Project Aim: To model futuristic technologies for a computer
generated spacecraft set, as if consulted by area specialists, as is common on
science fiction films.
There are many military and research spacecraft with popular science
fiction, but very few rescue or medical ships. The Star Wars franchise includes various medical and rescue ships,
including medical ship Redemption
where Luke Skywalker receives his robotic hand, and several fire service craft
seen after a crash landing on the planet Coruscant. Medical bays play a large
part in the Star Trek franchise and
Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, both
having larger numbers of crew aboard their key ships. However none of these are
really equipped to retrieve downed crew members or rescue those stranded in
environmental catastrophes, either on an international or interplanetary scale.
The spacecraft will therefore be designed with these areas as a
priority, with human safety and rescue capabilities put first in the dangerous environments
of both planets and space.
The research involved will cover many areas including current and
projected space, medical and rescue technologies.
With the recent advancements in both scientific and computer generation
technologies, there has been a recent resurgence in sci-fi films, many coming
as massive investments and profitable franchises. With green screen set
extensions now common-place and full digital sets becoming standard for film environments,
I believe developing the techniques to construct such sets in the computer will
give me an advantage in the field as they become normal practise.
Having assets like this allows visual effects teams to composite actors
or characters into the generated environment, but also provides a basis for
practical sets and pre-visualisations.
There has also been increased interest and research into environmental and
climate changes in recent years, with the concern they will bring about more
weather based disasters for the human population. This issue has increasingly
been used as the subject message for films, including science fiction. Therefore
I believe the presence of search and rescue teams and vehicles within these
films will increase as a result as filmmakers dream up more and more terrible
disasters for characters to endure.
This project will allow me to invest further in prop modelling and
environment design, two areas I have great interest in. I believe each aspect
of a visual effects asset should have a purpose and a reason for its existence,
rather than the sometimes purely aesthetic preference that often seems
illogical and impractical. Efficiency in the asset’s design will therefore be
paramount as well as keeping close to technology in use today or projected for
the future.
The areas of focus will be production design with visual effects
assets. Within the asset there will be models of equipment and structures
involved in medical treatment and recovery as well as search and rescue
technology, all in the context of space travel and living.
As the topics for research are quite wide and varied, I am unsure I
will complete all the research and modelling in certain areas.
Due to the heavy space based aspect of the asset, NASA and its
associates are obvious candidates for me to contact, with their lengthy and
focused research. Unfortunately due to the large distance to them, as well as
current budget cuts, they may be unable to provide ample assistance. They do
however have extensive online resources including possible applications of
technologies from science fiction. Results from research in this area may have
to be vastly extrapolated to fit the asset’s intended purpose (as is often the
case in science fiction) as no direct comparisons yet exist.
Medical advances and projected future innovations in the area are often
the subject of expertise in large universities. These should be far easier to
contact and will also have their research published in journals as well as
online. Unfortunately any current research is probably unlikely to be allowed
to be discussed or released.
Rescue technology should be quite easy to research with the amount of
footage compiled from incidents worldwide every day. This should allow research
into dealing with many different disasters that occur in multiple environments
across all continents. Disaster movies could also serve as good reference for
current technologies and techniques. Developing and future technologies in this
area would be harder to gather research on as much is often developed in
conjunction with other areas including the military, making it confidential.
Other experimental technology is often constructed under military
contracts and so would be harder to discuss or find evidence of. These include
stealth, armour and non-lethal weapons technologies that the spacecraft may
need to use in entering hostile environments.
The final assets I wish to create for this project are:
1.
A 3D spacecraft that can be used as both a
visual effects asset and a basis for practical sets; interior and exterior
2. A
user manual for said spacecraft including labelled cross-sections and
blueprints of the ship’s decks and systems
3.
A video of a fly-through showing the interior of
the ship with labels for systems similar to a HUD or AR system
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