on, like Ocean's Eleven and Charlies Angel's. Do you feel like these films open your mind to more creativity?
Oh yes, of course! Like I said before, the fantastical films are really the best ones to work on. At least from an artistic perspective.

Did you mainly focus on set, costume or character design for this film? Do you have a favorite?
I mainly focused on furniture design. I worked with the set decoration department. We were responsible for the set dressing, the furniture, the light fixtures, etc. I work with the set dec quite a bit, actually on The Last Airbender, Alice in Wonderland, Star Trek, The Island, Planet of the Apes andBatman & Robin.

What is the creative process for you when working?
I receive an assignment from the Set Decorator, (Larry Dias on Airbender) or the Production Designer, (Phil Messina on Airbender) and whatever research or reference relates to said assignment. Then I usually do a round or two of rough comps, then a tighter sketch or illustration, and when the design is approved, I do the construction drawings for the shop. Then on to the next thing. It is very fast. I love it.

What was the biggest challenge you faced in working on the movie?
No big hurdles or challenges on The Last Airbender. It was really a pleasure for me. Some of these movies can be really, really tough. But this was one of the fun ones.

What does it feel like to have your ideas come alive on the screen?
Of course, it's great! But honestly, I can not take credit or blame for anything that ends up on the screen. Making a movie is such a collaborative process, by the time anything gets to the screen, a hundred carpenters, painters, plasterers, electricians, grips, actors, etc. have added their own contributions and interpretations to any given idea or concept.

If you could sit with us in the theater and point out one thing to look for, what would it be?
The Fire Nation war room table, the landing crafts, the Fire Lord throne room screen and lamps. Whoops, that's more than one thing.

You're married to fellow concept artist Warren Manser. What was it like working as a husband-and-wife team on The Last Airbender?
Yes, Warren is my husband! It was great. But just to clarify, we don't bill ourselves as an illustration "team." We worked together from home. He worked in his studio, and I worked in my studio, each on our own assignments. We bounce ideas off each other all the time. We've worked together a few times, actually. But we are each hired on our own terms, we are not a package deal.

An often asked question among artists is if they should go to art school. Having graduated from
University of Kansas with a BFA degree in illustration/graphic design, would you suggest other aspiring concept artists follow the same path?
Of course getting an education is important. The best school for learning concept design for the film industry is The Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. It's not a requirement, but a formal education in art and/or design is a great place to develop your skills and start building a portfolio.

Which concept artists do you admire the most right now and why?
I have the privilege of working with the finest artists in the film industry, and consider many of them good friends. (and I even married one of 'em!) Warren Manser, James Clyne, Ryan Church, John Eaves, Darek Gogol, Ed Natividad, Jaimie Rama, Tim Flattery, Paul Ozzimo, I could go on and on.... If any of your readers are interested in becoming concept artists, they should check out these guys' websites. School is in session!

Who do you get the most inspiration from and why?
See the guys above. Seriously, I am surrounded by the most amazing and talented guys in the industry. They motivate me to keep learning and growing as an artist.

Some say the only way to succeed as a concept designer is to move to Hollywood or New York. Since many artists, like yourself, work from home, do you think this is still the case?

I don't work from home all the time. Most of the time I have to go into the studio. Over the past few years, more and more and more film industry work is done outside of Hollywood. Other states and countries offer financial incentives that the producers can't refuse. Who knows what the future holds, but for now, it certainly helps to be in Hollywood in the beginning of you career, at least to establish yourself. There is no "only way" to do something in this business. But the ones who tend to succeed all have certain things in common. Talent, drive, flexibility, patience, good people skills, energy, resourcefulness, are some of the main qualities you need to succeed.

There's been a movement from traditional art mediums to digital. Where do you stand on this? Do you ever see the pen and paper going away in the industry?
Everyone has their own take on this issue, but I feel strongly that I should keep both pencil and digital skills strong. Putting pencil to paper is where the rubber meets the road. There is absolutely no substitute for strong drawing skills. Period.

What& can& we look forward to next from you?
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides will be in theaters next summer. Ahoy!

Thanks for taking the time to do this interview Dawn. I wish you all the best.
Thank you! Best wishes to you, too!

Check out Dawn Brown's awesome website and gallery at DawnBrown.net. Come back tomorrow for some exclusive concept art from her latest film!

What do you think of the interview and her views on concept illustration in general?

Tim Flattery's Spider-Man 2 and Fantastic Four Concept Sketches Are Awesome

Tim Flattery has a large body of work going back to amazing future vehicles for Back to the Future 2, but what caught my eye were the costume designs for the comic-book movies Fantastic Four and Spider-Man 2.

The representation of fire in the above image is stunningly simple. I'm not sure is he did the costume design, but it looks more faithful to the comics than the final version.

This is an interesting intrepretation of what Dr. Doom could have looked like if he had continued to transform.

The use of reflective surfaces in the above concept art is impressive. Plus, he looks a looks more impressive with clothes on. 'Nuff said.

Amazing Alien Green Lantern Movie Concept Art

Last year concept art from the Green Lantern movie coming out next year were leaked. No idea who the artist is, but IMDB lists Rodolfo Damaggio, James Lima, Seth Engstrom, Henrik Tamm, E.J. Krisor and Tim Flattery.

Kilowog


Abin Sur and Tomar-Re
[Image Source: cosmicbooknews.com thegreenlanterncorps.com]