Back to the Future Part II (1989) concept art by John Bell

Check out Back to the Future Part II concept art by John Bell!

Every Friday I try and feature artwork from a classic of science fiction cinema or television. This week's "Flashback Friday" post is on Back to the Future Part II (1989).

Everyone loves the hoverboards from Back to the Future, and DVD commentary by the director led lots of people to believe it's real. That hope was rekindled this week when "Funny or Die" made a video that claimed the hoverboards were coming in December. It turns out it was a hoax, but it shows how much we love those things. How cool would it be to skateboard on air? The original designs were created by John Bell and I thought this would be a good time to share them.

John Bell is an Oscar nominated, and British Academy Award winning, professional concept and storyboard artist. He's worked on Hollywood films like Back to the Future Part III (1990), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) and G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013).

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RoboCop (2014) concept art by Milena Zdravkovic

Read my exclusive interview with RoboCop (2014) concept artist Milena Zdravkovic!

The RoboCop remake has been out for a while and Variety said the film "meets the era's darker demands for action reboots with machine-tooled efficiency and a hint of soul." One concept artist was kind enough to an interview about her work in the film.

Milena Zdravkovic is a professional concept artist, 3d illustrator and a set designer based in Canada. She's worked on Hollywood movies for over a decade like Man of Steel (2013), X-Men 2 (2003) and I, Robot (2004).

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Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) concept art by Ryan Church

Check out Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen concept art by Ryan Church!

Ryan Church has been described as "at the forefront of film visualization" for his work on Star Wars Episode I and II, but he also contributed to the Transformers series of films. Read on to see his masterful designs for the crashed Cybertron "Ark," the Sun Harvestor, the evil villain known as "The Fallen" and more.

Church is a professional concept artist who's worked on blockbuster films like Avatar (2009), Star Trek (2009) and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005).

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Watch the trailer for the documentary Jodorowsky's Dune!

Back in 1975, Alejandro Jodorowsky began working on a sweeping adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune. While the project failed for financial reasons it's epic even in it's failure. Jodorwski spent over $2 million in pre-production over two years on a massive film that would have ran for 14 hours. All this and he never read the book. He assembled a dream team of concept artists like H. R. Giger, Chris Foss and Jean "Moebius" Giraud that produced over 3,000 illustrations. Keep in mind that all of this pre-dated the success of science fiction films like Star Wars, Alien and 2001: A Space Odyssey. No one had ever done anything like this and he was blazing new trails.

I've shared concept art from Jodorowsky's Dune before, but the trailer promises even more storyboards and concept art from this brilliant production.




Click on the links to see more from the artists H.R. Giger giger.com, Chris Foss chrisfossart.com and Jean Henri Gaston "Moebius" Giraud moebius.fr.

Click on the links if you want to see more of H. R. Giger, Chris Foss, Jean "Moebius" Giraud or Dune on my blog.

What do you think of the trailer? Would you have watched this insane production?

Official Jodorowsky's Dune Summary
"This fascinating documentary explores the genesis of one of cinema's greatest epics that never was: cult filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky's (EL TOPO) adaptation of Frank Herbert's sci-fi classic Dune, whose cast would have included such icons as Salvador Dali, Orson Welles and Mick Jagger. In 1975, following the runaway success of his art-house freak-outs EL TOPO and HOLY MOUNTAIN, Alejandro Jodorowsky secured the rights to Frank Herbert's Dune - and began work on what was gearing up to be a cinematic game-changer, a sci-fi epic unlike anything the world had ever seen."
Directed by Frank Pavich
Starring: Alejandro Jodorowsky, Michel Seydoux, H. R. Giger, Chris Foss, Nicolas Winding Refn, Amanda Lear, Richard Stanley
Cinematography by David Cavallo
Release date: March 21, 2014 (USA)
Official Site: http://jodorowskysdune.com/
© Copyright 2014 City Film, Snowfort Pictures, Sony Pictures Classics. All rights reserved



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Check out RoboCop 2014 concept art by Vitaly Bulgarov!

The task of redesigning and iconic character like RoboCop is a daunting one and it was taken on by many talented concept illustrators. Recently Jay Jay (Nailbiter111) at Comic Book Movie sat down with Eddie Yang, Fausto De Martini and Vitaly Bulgarov and got an insightful in-depth interview about working on the designs. Here are some of the designs from the brilliant interview by Bulgarov.

Vitaly Bulgarov is an award-winning 3D artist who's currently working at Intuitive Surgical as a concept designer developing the next generation of surgical robotics and bionics who's worked on the upcoming Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014).

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Check out Thor: The Dark World concept art by Jackson Sze!

Yesterday one of the concept artists from Thor: The Dark World posted new artwork from the film on his Facebook page.

Jackson Sze is a professional concept artist who's worked on big budget Hollywood films like The Avengers (2012), Thor: The Dark World (2013) and Jack the Giant Slayer (2013).

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Check out Doctor Who concept art by Matthew Savage!

Matt Savage's amazing concept art for the British television show Doctor Who is legendary. He had a DeviantArt page once upon a time, but is very private about his work and removed the images. His stuff is rare and beautiful. Recently some of his work showed up on Reddit and moved io9 to go digging for an amazing collection of concept art. Some of the illustrations I've featured before (here and here), but some I'd never seen before. I love a challenge, so I set out on a quest of my own for some more of his Doctor Who concept art. I found a few pieces that I haven't seen anywhere else, so I wanted to share them.

Matthew Savage is a professional concept\storyboard artist who's worked on blockbuster movies like X-Men: First Class (2011), The Wolfman (2010) and The Dark Knight (2008).

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Check out Thor: the Dark World storyboards by Trevor Goring!

Thor: The Dark World came out on home video today and is surely going to take the world by storm. Thor 2 took the battle for Asgard to Earth and one of the most memorable scenes was the Dark Elves' Ark attack on Earth. Recently storyboard artist Trevor Goring shared some storyboards from the film on his site. There's also a spoiler scene featuring the heart-wrenching funeral of a major character.

Goring is a professional concept, comic book and storyboard artist who's worked on major Hollywood films like Independence Day (1996), Watchmen (2009) and X2 (2003).

Attack on Earth



Funeral 


See more of Trevor Goring's fascinating portfolio at http://trevorgoringart.com

Click on the links if you want to see more of Trevor Goring's work or Thor: the Dark World on my blog.

What do you think of the storyboards? If you've seen Thor: the Dark World what did you think?

Official Thor: The Dark World Summary
Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World continues the big-screen adventures of Thor, the Mighty Avenger, as he battles to save Earth and all the Nine Realms from a shadowy enemy that predates the universe itself. In the aftermath of Marvel’s Thor and Marvel’s The Avengers, Thor fights to restore order across the cosmos…but an ancient race led by the vengeful Malekith returns to plunge the universe back into darkness. Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all. Starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård, Idris Elba, Christopher Eccleston, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi, Tadanobu Asano and Jaimie Alexander with Rene Russo and Anthony Hopkins as Odin, Thor: The Dark World is directed by Alan Taylor, produced by Kevin Feige, from a story by Don Payne (credit not final) and screenplay by Christopher Yost and Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely (credit not final) and is based on Marvel’s classic Super Hero Thor, who first appeared in the comic book Journey into Mystery“ #83 in August, 1962.
Directed by Alan Taylor
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård, Idris Elba, Christopher Eccleston, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi, Tadanobu Asano, Jaimie Alexander, Rene Russo, Anthony Hopkins
Release date: November 8, 2013 (USA)
Official Site: http://marvel.com/thor
© Copyright 2013 Marvel Studios, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. All rights reserved


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RoboCop (2014) concept art by Tim Flattery

Check out RoboCop (2014) motorcycle concept art by Tim Flattery!

In the RoboCop remake he drives a stropped down Kawasaki Z-1000 instead of the Ford Taurus. But, originally, he was supposed to drive a more futuristic bike. Martin Whist, the production designer, explained, "Our bump into the future is very little. We didn't want to have elements in there that were purely sci-fi."

Concept artist Tim Flattery shared some early designs with ComicBookMovie.com.

Tim Flattery is a professional concept artist who's worked on Hollywood films like Back to the Future Part II (1989), Incredible Hulk (2008) and Batman Forever (1995).

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Check out Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan concept art by Ken Ralston!

Every Friday I try and feature artwork from a classic of science fiction cinema or television. This week's "Flashback Friday" post is on Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

The most memorable scene in Wrath of Khan is when Khan puts a creature, known as a Ceti Eel, in Chekov's helmet to take control of his mind. Originally the mind-control creatures attached to the back of the neck, but producer Robert Sallin decided the creatures should borrow into the victim's ear. Ken Ralston was the visual effects supervisor on Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and drew several designs for the creature. The designs worked and test audiences were so horrified that they had to cut the close-up shots out for the theatrical release.

Kenneth "Ken" Ralston is a professional concept\storyboard artist who's worked on major films like Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977), Men in Black II (2002) and Back to the Future (1985).
 

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