SPEED RACER
Directed by the Wachowski sisters, Speed Racer is a heartwarming, bombastic and visually striking homage to the 60s anime. The movie uses unique and innovative techniques that cleverly mix CGI rendered elements and layered renders, emphasizing the effect of parallax to create dizzying action scenes and playful transitions.
My role on this project was to art direct the design of multiple environments, vehicles and props at BUF Compagnie Paris. Often starting with hand-drawn sketches, I was in constant communication with the CG team to mutually figure out how those elements functioned when animated and came together in the final scenes.
COSMOPOLIS
Cosmopolis took months to develop. Based on Production Designer George Hull’s initial concepts, we brought the city to life one building, one billboard, one prop at a time. Once modeled and textured, Clusters of buildings were rendered on separate cards that were ultimately placed in the animated scene together with 3d elements, combining legacy cel-animation tricks and modern CGI.
VEHICLE DESIGN
What greater task than design Speed Racer’s iconic cars along with their tools and weapons?! I had the privilege of re-imagining and sometimes invent some of these from the ground up. We wanted to make them seem believable while retaining the goofiness of the original source material.
ICE CAVE
The ice cave is the backdrop of dramatic events in Speed Racer’s story. It had to look ominous and mysterious. I started with a few sketches and concepts before moving on to the final matte painting.
