Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/780285
P E R S P E C T I V E | M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 7 35 When the industry lost Art Director and Set Designer Stephen Dane last April, we said goodbye to a monumental talent—a quiet, unassuming man who carved a special niche for himself, designing props and specialty vehicles for some of the most visually inventive films of the twentieth century. Working as either an Art Director or Set Designer (or, rarely, "hardware consultant"), Stephen designed memorable pieces for Blade Runner, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, Starflight One, Ghostbusters and a host of other films. He was primarily responsible for the Voight Kampff machine that identifi ed replicants for the police in Blade Runner (Larry Paull, Production Designer), along with the police Spinner cars and most other vehicles on the dystopian Los Angeles streets of that fi lm, expanded from concept art by Syd Mead; the futuristic jet-powered Ford F-350 driven by physicist/neurosurgeon/rock star Buckaroo Banzai (J. Michael Riva, Production Designer); Soviet Army Hind-A helicopters, modifi ed from French SA 330 Pumas for Red Dawn (Jackson De Govia); and the Ecto-1, the 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor ambulance that supported the Ghostbusters (John DeCuir) on their mission to protect New York City from poltergeists. Opposite page: Stephen Dane was brought in at the beginning of GHOSTBUSTERS II, instead of at the last minute as he was on the previous fi lm. This is his presentation sketch and working drawing for the redesign of the Ecto-1 into the Ecto-1a. This page, clockwise from top left. Mr. Dane was credited as "hardware consultant" on the fi rst fi lm, so it is fi tting that he poses with a piece of hardware, even if it is one he didn't actually win. The original 1959 Cadillac Miller- Meteor ambulance before it was purchased by the production, and the same vehicle painted, repaired and dressed with Mr. Dane's roof rack and gear to create the famous Ecto-1.