Visual Development

Final dressed set

KLEPT PLANET

As one of my first major environment design assignments, I got to spend a lot of time tweaking and perfecting what the Klept Homeworld would look like for the opening prologue of the film. We wanted it to feel barren and sad, a place where all good things had been destroyed by the Klepts’ greed. I loved the way the rest of our team translated my designs into the final set.

HERALD HORNS

This horn is intended to herald in the coming of Z, the evil alien leader. We wanted to incorporate sharp pointy teeth into the design, which fit in nicely with the comically oversized scale. I was particularly proud of this design, especially since model-maker Josh Spooner did an incredible job translating my design almost exactly.

Practicing my pitch

SPIDER CHAIR

The leader of the Klepts, an alien matriarch named Z, has some really awesome props associated with her. I designed her Spider Chair, which was fun to imagine. I also designed her staff, which had a very “Dark Crystal” feel to it.

The armature for the chair

SHIP CONTROLS

We wanted to add a bit of whimsy, and imagined the flight controls on the alien spaceships to have flight sticks that imitated video game conrollers. The final version ended up close to traditional flight controls, but the explorations into game controls proved useful.

Horn props used in the opening scene

SANTA’S BAG

SANTA’S WALKIE

The final prop, fabricated by the incomparable Greg Pinsoneault

CHRISTMAS WEAPONS

The Christmas weapons were fun to design, trying to conceptualize how wrapping paper would come out of a gun. My experience fabricating helped me think through these weapons and how they would be put together.

SANTA’S TOY FACTORY

In the world of Alien Xmas, toys are not so much hand-crafted as they are manufactured in a fun toy factory. The conveyor belts and various building mechanisms were great to imagine, and I was excited to see it coming together once it started being built.

LANDING SHIP

Z’s Pod went through many variations. It needed to be scary, but not too scary. Finding the right middle ground with the shape language proved to be a stimulating challenge.

SPACESHIPS

KLEPT MOTHERSHIP

Even though this design wasn’t used for the final build, I had a great time conceptualizing all the pieces that needed to come together.

For one thing, we wanted the sihouette to look like a Christmas Tree. Building off of that, we wanted the Fighter Pods (which were designed to look like Christmas ornaments) to be able to dock in a way to look like they were hanging off of the ship’s “branches.”

The final ship was given life by our great model-maker Franco. Every artist gets to contribute something on a production like this.

CITYSCAPES

For the final scenes of the film, the Klepts travel the earth to spread Christmas cheer. We needed to conceptualize single images of major cities that could read as iconic very quickly. These would get turned into sets that exagerated the famous aspects of those cities. Working quickly, I used a lot of photo-manipulation to get the concepts where we wanted them. I’m still proud of the final results.

Art Coordination

As the Art Coordinator, I was responsible for running the shop while our Art Director, Jeff White, was away. This happened frequently once we began shooting, as our production stages were in another building 10 minutes away. 

This gave me a sense of leadership in my role which I happily took upon myself. Among my other daily responsibilities included managin assignments to the model makers and set builders, doling out jobs and runs to our production assistants, and keeping the supplies ordered for the shop to run smoothly. I got to act as the art departments eyes and ears for upcoming builds, attempting to keep us one step ahead of a constantly evolving project.

Behind the Scenes Gallery

Trailer