How Close Is GREEN LANTERN'S Kilowog To Concept Art?

The upcoming Warner Bros' superheo film Green Lantern has a big brutish buddy named "Kilowog." The concept art looks like this:

Now, an image of Kilowog from the film has been released and it looks like this below:

It actually looks surprisingly close to the artwork. Except for the costume change and an addition of a thick set of shoulders it looks the same. The concept artist must be proud. Whoever it is.
[Image source: CBM]

Cyberpunk NEUROMANCER Concept Art A Virtual Reality

Years ago, director Joseph Kahn was going to direct a movie adapted from the classic cyberpunk novel Neuromancer. That didn't happen. Since it's been announced a new director has taken over the project to bring William Gibson's vision to life, he tweeted this concept art to give us a tease of what might have been.

I honestly have no idea what this is supposed to be, but this spider-like creature gives me the willies.
[Image source: io9]

Would Guys Lust Over The Freaky Na'vi From AVATAR Concept Art?

Would the blockbuster movie Avatar have been as popular if the Na'vi looked as freaky as the concept art below?

It's interesting to see the things that changed. The bio-luminescence of the flaura of Avatar's Pandora was eliminated. The faces look much more alien. and the hair look more like tendrils.

Ney’tiri looks like the kind of girl you could take home to Mom. In the concept art she looks more like the kind of girl you'd wake up with after a night at a bar.

there's some controversy as to whether this is really concept art for the film at all. Marketsaw posted the images. The artist, Jonay Bacallado, contacted them and told them they weren't real after all. Either way, they're pretty good.

Conan Goes Medieval in New Concept Art

Is this concept art for the upcoming Conan movie? ConanMovieBlog seems to think so. The upcoming film, which has a tentative release date of 2011 is a reboot of the popular comic book character “Conan the Barbarian” created by author Robert E. Howard in the 1930s.

Alex Tornberg was a concept artist for Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer at Funcom. Two character pictures at his portfolio have a distinctly familiar look to them. The two pictures bear the watermark “CONAN™ and © 2010 Conan Properties International LLC”–not, say, Age of Conan™, which is watermarked in other images–and so it could be construed that this is concept art not for the game, but for the film.

The first picture, “Conan the Panther,” has a few touchstones of the current look for the character: what might be the waistband of the red skirt/kilt can be seen in the bottom, as well as the belt supporting it. The necklace is a bit different from the design Momoa’s sporting, but such elements go through many permutations by different artists before a final look is decided upon, so that isn’t too surprising. Conan’s stance and posture are rather surprisingly similar to that of the most recently released publicity still, if in a mirror image.

The second picture, “Conan Ambush,” is more interesting, as it shows not yet another image of the titular character, but of other characters in the film. Judging by the gloomy, glum colours and the barbaric accouterments of the figures, I’d wager this is an image of Cimmerians. The central figure may be Conan–in another nod to cross-media artistic homogeny, he is wearing a livery collar very similar to the one the king sports in Age of Conan–but given how much older the
character depicted appears to be, I’d suggest this might be Corin, with the ambush in question being Khalar Zym’s. There’s a definite air of Vladimir Kulich in that image (I wonder if he was ever in talks for the job of Conan’s dad?)

This guy's work is amazing. The colors so good, I thought the first one was a photograph.

The upcoming film stars Jason Momoa (Stargate Atlantis) as Conan, Stephen Lang (Avatar), Rose McGowan Machete, Red Sonja) and Ron Perlman (Bubba Nosferatu: Curse of the She-Vampires, The Hobbit: Part 2). The synopsis is "the tale of Conan the Cimmerian and his adventures across the continent of Hyboria on a quest to avenge the murder of his father and the slaughter of his village."

Author website: Alex Tornberg

Exclusive: Tim Flattery Talks About His Organic Concept Art And The Batmobile That Almost Was

Tim Flattery is an amazing conceptual artist and took some time out to give me this exclusive interview.

His career spans two decades and has worked on some of Hollywood's biggest films from Back to the Future to Transformers.

What's it like for you being a concept artist?
It's rewarding creatively and a great way to make a living!

How would you describe your style and approach to your art?
The first half of my career was more traditional... using paint and markers. Now, my approach relies on the computer along with 2d and 3d software. I will still sketch with a pencil but all my painting and rendering is done in the computer now. As far as style, I generally rely on nature as my influence when it comes to design. I refer to everything from bugs to sea life to microscopic bacteria, etc.

Could you tell us the path you took to become a conceptual illustrator?
I went to art school and studied industrial design in Michigan but I knew I wanted to work in the film industry so I worked on a separate portfolio geared for that. Once I graduated I moved to California and started knocking on doors. I got a break when I met John Dykstra and he gave me my first job. From there it was a matter of doing good work and getting known in the Hollywood community.

You've done a lot of work at all types of concept design from clothing to vehicle and weapon design. Is there a type of design that you find most rewarding?
I love doing it all but I would have to say, coming from an Industrial design background, designing hardware fulfills the geek in me the most. Nothing like the challenge of a new spaceship or vehicle!

Your drawing of the Transformers aircraft character "Tidal Wave" took the Internet by storm. Do you think the fan support of the character will translate to the big screen?

"Tidal Wave" was great fun but was eventually cut out of the script. I have seen how the Internet can influence production in the past but I think in this case we would've seen him by now... but you never know.

Could you explain the design of the organic-looking Batmobile that you did for the 1995 Joel Schumacher film Batman Forever?
I initially did five designs and Joel picked a very faceted, stealth looking design. Here is a picture of the model not seen before.

After thinking thru it farther, he decided he wanted something more organic so it was back to the drawing board. The reference I used was everything from bats, bugs and crustaceans to Giger. Once the design was finalized, we did another scale model (see below) and from there began construction on the full-size vehicle.

You mentioned in an interview that the vehicle molds of the Batmobile were made of clay while the design of the Fantastic Four Fantasticar went closer to development. How do you see technology moving to bring designs to the screen?
It's a much more efficient process now. Until 10 years ago we were sculpting everything in clay and molding it from there. Now we mill the mold directly eliminating the clay stage. The hardware and software has changed how we go about everything now. From the design concept to the construction of the design is executed totally different now and dependent on computers. It's a great process but I miss the days of amazing talent sculpting by hand.

You graduated from the College for Creative Studies. How do you feel this education helped you in your industry?
It helped me considerably. I was taught key design theory along with many different techniques for rendering with different media like gauche and markers. I had to turn that into an appropriate portfolio for the film industry because there was no Entertainment Design curriculum in those days. From there I learned the rest in experience from the industry.

Are there any artists that inspired you in the past and today?
Oh yes, too many to mention all of them but some are Robert Taylor, Ralph Mcquarrie, Syd Mead and Raymond Loewy.

So, what can we look forward to from you in the future?
I just finished Real Steel (2011) [a film starring Hugh Jackman training a robot prize fighter] doing some of the robots and am currently working on Mission Impossible 4 (2011).

Check out his gallery at timflattery.com

Are These Concept Sketches from THE MATRIX Too Detailed?

The concept sketches from The Matrix by Geofrey "Geof" Darrow are beautiful, but almost too detailed. You can barely make out what the robots are made of.  It would have been impossible to create them on-screen, but at least they can provided a framework. Sometimes, concept designers can go nuts with the design I guess.

Neo gets pulled out of his pod by one of the "Docbot" robot caretakers.

A nice view of the inside of the hovership "Nebuchadnezzar" and the "bug probe" that removes the robot from Neo's bellybutton.

The design for the robot ""Squiddies" or "Sentinels."

Born October 21, 1955) Darrow is a comic artist and designer born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States. He is known for having an extremely high level of detail in his work. He's worked on everything from the 80s show Superfriends to movies like Speed Racer and a ton of comic books.

Check out more of his work at the unofficial fansite http://www.geofdarrow.net/

INCEPTION Behind-the-Scenes Book Coming Soon!

Inception is an amazing movie and the visuals are nothing less than stunning. Now Christopher Nolan is planning to release an amazing book about the film called simply "Inception: The Shooting script." Check out all the goodies in the product description:

Inception, writer-director Christopher Nolan's seventh feature film, joins the epic scope of The Dark Knight with the narrative sophistication of Memento.

The story of a group of thieves who specialize in invading the mind through one's dreams, Inception explores the writer-director's signature psychological themes of memory, paranoia, and self-doubt as his protagonist, Dom Cobb, is pitted against a hostile subconscious spurred on by personal demons and regrets from the past.

In a conversational preface, Nolan discusses with brother and frequent collaborator, Jonathan, the genesis of the idea for the film and the decade-long process it took to write it. Detailing the results of Nolan's efforts, Inception: The Shooting Script includes key storyboard sequences, full-colour concept art, and an appendix on the workings of the mysterious Pasiv Device that Cobb and his fellow extractors use to initiate the dream-share. An exclusive exploration of a highly original concept, Inception: The Shooting Script is the record of a writer-director at the height of his craft.
Includes: Writer-Director Christopher Nolan's initial handwritten outline of the Inception plot. A preface by brothers and collaborators Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan, in which they delve into the 10-year development process behind Inception. An 8-page colour insert featuring Inception concept art. An in-world appendix with instructions for operating the mysterious Pasiv Device mechanism.

I know you've wondered how that little dream device worked and it's cool to think he's going to break it down for us. Hopefully, he'll have some sketches of the jaw-dropping scene of Paris folding in half. You can pre-order it here.

DVD Release This Week: Heroes

A new feature will be showing which DVDs released this week has concept art or storyboards.
Heroes: Season Four
Product DescriptionSullivan Brothers Design Gallery (Disc 3, HD, 3 minutes): A short montage of concept art for the Sullivan Brothers Carnival.
Experience all the intrigue and suspense of Heroes: Season 4 in this 5-disc set that includes all 18 gripping episodes from the fourth season’s volume, Redemption. As the Heroes mourn fallen friends and face dangerous new foes, prepare for a wild ride — filled with shocking twists and turns — through an ominous funhouse that culminates in a Brave New World. Then step right up and explore hours of exclusive, behind-the-curtain magic with the show’s writers, stars and artists.

Can You Spot The Empire State Building In THE FIFTH ELEMENT?

You'd think something as huge and iconic as The Empire State Building would be easier to spot. Swiss-born Christian Lorenz Scheurer designed some of the awe-inspiring cityscapes for the 1997 film The Fifth Element starring Bruce Willis and Milla Jovovich.

He describes his approach this way. "My idea was to integrate old NY buildings, like for example the Empire State building, into the much larger megabuildings."

Empire State Building

Website: www.christianlorenzscheurer.com/
2003©Columbia Pictures / Digital Domain

Can you find the Empire State Building in these drawings?