Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/765720
P E R S P E C T I V E | J A N UA RY / F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 7 79 ship. This would require the scientific and military crews to take an extra leap of faith, to open their minds just a little bit more before meeting the aliens, jumping off from their world into a gravity shift that brings them to the bottom of a dark corridor. At the end of that vertical tunnel space, a bright light guides them. Again, the idea was to create mixed emotions of danger and fascination. The wall texture resembles sedimentary rock, allowing this long corridor to represent the layers of the history and wisdom possessed by this alien civilization. At the end of the tunnel, the light guides the team to a large nearly-featureless room where they finally encounter the aliens, two cephalopod-like creatures, called heptapods because of their seven-pointed radially symmetrical appearance. Three different sets were needed to create that sequence. A 28-foot x 42-foot exterior of the bottom portion of the ship with its 14-foot square portal topped by a 20-foot vertical shaft into which the scissor lift could rise. Then a 28-foot "U" version of the vertical shaft is used to stage the interior portion of the ascension. Finally, a 150-foot Left: A concept by Meinert Hansen of the tunnel to the interview chamber, after the gravity shift. Below, left and right: The science team enters the interview room set, on stage at ADF in Montréal. Linguist Louise Banks (played by Amy Adams) attempts to communicate with the aliens in the interview room using their own fluid visual language. Below, left and right: A wide shot of the interview chamber stage set. Louise analyses the "offer weapon" logogram inside the chamber.