Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1521244
The rehydration scene followed by the snow scene took place on stage in Shepperton Studios, making use of one of the tanks for the rehydration pool and a partial build of the stone skin depository behind. Level two of the Game was shot in Wells Cathedral in Wells, Somerset, with us being granted permission to bring in the gold-leafed canopy and throne for the pope. These elements were then brought back to Shepperton and burned for the scene with Jin and Jack in the aftermath of the incineration. The biggest build of the Game was the observation deck of Kublai Khan's pleasure dome. The art team started by looking at the design of the building as a whole and then focusing on the platform itself. It soon became clear that to build an open viewing platform was going to be too expensive for visual effects to deal with, so I offered up a more modest balcony with different levels which would be able to 'hug' the actors and allow it to be a more in- camera environment, while still making sure that the actors could look out to the vast Mongol armies. In addition to learning about Mongolian timber construction and all of the colours and textures involved, we also learned how special effects would 'boil' the actors in the over-size cauldron built by the props team, and we had to accommodate a massive amount of wire work for the stunts in the anti-gravity sequence. They needed all of the help they could get in being able to play the sequence as realistically as possible. There were holes in the roof for the wires to run through and sections of the roof that were completely removable. There were also handholds built into the design to make it feasible for the characters to hold onto when the gravity disappears. For such an outrageous sequence on the page, it was very satisfying to build. Nanotechnology Research Centre After searching far and wide for somewhere to build the interior of the Nanotechnology Research Centre, the series finally landed in what was previously the Pfizer Research Laboratories of Sandwich. It had A. PLEASURE DOME BALCONY. CONCEPT ART BY JULIAN CALDOW CREATED IN MODO AND PHOTOSHOP. B. PLEASURE DOME OBSERVATION DECK. DIGITAL MODEL BY PATRICIA JOHNSON CREATED IN RHINO. C. PLEASURE DOME OBSERVATION DECK. PLAN AND ELEVATION BY PATRICIA JOHNSON IN AUTOCAD. D. PLEASURE DOME OBSERVATION DECK SET PRIOR TO SHOOT. BUILT ON J STAGE IN SHEPPERTON STUDIOS. SET PHOTO. E. OBSERVATION DECK. DIRECTOR ANDREW STANTON WITH JESS HONG AND JOHN BRADLEY WHO WERE INSIDE THE CAULDRON FILLED WITH WATER. PRODUCTION STILL. F. NANOTECH LAB DIAMOND CUTTER. CONCEPT ART BY KEITH SEYMOUR USING BLENDER AND PHOTOSHOP. E F