Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/974985
4 8 P E R S P E C T I V E | M A Y / J U N E 2 0 1 8 THE OPPORTUNITY Designers are occasionally invited to embark on journeys to parts unknown—to travel with a collective of creative others on a circuitous road to an uncertain destination. In these instances, it is our aspirational nature coupled with our need for self-preservation that drives us to "build the airplane as we are flying it" …all in hopes of reaching the stars…or, at least, cruising altitude. God Particle was the journey that I thought was being embarked upon. But after a series of unusual events, I would instead arrive a year-and-a-half later at an unlikely destination, The Cloverfield Paradox. God Particle was a project that seemed to drop from the sky and land at my feet like a brilliant, otherworldly gem. It had not been on my radar prior to receiving a phone call from my agent about a science fiction feature to be directed by an aspiring young talent, Julius Onah, and produced by J.J. Abrams, Lindsey Weber and Jon Cohen from Bad Robot. After meeting Julius, Jon and unit production manager Bob Dohrmann, I discovered other facets to the gem. It was going to be filmed in Los Angeles, and would be almost solely shot on built stage sets. Rick Carter, legendary designer and early mentor of mine, was fresh off of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and was helping to shape the story as an associate producer. I'm all in! In the early weeks of prep, the gem began to sparkle ever brighter. Dan Mindel, who is practically a veteran of space travel, having photographed some of the most iconic space films in recent years, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Trek and Star Trek: Into Darkness joined the team. Then four-time Oscar winning costume designer, Colleen Atwood, whose work includes Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Alice in Wonderland and Memoirs of a Geisha climbed aboard. And yet more great news…our production was able to secure stages on a bona fide studio lot! It would be the first time in several years that a Paramount feature film would actually be shooting entirely on Paramount Studio stages. This opportunity was a homecoming in so many ways for me. It was a reunion with the Bad Robot team after working with them on several past projects. It was a return to my home base of Los Angeles after working everywhere but Los Angeles for so many years. It was a chance to collaborate with Rick Carter after first meeting him at the beginning of my career on Contact and later serving as an Art Director for him on War of the Worlds. And—perhaps most significantly—it was an opportunity to reconnect with the most cherished jewel of all…a Los Angeles crew! A A. THIS AND OTHER EXTERIOR STUDIES AS ILLUSTRATED BY JOSH VIERS PROVIDED THE SPECIAL EFFECTS CREW AT ILM WITH DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT THE DESIGN INTENTION OF THE EXTERIOR OF THE SPACE STATION. B. ILLUSTRATION BY JOE STUDZINSKI. C. SET DESIGNS, THE ESCAPE POD (LEFT) BY JOE HIURA AND THE AIRLOCK BY PATRICK DUNN-BAKER. D. RHINO MODEL OF THE AIRLOCK INTERIOR BY PATRICK DUNN-BAKER. E. JOSH VIERS' 2D PAINT- OVER ILLUSTRATION ON PATRICK DUNN-BAKER'S 3D RHINO MODEL OF THE AIRLOCK. A