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 41 The starship is called the Avalon, an opulent super liner built to an enormous scale. Amenities for the masses pack the ship's mile-long structure. Everything is set up to support the four-month waking and rehabilitation process that would normally occur as the ship reaches its destination and orbits the planet, waiting for deployment of its passengers in drop ships for the final leg of their journey to the new colony below. The ships modular appearance is due to its elaborate architectural history, theoretically having been constructed over forty-five years in Earth's orbit. It is actually the second ship of its kind, updated from its predecessor with improvements and design refinements, physical advancements in engineering know-how and improved construction materials. The ship is comprised of three separate hulls attached to a central propulsion system, with a separate habitat for the captain and crew at the front of this structural spine. Each hull or habitat was designed for a separate core function: (1) cargo storage, (2) passenger hibernation chambers and living quarters, and (3) entertainment and retail spaces, the place where the Homestead company hope to recoup further compensation by tempting the ship's groggy passengers with every possible form of retail therapy and entertainment, a sort of Las Vegas in space: swimming pools, malls, interactive games arcades, restaurants and even a stylized 1930s art deco bar. The ultimate design goal was to contrast the two lone characters with massive open spaces to emphasis their vulnerability and loneliness. The ship needed to be a futuristic marvel, and that became something of an obsession for myself and my crew for the better part of a year. I wanted other team members to weigh in with their memories and experiences designing and building these sets for Passengers. Guy Hendrix Dyas, Production Designer David Lazan, Supervising Art Director Luke Freeborn, Senior Art Director John Collins, Greg Hooper, Hugh Moody, Michael Ward, Art Directors Paula Loos, Drew Monahan, Gary Warshaw, Brittany Hites, Assistant Art Directors Tani Kunitake, Laurent Ben-Mimoun, Daren Dochterman, Igor Knezevic, Ed Natividad, Josh Nizzi, Tully Summers, Illustrators Alan Villanueva, Spacesuit Illustrator Karen Teneyck, Kevin Kalaba, Trey Shaffer, Graphic Designers Randy Wilkins, Allen Coulter, Patrick Dunn-Baker, Anshuman Prasad, Noelle King, Scott Herbertson, C. Scott Baker, Rob Johnson, Jeffery McDonald, Steven Saylor, Josh Lusby, Dean Wolcott, Bria Kinter, Set Designers Mark Hitchler, Set Designer/Model Maker Collin Grant, Ray Harvie, Marc Vena, Storyboard Artists Gene Serdena, Set Decorator Top: An early concept for the crew halo section of the ship, drawn in pencil in a sketchbook by Guy H. Dyas. Above, left and right: Construction in progress for the crew corridor or halo. Several sets could be rolled in to connect to the central door frame shown. By carefully storyboarding each scene, actors could appear to be traveling to different doorways along this curved corridor while never using more than one functioning door mechanism. A set still of the halo corridor, more clinical and functional in appearance than the civilian areas, this zone is off limits for passengers and is the flight crew's access to the bridge and their living quarters.