Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/990311
ROBERT STROHMAIER: When Stephen hired me as Art Director of the series, the first thing that struck me was the amount of LED lighting there was on the entire ship. Ceilings, walls, stairways, consoles, tables, and an assortment of other set dressing and props all use this technology. Besides lighting the actors for camera, it also allows several looks, cruise mode, red alerts, low power, etc. A visual language has been developed for the ship, and one of the more important aspects is that of backlight printing for consoles. This technology (by Dangling Carrot Creative) has enabled the creation of long seamless graphics that are lit by LEDs, particularly on the bridge and in engineering. These static console graphics tie into all of the large monitors that show animated playback (courtesy of playback Graphic Artist David Watkins and Graphic Designer Michelle Peters). The construction of the ship has been a constant during the series. For season one engineering, the mess hall, crew quarters, medical bay, a two- story captain's quarters, the lab, the brig and the environmental simulator were all built, all the while trying to keep the MDF sawdust piles at bay. All of these sets were expertly detailed by Set Designers Eugene Adamov, Daniel Saks, Kit Stølen and Assistant Art Director Glen Hall. We constantly ask ourselves what are the materials used to build an Explorer Class Vehicle in 2418. From the unique wallcoverings to all the metallic paints, laser-cut plexi for food synthesizers and computer chips for engineering panels, fiber optics for interior controls and not a visible fastener to be found. Assorted materials from plastic palettes to empty wine crates have been used for wall and floor surfaces, all beautifully lit by more LEDs and Rainbow Quasars. Season two has added the armory, more ship hallway, an onboard restaurant and a classroom. Due to the lack of stage space (the show only has two, while sometimes temporarily borrowing others), the shuttle bay is used as a planned swing set area. Some of the sets that have been placed here are the entire Krill ship, the environmental simulator, the Nixian planet surface and an underground bunker. ADG C A B