3D World

3D WorlD June 2018 33 http://www.youtube.com/3dworld

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Star Trek: Discovery

3D WorlD June 2018 33 http://www.youtube.com/3dworld

Starfleet science officer
Airiam played by Sara Mitich is a
synthetic-human hybrid. “They
wanted somebody who was an
augmented human with robotic-
type features, which is a concept
designer’s dream,” states Page. “It’s
about sustaining the femininity.
Airiam is an evolution of Airam,
which is Ai for artificial intelligence
and ram for random access
memory. Spelt backwards it’s Maria
which is the name of the robot from
Metropolis.” The greatest challenge
was how to execute a form-fitting,
extraordinarily tight make-up that
looks like a hard shell. “I had my
guys run the entire facial appliance
in white silicone,” remarks Hetrick.
“We were able to hide the white
edges by having her lips go under
the facial appliance that goes right
to the edge of her lip.”
A digitally created aquatic
mammal makes for a surreal
moment. “An alien that I loved was
loosely called ‘the space whale’
which they bring onto the cargo
bay,” reveals Page. “There’s no
organic creature that would ever
float in space to our knowledge
so when that was given to me as a
challenge I ate it up. How do I make

sense of that and create attributes

that make it viable as an alien

creature? Everything was figured

out about its diet, reproduction

propensity and the ability to

navigate in space.” A kaleidoscopic

folding effect was created for

when the Discovery travels at

warp speed. “The showrunners

and executive producers had that

idea well in advance,” explains

Zimmerman. “Then we went

about figuring out, what does this

look like, and how do we make

something we can do on a weekly

basis? We started with concepts

from the art department, worked

on a bunch of different ideas, and

narrowed it down from there.”

One of the heaviest visual effects

shots was when the de-cloaking

Klingon cleave ship slices the USS

Europa in half. “We only had a few

weeks to finish that sequence and

that was part of the Comic-Con

trailer as well,” remarks Rahnama.

“Our effects artists came up with

a procedural way of creating metal

tearing and from that you get

sparks, fire and explosions.”

Glenn Hetrick is part of the Star

Trek loyal fanbase. “The passion for

the franchise creates an impetus in

the level of design and the physical

work that we’re doing on Star Trek:

Discovery.” Mission accomplished

for Zimmerman. “Every episode

has something in there that we’re

proud of. It’s such a big show from

a historical standpoint in terms of

what it means to visual effects and

sci-fi. It’s a team effort. All of the

departments brought a passion and

energy to this that I don’t think I

have ever experienced working

on a show before. Having an ability

to be part of that has been truly

an honour.”

FYI

Find out more at http://www.

startrek.com/discovery

Neville Page stands

beside Justin

Howell wearing

the Torchbearer

suit which was

constructed by

using 3D printing

“Our Torchbearer suit was a wonderful

marriage of two different skillsets with me

being from the automotive industry and

industrial design, and Glenn coming from

the practical make-up industry,” notes lead

creature designer Neville Page. “We were

both rifting off of one another on how we

could push the envelope of development.

I wanted something that felt like Spanish

armour because we wanted the Klingons

to look that sophisticated.” ZBrush allowed

numerous intricate details to be incorporated

into the design. “We scanned the life cast so

Neville could break apart and model each

piece so that it was printable,” states head

of prosthetics and special effects make-up

Glenn Hetrick. “This copy of a body scan

of a performer was covered head-to-toe in

hard 3D surface prints that fit together. Then

we started cutting it apart into pieces and

moulding it as separate elements.”

Piece of MinD

designing a suiT for The Torchbearer,

a ceremonial posiTion requiring armour

ThaT can funcTion in ouTer space

“iT’s such a big show in Terms of whaT

iT means To visual effecTs anD sci-fi”

Jason Zimmerman, production visual effects supervisor

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Feature

star Trek: Discovery