Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1521244
6 6 P E R S P E C T I V E | M AY / J U N E 2 0 2 4 been part of Discovery Park, most of which is still occupied. All that was left on this particular floor was a bunch of old office furniture pushed into the corner and pieces of large outdated scientific equipment corralled into otherwise empty offices. However, one empty laboratory still had a decent-size clean room and that was like striking gold. It was here that we would have Auggie conduct her experiment using her nanofiber technology to cut through the synthetic diamond. After a research trip out to the Nanoscience Centre at Cambridge University, Dr. Kenzie again helped us and our prop team to imagine what the diamond-cutting machine would look like. It was important that the nanofibers stay static and the synthetic diamond appear to move through them. For this we needed some special effects intervention. There were two 'synthetic diamonds' on the day. One solid diamond prior to the cut and the final one that was sliced to pieces. VFX took care of the bit in between. The computer graphics were also very important in this scene and were used as a storytelling device to help the viewer understand what was happening on a molecular level. It was imperative that the audience believe in the strength and success of the nanofibers in order for the conceit of the shredding of the Judgment Day tanker in episode five to be successful. Like the dragons before it, the fake science had to feel completely real. Brain Canister and Rocket Launch By the time we made it to episode eight, we were a long way from Communist China and the future of humanity was at stake. When Will donated his brain to Jin's Staircase Project in the hope that he would be in some way brought back to life by the incoming San-Ti, we had to wrestle with how to show his death, the removal of his brain and then blasting it into space. In the end, the solution was to show as little as possible, with the heavy lifting left to some very slick futuristic props and the guidance of NASA engineer Bobak Ferdowsi. First, there was the cryogenic brain canister into which the brain was placed, followed by the journey of the canister to the rocket, sealing it into the rocket and then seeing it blast off from the carefully designed screens in mission control. It was meticulously researched and detailed in consultation with special effects and visual effects, with a surprising amount learned from uncrewed space flight. It was fittingly filmed on the last day of the main shoot. With the breadth of 3 Body Problem being so vast, with such complex locations and varied builds, it often felt like we were in training for all of the disciplines in the Art Department Olympics at once. It started in such a grounded, historical place and left us all contemplating the edges of the universe. At times the scope was scary, but it was always thrilling. ADG Deborah Riley, Production Designer Ashley Lamont (Eps 1-5), Philip Elton (Eps 6-8), Super vising Art Directors Jake Hall, Patricia Johnson, Chapman C.H. Kan, Olivia Muggleton, Jo Sansom (Set Dec), Art Directors Helen Dawson, Ewa Galak, Jade Lacey, Owen Robertson, Anna Czerniavska (Set Dec), Assistant Art Directors Charlotte Blanden, Madeleine Dymond, Matt Geldard, Harr y Gibson, Jake Jerrard-Dinn, Kitty Parkinson, Ben Telford, Amy Herring (Jr.), Georgina Wise (Jr.), Owen Meadows (Jr.) Draughtspersons Chris Caldow, Julian Caldow, Matt Codd, Ryan De Silva, Beth Elen Roberts (Jr.), Jake Jerrard-Dinn (Jr.), Darren Christian (Set Dec), Keith Seymour (Set Dec), Concept Artists Florence Tasker (Lead), Oona Brown (Sr.), Arthur Williams (Screen Graphics), Aoife Reed, Adio Fok, Graphic Designers Andrew McCarthy, Set Decorator A