Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1196709
Avengers: Endgame and Infinity War were a culmination of twenty-two films and ten years of the arvel inematic niverse. As an Art Department, we knew that we were incredibly lucky to be working on these films, it was an opportunity of a lifetime to be part of such an endeavor with all of the fantastic world-building possibilities that it oered. The expectations from the directors, the studio and the audience were extremely high. These films had been in the planning phase for many years. It was always going to be a monumental task from a design point of view and a daunting logistical challenge, particularly as the two films needed to be worked out pretty much at the same time. The early concept stage of the films was started in December 2016, with Infinity War being scheduled for principal photography in anuary . Endgame was scheduled for principal photography in August . The plan was to make the two films back- to-back over a course of two hundred-plus days. The scripts were complex by their nature, with so many storylines and threads that needed to be tied together and resolved. oe and Antony usso were insistent from the beginning that the two films also needed to be very dierent in tone. A large crew was put together, both in the nited States and London and o we went! It was going to be a marathon! There were a multitude of fantastic worlds to explore in Endgame. The surreal, cerebral world of ormir was one of the most far reaching. This was the wind-swept resting place of the Soul Stone. The landscape of ormir itself was based on the remarkable green watery sand dunes of the Lenis arenhenses in rail. A great deal of concept artwork was done for this world—focusing on atmosphere and light, trying to create a dreamy world that dwarfed the characters as they crossed the dunes toward a nightmarish mountain. Working alongside the film's brilliant visual eects supervisor, Dan Deleeuw and his team, a collaboration between departments was begun— going through a multitude of previsualiations for the fight sequences. There were several practical sets to be built, the first being the arduous climb from the desert oor to the mountaintop, the second, the uppermost plateau with two large, primeval obelisks that formed a gateway to the precipice below. As much atmosphere as possible was wanted in this scene, with raging windstorms and stinging snow. The idea for the obelisks were these two giant tuning forks that would give o a constant vibration and force the clouds to funnel upward in a type of inverted waterfall. The crew included a very talented group of plasterers and sculptors who took a series of silicone molds from some small caves found in Atlanta. These were used as the backbone for the set. The greenery department sourced some fantastic sculptural driftwood pieces from the Florida coast to form the mid-ground elements for the scene. A new home was needed for Asgard on Endgame. A historic fishing village was shot on the southeastern shores of Scotland, called St Abbs. The artwork here was a light and atmospheric study before the location was found. A. VORMIR. ARCHITECTURAL STUDY OF WHERE TEH SOUL STONE WAS KEPT. CONCEPT ART BY BOB CHESHIRE. B. SET PHOTOS OF VORMIR. C. ATMOSPHERIC STUDY OF THE CLOUDS OF PLANET VORMIR. CONCEPT ART BY CHRIS KESLER. D. ASGARD. CONCEPT ART BY TIM HILL. D