Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1512164
the basic city layout of Gunga City in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. So, I have had many years using of Vectorworks in its various forms. I also render and animate these Vectorworks models in Artlantis, a very user-friendly 'drag and drop' rendering program. These initial design models, mainly concentrating on the main shaft and staircase designs, were often then rendered over beautifully by the concept artists, with the addition of Charles Downman and John Dickenson. Studio Space When preproduction started on the show, there was no studio space secured, but we already knew we were really looking for stages that would have a height of maybe forty feet. We knew that any main shaft and staircase set, however much we built, was going to need a stage of that height. Production found an empty industrial unit in North London that was a disused cold storage facility. What was difficult in this situation is that at this point, the Art Department hadn't designed the main shaft and staircase set, but our experience suggested that this stage space would work. Sometimes one simply has to rely on experience to make these big judgment calls. In the early days, the production did explore using locations for a number of the silo environments, but in the end, it proved impossible to find real locations that were going to fit visually into the architectural world we were creating of the silo. The only location the series ended up using was an exterior location which showed the exit from the silo and the surrounding landscape. It was basically an empty field near the studio where we built the exit ramp from the silo, and a section of A. SHAFT CEILING. CONCEPT RENDERING BY PATRICK FAULWETTER. B. SHAFT CEILING MODEL BY MICKY KELM. C. SILO SHAFT. CONCEPT RENDERING BY PATRICK FAULWETTER FROM A VECTORWORKS MODEL. D. SILO SHAFT. SECTION VIEW OF STAGE SET. DRAWN DIGITALLY BY NICO SARDORI. E. SILO SHAFT. MODEL VIEW OF STAGE SET BY NICO SARDORI. F. WHITE CARD MODEL OF SILO SHAFT SET MADE BY MICKY KELM. G. & H. SILO SHAFT ON STAGE. PRODUCTION STILLS. A B C