The Renaissance Touch in 3000 A.D.

 When designing a futuristic story people always presume that it is a sci-fi. That it is going to be space ships, flying vehicles, laser weapons and people walking around in some kind of Star Trek suits. Perhaps the word ‘science’ in sci-fi that is misleading. Palestine 3000 A.D. is perhaps fiction but it may be more art rather than science. Science need to be rationalized but art is just an expression. In Palestine 3000 A.D. the emphasis is on expression.

Expression is much easier when I was writing the script but when designing the props it took nearly a year before I finally settled on a certain renaissance style. Perhaps the style was always in me and it became obvious when I really pushed the limit. Renaissance means starting again and it is quite appropriate for Palestine 3000 A.D. graphic novel where people are trying to start again after a catastrophe. Perhaps not towards sophistication but into another destruction.

The above design is of a dual axis controller seat in a vehicle called the Sub-Crawler. For this presentation I just add a bit of Leonardo da Vinci feel by compositing my pencil sketch over a copy of a leathery material from an original Leonardo painting. The inspiration started from some designs of hospital bed and I gradually add parts till it do not look like a bed anymore. The curve handles are my original idea. The style will appear in many other design.

 The 2D design is then converted into a 3D model. But it is just not just pure extrusion to make it look 3D but  many other parts are added later in a 3D perspective. So why do a 3D model for a 2D graphic novel? Palestine 3000 A.D. is just not a graphic novel. It is targeted for a feature animation. So the approach is film like with a production board style. It do not jump cut from panel to panel. It flows with a film lingo. A single scene will have various camera angles. Usually a 2D artist will have some difficulty visualizing a 3D environment especially when the environment or object is complex and do not exist in this present time. There is no reference that he or she could use. That is the reason that most of the props and sets in this graphic novel are modelled in 3D. Besides pre-empting for the animation project the props can also be used for promos and even merchandising.

My principal in designing the props and sets is to make it look real but not to rationalize it too much. I just set my imagination free. Nobody really knows what the future looks like. In the past who ever thought that tons of metal could float on water and fly in the air.

 

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