My interview with Jerad S. Marantz has been postponed for a day or two, but I wanted to share some astounding artwork by an artist named Simon Murton for The Matrix Revolutions (2003).

He's worked on tons of films like Judge Dredd, Stargate and King Kong Lives, but some of my favorite work is from The Matrix. Murton really captures the gritty feel of the hovercraft.

Check them out after the jump. Click on the images to enlarge them.

The Matrix Revolutions (2003) "Interior Gun Control" - Simon Murton

The Matrix Revolutions (2003) "Tube Tunnel" - Simon Murton

The Matrix Revolutions (2003) "Cockpit" - Simon Murton

You could spend hours looking at all the details in these illustrations.

Official Synopsis:
Shot back-to-back with The Matrix Reloaded, the third and final installment of Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski's sci-fi action saga picks up where the second film left off. Neo (Keanu Reeves) remains unconscious in the real world, caught in a mysterious subway station that lies between the machine world and the Matrix, and Bane (Ian Bliss) is still a conduit for Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving), who continues to grow out of control, threatening to destroy both worlds. Meanwhile, as the sentinels get closer and closer to Zion, the citizens of the earth's last inhabited city prepare for the inevitable onslaught. By bargaining with The Merovingian (Lambert Wilson), Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) are able to free Neo who, after meeting with The Oracle (Mary Alice stepping in for the late Gloria Foster), decides that he must leave Zion and head for the machine mainframe. As Neo and Trinity venture into the dangerous machine world, with hopes of stopping both the machines and Agent Smith, their comrades in Zion attempt to fight off the attacking sentinels with the odds stacked greatly against them. Other cast members returning include Monica Bellucci, Ngai Sing, and Harold Perrineau Jr.

See more of Simon Murton's portfolio at SimonMurton.com

What do you think of the illustrations? How would you like to pilot one of these ships?
 
@ Copyright 2003 Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures, NPV Entertainment, Simon Murton. All rights reserved. Used with permission of the artist.

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Grimm started season two this week and I've contacted several people working on the show to share exclusive interviews and designs.
Today I'm sharing the work of storyboard artist Dan Schaefer (Leverage, Gone, James Bond Jr.).

His official site is filmstoryboards.com

Read his interview and check them out after the jump. Click the images to enlarge.

"The experience working on Grimm is usually one of being flexible and fast.  Meeting with the director (just before production or with maybe some lead time) is the first phase." Schaefer said. "I will sit down with and break down the script usually on the fly, creating boards based on what location photos they have as well as actors, props and proposed CG.  Mostly I have little of this and have to do what I can to pre-visualize the scene based on the director's interpretation of the script.  Often times the stunt coordinator, art director, First AD or props person will be involved.  I end up working with many departments, but it usually begins and ends with the director. Sometimes I work over the phone to break down a scene.  It just depends on the situation.  

"The biggest challenge can be pre-referencing locations that don't yet exist or are not found and making the staging work anyway.  I did some work on a scene that was supposed to be filmed in a pool in a basement that was later changed to an entirely new location.  Fortunately, the staging stayed the same and our work was helpful.  

"The time frame is a challenge too.  I usually have hours/minutes to do my work and not days.  Television is a very fast moving schedule and demands that you are focused. My work is very similar on both Leverage (TNT) and Grimm (NBC)."

Thanks for answering Schaefer.

Here's a set of storyboards from Grimm Season 1, Episode 11: "Tarantella "

Official Synopsis:

See more of Dan Schaefer portfolio at filmstoryboards.com

What do you think of the illustrations?
 
@ Copyright 2011 GK Productions, Hazy Mills Productions, Universal TV, Dan Schaefer. All rights reserved. Used with permission
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• Concept Artist Constantine Sekeris Talks About Turning Bears Into Monsters For The TV Show 'Grimm' - Exclusive

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Eddie Yang has shared some concept art of Selina Kyle aka Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) for the film The Dark Knight Rises.There has been very little concept art released from this film.

He also posted a video of his 3-D renderings.



For good measure, here are some sketches of Catwoman's goggles from the book The Art and Making of The Dark Knight Trilogy.

See more of Eddie Yang's portfolio at eddieyang.com

What do you think of the illustrations?
 
@ Copyright 2012 Warner Bros, Eddie Yang. All rights reserved

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• Review: The Art and Making of The Dark Knight Trilogy' is More Making Than Art
• The Artists of 'The Dark knight Rises' (2012)

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The second season of Grimm starts next Monday (August 13th) at 10/9 c and I decided to contact some of the artists and share designs and stories for the show.

For those who haven't heard of the show, here's the official synopsis:
"Grimm" is a drama series inspired by the classic Grimm Brothers' Fairy Tales. After Portland Homicide Detective Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli, "Turn the Beat Around") discovers he's descended from an elite line of criminal profilers known as "Grimms," he increasingly finds his responsibilities as a detective at odds with his new responsibilities as a "Grimm."

First up is Constantine Sekeris (Blade II, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Jarhead). He talked with me about working on the show and the challenges of designing a good balance of creature and humanity.

Q: What's it Like Working On Grimm?
Its always a lot of fun to work on these creatures because of the theme of the show that has to be retained in the design of the creatures. I’m thankful to be a part of a team on a cool show. I’m very happy that it’s doing so well and audiences like it.

Jerad (concept designer Jerad S. Marantz) and I really like to push the design so people can really enjoy the creativity of the team and we help bring their ideas to life from a cool image. I love it each time I get an email from Steve Oster telling me what the next creature I will be challenged with.

Q: What Was the Biggest Challenge You Faced On Grimm?
My most challenging design was the Bear (Jägerbar) creature it’s hard to take the structure and round shapes with all that fur and bring it into more of a human creature feel so it’s a bit scarier. We had to remove a lot of the hair so it’s not so cute and we had to really be careful that it didn’t look like the werewolves from the show. I think they went with Jerad Marantz take on the character.

It’s great to have an objective and fresh eye like Steve Oster the main producer on Grimm who helps give tips of what is liked and what changes can be made when we all hit a wall sometimes to make the creatures still have a human quality. There has to be a good balance of creature and humanity for the character to work on the show.

Q: How Do You Design Your Creatures?
I begin my process with research and rough sketches to explore the best designs for the show and then render a few options that then go through a decision process with the team and then take the final design to finish. So the prosthetic team of Barney Burman and the digital team have enough time to do their best for the show. I can’t wait for the next creature.
I would like people to know that I’ve come out with a book called MetamorFXof Constantine Sekeris with Creature, Makeup, Robot and Costume design you can find it on Amazon and Barns & Noble.

Thanks for having me apart of your blog.

See more of Constantine Sekeris portfolio at constantinesekerisdesign.blogspot.com

What do you think of the illustrations? Have you seen Grimm? What do you think of the creatures?
@ Copyright 2010 GK Productions, Hazy Mills Productions, Universal TV, Constantine Sekeris. All rights reserved. Used with permission

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Here's a video compilation of Revenge of the Sith (2005) concept art by DarthTaramasalata. A great video set against the John Williams theme music.

What do you think of the video? Do you have a favorite illustration?
 
@ Copyright 2005 LucasFilm. All rights reserved 

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Here are some of the artists of Total Recall (2012) according to IMDb and my own research.

Official Synopsis:
Toal Recall is an action thriller about reality and memory, inspired anew by the famous short story “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” by Philip K. Dick. Welcome to Rekall, the company that can turn your dreams into real memories. For a factory worker named Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell), even though he's got a beautiful wife (Kate Beckinsale) who he loves, the mind-trip sounds like the perfect vacation from his frustrating life - real memories of life as a super-spy might be just what he needs. But when the procedure goes horribly wrong, Quaid becomes a hunted man. Finding himself on the run from the police – controlled by Chancellor Cohaagen (Bryan Cranston), the leader of the free world – Quaid teams up with a rebel fighter (Jessica Biel) to find the head of the underground resistance (Bill Nighy) and stop Cohaagen. The line between fantasy and reality gets blurred and the fate of his world hangs in the balance as Quaid discovers his true identity, his true love, and his true fate.

Directed by Len Wiseman
Cinematography by Paul Cameron

Production Design by Patrick Tatopoulos  tatopoulosstudios.net/

Art Direction by Patrick Banister
Oana Bogdan (supervising art director)
Brandt Gordon (supervising art director)

Concept Illustrators
Andy Chung (concept artist) acsketch.blogspot.com/
Robert McKinnon (concept artist) IMDb
Ed Natividad (conceptual designer) ednatividad.com
Laurent Ben-Mimoun (concept designer) blueman.ws/
Stephan Martiniere (concept designer) http://www.martiniere.com/
Storyboard Artists
Rob McCallum (storyboard artist) mccallumart.com/

What do you think of the artists? What do you think about the movie? Do you know of any artists I haven't listed?

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This is a day late, but concept art for the superhero film The Wolverine are online thanks to a set visit. There's not much to see, but anything is better than nothing I guess.

(Click to enlarge)

Some interesting tidbits are the shot of someone swinging a samurai sword, a POW camp and an Atomic explosion.

I tried to blow up some of the more interesting concept images.

Supposedly the story is about Wolverine traveling to Japan to train as a samurai warrior and is set during WWII.

No word on who the concept artists are, but IMDb lists Joshua Min, Michele Moen, Josh Nizzi and Manuel Plank-Jorge.

Directed by James Mangold

Starring
Hugh Jackman (Logan / Wolverine)
Will Yun Lee (Kenuichio Harada / Silver Samurai)
Svetlana Khodchenkova (Viper [rumored])
Hiroyuki Sanada (Shingen Yashida)
Brian Tee (Noburo Mori)
Rila Fukushima (Yukio)
Hal Yamanouchi (Yashida)
Tao Okamoto (Mariko Yashida)
James Fraser(Allied POW)

Cinematography by Amir Mokri

Production Design by François Audouy

Art Direction by Ian Gracie (supervising art director)

Via The Daily BLAM!

What do you think of the artwork? Are you more excited to see the movie?

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