Sci-fi Production Design
It's All About the Sofas. Anyone
who has seen 2001 A Space Odyssey
will be likely to remember the uncomfortable-looking and futuristic redchairs
in the Hilton
lobby of Space Station Five, where DrFloyd
stops on his way
to the moon. In the visual
medium that is
movie making these chairs
are a powerful
background detail that the audience notices without any time
being taken away from the film's
action. Actually it's
more of a lackofaction
in the case if 2001,
but the point is still valid. The camera does not have to linger on
the chairs for them to have their impact. The chairs aren't
a plot point,
they are simply productiondesign.
They enhance the movie, without being an
integral part if
it.
The
same effortless influence of
production design can be seen
in 1984’s Dune.
Every world we visit in
the movie has its own unique look,
extending to costumes, architecture, and spaceships, all
with a distinctive retro-future aesthetic that borrows heavily from ArtDeco. The Art Deco influences are so extensive that I remember BarryNorman
saying on Film84 that
it had taken its style from Cunard.
The Atreides family, dress in formal militaristic suits, while
the Harkonnen homeworld, Geidi Prime, is harsh, industrial, and
factory-like. Dune would certainly have looked different if
Jodorowsky had
gotten to make his version of Dune.
The Mobeus
inspired production design on The
FifthElement
is also a stunning
example of the visuals helping to define the action happening within
it. The density of information that can be
conveyed visually and the world building that can be doe are enough
to make any novelist extremely jealous. It
would he great to bring this ability of
production design to enhance a story to a sci-fi book,
but it's
difficult.
I can't
describe everything I see in my mind’s eye without using a lot of
words that would be better spent on plot or action. I can, however,
describe one or two details here and there, and have them say what I
need said about where a scene in the book is happening. Also, if a
location is important enough that the characters return to it over
and over again, a clearer picture of it will be built up as I
describe one detail one time and another detail the next. All the
little details build up to create a whole picture. It can never be as
rich as the scenes presented in the best sci-fi movies and TV shows,
but it does enhance what is happening in these spaces.
For
example, in Galaxy Dog and its sequels
the observation deck of the spaceship that the main characters travel
in is an important little patch of real estate. When one of the main
characters first encountered this place, I described the giant
windows and the view of space. The view of space is the most
important thing about the room, and it would have been criminal not
to describe that in some way. Now, after the character has visited
many times, I found myself describing the sofas. Here’s what I
said:
In
the end they chose the observation deck for the meeting, with Altia
and Knave sprawled on the low, comfortable couches. They were an
unusual, and alien, design. They looked industrial, the same bronze,
gold and silver as the rest of the ship, but the feel of the material
was sensuous and comfortable. It was seating designed for human
backs, but created by a computer intelligence that had never seen a
sofa designed by a human before. It was unencumbered by notions such
as there should be one chair for one person. It was more of a seating
environment, perfect for louche lounging, and star gazing. Despite
this relaxed feel, they were all three some distance apart, ignoring
the fact that the metallic-fabric covered couches looked more like
they belonged on a VIP pleasure cruiser than the most capable
fighting ship the rebellion had.
Jay
didn't bother to sit like his two shipmates, or, more accurately, to
sprawl in the case of Knave. Sitting didn’t lesson the stresses in
the actuators in his knees, hips or feet particularly, so he didn’t
see the need. He felt it would be an affectation, an aping of human
ways if he did. Instead he stood by the large, hexagonal windows,
watching the streaks of the stars hurtling by at faster than light
speeds.
For
me it’s all about the sofas, though some prefer the corridors,
but the point is that these
seemingly inconsequential details
are so important, and leaving them
out impoverishes the
story.
Okay,
enough blogging, I'm off to watch some DoctorWho.
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