Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1546606
strongholds? What kind of landscape surrounded them? If Eternia was a real planet rather than a collection of disconnected environments, how would all these places sit within the same geography? Drawing the world this way gave the production a map of the story, as well as the landscape of the planet. The characters' journeys began to dictate the relationships between locations, and those relationships in turn began to suggest shooting locations that captured the visual scope beyond the confines of the stage walls. There are certain designs in popular culture that are so deeply embedded in people's memories that they become almost architectural symbols. Castle Grayskull is one of them. Its silhouette is immediately recognizable. The film couldn't simply use the design from the animation as is. We had to understand why Castle Grayskull was designed that way and ask ourselves what it might look like in the physical world. The overall silhouette was relatively straightforward to establish, the real challenge was in the proportions and details, the shape of the skull, the scale of the enormous teeth, and how the Jaw Bridge would work as a functional piece of architecture. The imposing exterior of Castle Grayskull needed to feel credible and more than simply a giant skull sitting on the landscape. The scale of the design meant the set had to be divided between practical construction and digital extension. The exterior was built on a studio backlot up to the level of the skull's cheekbones, with everything above that completed digitally. The entrance then connected to a practically constructed corridor leading into the main sword chamber, which was built on a large soundstage. Splitting the set in this way allowed us to maintain the enormous scale of the exterior while providing the physical environments needed for the interior scenes. Another iconic design in the original MOTU animation is Snake Mountain, and if Castle Grayskull is the bastion of good, Snake Mountain stands as its dark mirrored counterpart. Here too D. CASTLE GRAYSKULL VAULT CHAMBER ILLUSTRATION BY BART TCHORZEWSKI. DIGITAL ARTWORK SHOWING SET BUILD PROPOSAL. E. MODEL OF VAULT CHAMBER BY JEANIE KING, FILIPE MIRANDA & FRANCESCA TESEI. 3D PRINTED ELEMENTS WITH CARD AND PAPER. CUTAWAY OF SET BUILD. F. SNAKE MOUNTAIN BALCONY BY BART TCHORZEWSKI. ATMOSPHERIC DIGITAL ARTWORK OF THE FINAL DESIGN. G. SNAKE MOUNTAIN EARLY CONCEPT BY GUY H. DYAS. 8.5" X 11" PENCIL SKETCH FOR DISCUSSION WITH TRAVIS KNIGHT. E D F G