Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/990311
9 4 P E R S P E C T I V E | J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 1 8 STEPHEN LINEWEAVER: I have collaborated with Seth MacFarlane on designs for most of his live-action endeavors. When he started speaking about a science fiction project, we were working on Ted 2 and I knew it would be an exciting challenge, having never had the opportunity to design the future before. Seth was looking for an aspirational ship design, an Explorer class, as he described it, with a capacity for three hundred crew and family members. A place that was clean and comfortable and looks like a world one would want to live and work in. The heart of a ship is the bridge or command center, so I worked with illustrator Michael Maher, who I had collaborated with a number of times, to come up with an initial bridge design for my A first meeting with Seth on the project. A large oval skylight and a giant view screen were featured, surrounding the crew with the wonder of the cosmos. What ended up being built is surprisingly similar to the initial sketch. The exterior ship design wouldn't go quite as smoothly. Many experienced ship designers generated hundreds of concepts to arrive at the design that was turned over to Luke McDonald, the visual effects wizard, and his team to bring the Orville to life. The ship designers ranged from Ryan Church (Star Trek, Star Wars, Avatar) to Andrew Probert (original designer of the Enterprise C Next Generation), just two of the many artists who contributed, with Matt Tkocz (Chappie) designing the final version with the help of a sketch by Seth. A C H A N C E T O D E S I G N T H E F U T U R E T h e O r v i l l e B Y S T E P H E N L I N E W E A V E R , P R O D U C T I O N D E S I G N E R , A N D R O B E R T S T R O H M A I E R , A R T D I R E C T O R A. THE ORVILLE BRIDGE, ILLUSTRATION BY JAMIE HAMA. BASED ON A CONCEPT MODEL DONE IN MAYA BY TEX KADONAGA. B. ORVILLE 5-FOOT SCALE MODEL FOR MOTION CAPTURE SHOOT OF THE EXTERIORS. C. FINAL CONCEPT ART FOR THE ORVILLE.