One of the most chilling scenes in Spider-Man 2 (2004) was when the unwitting doctor's tried to remove Doctor Octopus' arms. It was actually the scene thatSam Raimi filmed first to set the tone for the movie.

It called into question the level of violence in the film. "Yeah, in the surgery room," Raimi told Sci-Fi Wire. "You know, I was wondering if that was going to be too violent. Wow, I hope it's not too violent. ... Maybe it is.

"I didn't really make a conscious choice to make it more violent, although I don't disagree with you. I think what happened was I was trying to establish in the minds of the audience that ... these tentacles [and] this man, Dr. Octavius, had become this monster, and as this monster, he had killed, or these tentacles had killed. And so he was going to be on the lam and hunted. ... But perhaps it's more violent than it needed to be. I didn't mean to make it more violent, I just wanted to show that he was a character to be frightened of, you know?"

Jamie Rama (X-Men: First Class) shared some images in his portfolio for the scene and a few others.

See more of Jamie Rama's portfolio at jamierama.com

What do you think of the illustrations? Do you remember this scene? 

more »

In the book The Art and Filming of the Dark Knight Trilogy the only concept artist mentioned by name is Jamie Rama (Transformers, Super 8, X-Men: First Class). He's one of the best in the business.

He shared some of his concept art for the film The Dark Knight (2008) on his site.

@ 2008 All images copyright of Warner Bro. Studios and the artist

See more of Jamie Rama's portfolio at jamierama.com and read my interview with him Jamie Rama Talks About Retro 'Super 8' Concept Art and the Biggest Mistake an Artist Can Make

What do you think of the illustrations?

more »

There are many talented artists who worked on X-Men: First Class, and while I haven't seen all the artwork, these are my favorites.

Official plot synopsis: "X-Men: First Class charts the epic beginning of the X-Men saga, and reveals a secret history of famous global events. Before mutants had revealed themselves to the world, and before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Not archenemies, they were instead at first the closest of friends, working together with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop Armageddon. In the process, a grave rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto’s Brotherhood and Professor X’s X-Men."



1. Angel by Howard Swindell

It's not hard to make the beautiful Zoe Kravitz look good, but the coy way Angel peeks behind her extended wings really sells this piece.

2. Beast by Howard Swindell

3. Beach wreckage by Jamie Rama

In the climactic battle at the end of the film, the mutants crash onto the beach. This landscape by Jamie Rama does a great job exploring the wreckage of the X-Men's jet.

3. Banshee scream by Steffen Reichstadt (Aaron Simms Company)

Banshee was an alright character in the film, but I think this concept art makes it really dynamic. Notice the change to his throat suggesting an incredible release of power.


UPDATE: See more of Steffen Reichstadt's X-Men work soon.

4. "Havok v.5" by Alex Mandra (Aaron Simms Company)

In the film Havok is able to release blasts of energy. I'm assuming this was a scene from when Havok was trapped on an aircraft carrier and he's blasting his way out.

5. "Havok v. 4" by Alex Mandra (Aaron Simms Company)

Another great scene of Havok blasting away. Notice a couple of things. First, he's not wearing his harness, but still has control of his power. Second, notice the sword which I'm assuming was owned by Azazel. That also might explain the leg and hoof hanging in the air.

6. Azazel by Jerad S. Merantz

This image of Azazel is much more extreme than what we saw on film. With the suggestion of horns and an amazing armored costume. I'm not sure about the fur coat though. Too much?

7. Angel by Jerad S. Merantz

Another alternate view of Angel, this one is far more goth than the final result. Some nice touches are the gorgeous backlit wings and the slight hint of drool at the corners of her mouth suggesting her acidic saliva.

 8. Darwin by Howard Swindell

A Photoshop job adds gills. This is the first art I've seen that shows Darwin's transformations effectively. He created a bunch more, but this is my favorite. 

9. "Emma Frost, Preliminary Design" by Hao Wu

The lovely view of Emma Frost as being made of large diamonds with sparkling eyes. The fire in high-quality diamonds really adds to the drama. In the film the effect is a bit muddied, so I like how this one shines.

10. "Havok Firing Sequence" by Hao Wu



While the final result looks nothing like this, I like how he laid out the feel of the sequence which is sweet. Great use of colors too.

Visit all the websites of the artists for more great stuff.
http://www.aaron-sims.com/
http://www.howardswindell.com/
http://www.haosketch.com/
http://jamierama.com/
http://jeradsmarantz.blogspot.com/
http://alexmandra.blogspot.com/

Some artwork taken from conceptartworld.com
What's your favorite concept art from the film? Do you have a favorite artist?

more »

Jamie Rama has created some amazing visuals and, in this interview talks about capturing the look of a small town in the 70s, what it's like doing a children's book with one of the Farrelly Brothers and the future of 3-D concept art.

Rama is the Swiss army knife of concept artists, working on movies, commercials and even books. Besides conceptual illustration he's done storyboarding, visual effects design and art directing.

You've seen his work on major films like Transformers (2009), Dark Knight and X-Men: First Class (2011).

He took some time out to answer a few questions about working on the J.J. Abrams period horror film Super 8 (2011).

Q: Could you explain, to those who don't know, what a concept artist is?

Somebody who generates artwork for movies, commercials or games. Typically for movies we are hired on for pre-production by the production designer to help establish the look of the film.

Q: Could you give your background as an artist?
I grew up just outside of Detroit and went to an art college there called "Center for Creative Studies" where I was a product design major.

I promptly moved to Los Angeles and started out in visual effects working at "Sony Imageworks" for a couple years. I eventually went freelance and transitioned over to film pre-production.

Q: J.J. Abrams described the film Super 8 as being "about suburban America with ordinary people going through extraordinary circumstances when either hyper-real or supernatural things came into their lives." What was the challenge of bringing that vision to the screen?
Well, for starters, it's a period movie that takes place in 1979.

So primarily for the art department it was all about capturing the look of a small suburban town from that time period.

In terms of illustrating the exterior stuff it was key to get the vehicles, signage and clothing correct because all that stuff sells it.

And for the interiors like the camera shop, the set dressing and props had to be accurate and authentic.

Q: What did you draw on for inspiration for the designs?
Google image search and whatever books I have laying around.

Q: What is one hard-to-spot pitfall that is critical to avoid when doing conceptual design?

Image: X-Men First Class
I think it's important to try and not redo stuff from other movies. I spend a lot of time researching what has been done already so I don't fall into a derivative zone.

Q: You illustrated a beautiful children's book called "Abigail the Happy Whale" written by Peter Farrelly (Dumb and Dumber). What was it like working with him on the book?
Image cover art "Abigale the Happy Whale"
Thanks. Yeah Farrelly was a pleasure to work with. A lot of people have said that he is one the nicest and most generous people in Hollywood and I'd definitely have to agree.


Q: Where do you see the conceptual design industry five years from now?
Who knows. But everything seems to be headed towards a 3D viewing experience with people like James Cameron pushing it in that direction. I can see having to do 3D illustrations where the glasses are needed to view them and image elements like bullets and swords and vehicles pop off the screen.

I'm not a fan of 3D or wearing the glasses. I've spent the last year working on Dark Knight Rises and am happy to report it's all about IMAX and none of this 3D nonsense.

Q: Name three artists that inspire you every day.
I have always been a big fan of Syd Mead. I really like the insane detailing that Geoff Darrow puts into his comic books. I like almost all of David Fincher's movies.


Q: What's the next film we'll see your work on?
As soon as I'm done with Batman I will take a nap and watch some TV for the summer.

Check out more of his detailed and emotive work at JamieRama.com and the ecological children's book Abigail the Happy Whale.

Thanks for the interview Jamie!
To read some of my other interviews with artists check out the full list here.

What do you think of Jamie Rama's work?

more »

The beauty and terror of the 1970's has been immortalized by Jamie Rama in concept art for the thriller Super 8.

Director J.J. Abram's latest film is full of imagery of youthful exuberance and childhood innocence. It's a perfect complement to the terror and mayhem that is promised. Jamie Rama has released some concept art on his website and it looks marvelous.

Official synopsis:

"In the summer of 1979, a group of friends in a small Ohio town witness a catastrophic train crash while making a super 8 movie and soon suspect that it was not an accident. Shortly after, unusual disappearances and inexplicable events begin to take place in town, and the local Deputy tries to uncover the truth -- something more terrifying than any of them could have imagined." - Paramount

A young boy eats breakfast cereal and watches a cheesy horror movie. Notice the sheriff in the background discussing recent horrifying events.

A typical 1970's ranch home. I like the little metal lunch box on the counter. Reminds me of one I had as a kid.

Two boys look inside the torn remnants of a freight train. Whatever was inside was behind some pretty thick broken glass.

A typical Air Force Base...Where is everyone?

Jamie Rama creates some amazing visuals. His work has been seen in the X-Men: First Class
Check out more of his work at http://jamierama.com/

Super 8 comes out this Friday (June 10, 2011) in the U.S.

Does these illustrations bring back memories?
Update: Corrected typos

more »

Marvel and 20th Century Fox released some concept art from the new X-Men prequel X-Men: First Class (2011) and has mind-blowing costume designs for the sexy Emma Frost, shots of the interior and exterior of the Sabastian Shaw's (Kevin Bacon) Hellfire Club and the Kremlin War Room and a revealing picture of Angel's fly wings.

IGN had a quote from January Jones, who plays telepathic mutant Emma Frost, on her character design:

No actual woman looks like that. She's very blessed, shall we say.

So coming straight from Mad Men, literally the day before, there was no way I could get physically cut like that. Also, for a woman to get that physically cut and not lose the curvy areas was a bit of a challenge for me, so I just did some weight training and body sculpting. I had a lot of fun with that, too.

All the stunt training and the physical aspects of the role that I didn't know I'd be doing were a lot of fun. Because her powers are very strong on both the mental and physical sides, so it was a lot of fun for me to go to different places than I've had to do as an actor before.

She also talked about the groovy mod designs of the Hellfire Club's pad.

...I can say that it doesn't feel like a period movie. There's obviously historical aspects in the storytelling and some of the props and stuff, but I think it feels very modern. It does take place in 1962.

One of the things that's brought in from that time, the Hellfire Club aspect especially, is that it's pretty -- I dunno, the Bunnies and the Playboy clubs. It's really cool. You'd think Sinatra was there. The sets are really cool and the vibe of the whole thing is really neat.

There's also a image of the design for the Kremlin war room which plays a big part of the Cuban missle crisis storyline.

Here are some concept design for the mutant Angel Salvatore (Zoë Kravitz) who hides her mutation of insect wings as a body tattoo.


No indication of who the concept artists are, of course. Very frustrating frankly.

IMDb lists Nick Ainsworth, James Carson, Kim Frederiksen, Paul Anthony McGill, Matthew Savage, Hayley Easton Street and Tom Whitehouse as concept artists for the film.

X-Men First Class stars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Rose Byrne, January Jones, and Kevin Bacon and will be released June 3 in the US.

Official plot synopsis: "X-Men: First Class charts the epic beginning of the X-Men saga, and reveals a secret history of famous global events. Before mutants had revealed themselves to the world, and before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Not archenemies, they were instead at first the closest of friends, working together with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop Armageddon. In the process, a grave rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto’s Brotherhood and Professor X’s X-Men."

Update: Pretty sure the Hellfire club artwork comes from Jamie Rama.

Does this concept art make you want to join the Hellfire Club?

Via Movieweb

more »